With rising interest rates and skyrocketing costs for insurance, as well as increased customer expectations, wouldn’t it be nice to have a little magic pixie dust for the homebuilding industry? Why, you’d just sprinkle a little over each subdivision and your houses would be of higher quality, free of defects, stellar customer satisfaction, and your profit margins would increase. Yes, that would certainly be nice. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of any such concoction!
However, if you’re looking for something to invest in and reap those rewards all builders are seeking—risk mitigation, customer satisfaction, and profit protection—I have a suggestion. Invest in those around you. George Casey, President of Arvida’s Mid-Atlantic division, highlighted this very point during his presentation at the 2003 Benchmark Conference. “People and process improvement are at the very core of maximizing a homebuilder’s return on assets. They make the difference between mediocre and outstanding financial performance. For me, training your people in the most important aspects of construction quality and customer satisfaction is a no-brainer; it will pay you multiple dividends. Unfortunately, providing clear, concise, consistent principles, and best practice solutions quickly and across all divisions is one of the biggest challenges we all face as growing builders.”
Your employees, as well as those of your vendors, are some of your company’s greatest assets, but we often think of land positions, model homes, office equipment, and construction materials first. Increasing return on assets means maximizing the productivity and consistency of both your employees and your trade partners as they approach their daily tasks. In doing so, you will inherently begin to create a learning culture within your organization, a business environment that promotes learning, and a means to improve your bottom line.
As the industry’s leading provider of web-based training and education, BuildIQ can help you to broaden your team with the knowledge and skills necessary to consistently deliver quality homes that meet your customers’ expectations—at closing, through the warranty period, and beyond. The BuildIQ University curriculum teaches industry best practices and regionalized construction solutions on critical issues including Mold Prevention & Water Management, Foundations, Drywall & Paint, and Building Science. In addition, BuildIQ offers training in Customer Relations. You can learn more about BuildIQ’s current course curriculum by visiting their website at www.BuildIQ.com.
In 2004, BuildIQ will be expanding its course offerings to address safety and OSHA regulations and other fundamental “Building Blocks,” including Framing, HVAC, and Plumbing. With this growing curriculum, a builder can create a learning path for each employee or employee of a trade partner to provide them with the skills they’ll need to do their job consistently and correctly all the time. However, web-based training can’t fully replace the individualized attention provided through mentoring. Nor can it replicate the merits of group discussion and role-playing offered by classroom training. In order to maximize knowledge retention, BuildIQ recommends formalizing a blended approach to employee development, one that requires both commitment and discipline to implement and sustain.
To learn more about the business benefits of a learning organization and tactics you can employ to achieve them, read Ten Steps to a Learning Organization by Peter Kline available online at amazon.com. Or, you can visit BuildIQ at the International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, January 19 through 22. And, please let me know if you find any of that magic pixie dust!
-Glenn Cottrell
Glenn is the Program Manager for Builder Universities at BuildIQ. He can be contacted via email at gcottrell@buildiq.com. |
