Employees

21. Hiring subcontractors for your installed jobs? Check in with customers or the general contractor for their last three jobs to confirm the quality and timeliness of their work.

22. Provide your drivers with camera-equipped cell phones so they can photograph the loads they deliver as well as problems with the truck or damage to materials.

23. Don’t let younger, less experienced workers slip through the cracks. LBM is hurting for experienced middle managers after cutting many of them during the recession. Offer new hires hands-on training and guidance and, most important, show them there’s career potential at your yard.

24. Test potential hires’ numerical chops with a brief LBM-themed math quiz. For example: “If a roll of drywall tape covers an average of 480 square feet of drywall, and if a 5-gallon bucket of mud covers 750 square feet, how many of each would it take to do a house that takes 250 sheets of 4×12 drywall?”

25. Write out internal succession plans for all positions. Make sure each person is receiving the necessary training to step up if necessary.

26. Give managers a more complete picture of their department by holding annual employee assessments around the same time of the year.

27. Let employees rate their own work—and yours. Provide feedback forms that ask members of your team what they’re learning and areas in which they’d like some help.

28. Give your team a catchphrase they can run with. Stock uses “TIPPSS” (teamwork, integrity, people, performance, and service and solutions to customers), Stine Lumber, Sulphur, La., “sharpens the saw,” and Southern California dealer Ganahl Lumber preaches its strategy with a book of guiding principles called “The Intelligent Lumberman.” What’s your mantra?

29. Reward gate guards with a small bonus for spotting errors in loads. You’ll likely recoup the added cost by saving yourself an extra trip out to the jobsite. Plus, it keeps everyone accountable.

30. Hand-write a birthday card for every employee. It’ll help you remember everyone’s names and remind them they’re part of a team.