Rafael Correa
CFO
Blue Water Development
Ocean City, Maryland

Define success and keep it at the forefront: Start every project with clear, simple goals that are easily understood and adopted by all team members. Provide a framework so the team can evaluate feasibility, roadblocks, etc., and take ownership of them.

Understand individual motivations: Team goals are great, but it’s essential to understand individual goals so they can be linked with project goals. When done effectively, this activity creates alignment and fuels engagement.

Encourage communication: Not everyone will speak up in meetings, but it’s important to solicit individual team member feedback offline. Taking the time to ask what someone thinks, and listening intently to their perspective, is an invitation to build trust. 

Celebrate milestones and recognize effort: Construction projects are comprised of a seemingly endless, often monotonous, series of milestones. When your team knows that you are watching their efforts and reward accomplishment with acknowledgement, trust grows.

Tim Reimann
President
Veit & Company 
Rogers, Minnesota

Be visible: Commit to leadership visits to project sites and other frontline team locations. During these visits, ask what can be done to help the teams be as productive as possible, and share brief updates about the overall company, its progress and plans. 

Listen: Think about how to set up in-person forums to encourage healthy discussion and capture the voice of employees to foster a culture of belonging and connectedness. 

Help employees understand their impact: Show employees they’re not merely a cog in the wheel; they are key contributors to helping the company accomplish the overall mission.

Be a culture ambassador: Employees feel more connected to an organization when they enjoy going to work each day. Help employees feel like they’re part of something unique and special. 

Use technology: When geography and physical distances create separation, think about how technology can enable more connectedness and deepen working relationships.

Dave Hall
CEO 
Clune Construction 
Chicago

Clune Construction was established on a few key principles, one of them being “Treat Employees Like Family.” This maxim has helped to establish trust between management and employees; it also comes into play when an employee is going through difficult times. However, Clune offers less tangible support as well, when employees encounter hardship. Like many companies, we provide an Employee Assistance Program. Clune always accommodates with flexible work schedules, extended paid time off and even home accessibility improvement projects.  

In addition, “We have your back” is considered an informal Clune motto, especially during challenging or painful occasions. We not only say it—we act on it. Clune is a family, and when a family member struggles, we rally to support them, whether it’s the death of a loved one, an illness or even a pandemic. When a couple of our regions had jobsites shutdown in response to COVID-19 and work was not occurring on those projects, Clune continued to pay employees’ salaries, and 100% of their health insurance premiums.