In the second step to worker retention, Brad examines the “90-Day Plan.”
The 90-Day Plan is a strategically developed action plan that lines out what a new worker’s first weeks with their new company will entail. Is there anything magical about “90-Days”? Well, sort of! Listen as Brad explains in greater detail. Enjoy!
TRANSCRIPT:
Any contractor knows that retaining workers takes a huge effort. No leader is “off the hook” from working to keep workers on-board and committed to staying with their employer. Interesting new research demonstrates that even an employee peer group is quite influential to the new employee staying with their new employer longer.
In our first article on how to retain our workers, I introduced seven steps that many contractors have embraced with success. They are:
Step #1 – “On-Boarding”
Step #2 – The 90-Day Plan
Step #3 – Skill Training
Step #4 – Coaching & Mentoring
Step #5 – Engagement/Participation
Step #6 – Responsibility Enhancement
Step #7 – Performance Review
While not every contractor excels at each of the steps, at some point they realize that all seven of the steps are critical to any serious attempt to retain workers. And with a great shortage of workers for our construction industry current in play, it is imperative that every contractor consider what they might do to find, hire, and hold on to those “precious assets” we call employees.
We will pick up today then with our second step to employee retention, something I call the “90-Day Plan.”
The 90-Day Plan is a strategically developed action plan that lines out for a new worker, what their first weeks with their new company will entail. Is there anything magical about “90-Days”? Well, sort of! Let me explain.
For companies with greater than fifty employees, the attention paid to being more compliant with government employee standards is important. Most companies recognize that it is important to provide a period of ninety-days to allow there to be a thorough opportunity for the new worker to prove their potential to a company and to allow the employee to recognize if the company is the sort of company they would like to work for.
Certainly most contractors will tell you that they have their opinions formed about a new worker much sooner than 90-days, the fact is, allowing a “probation” time period does allow for greater review, assessment, and prevents a rush to judgment. However, most companies that formally commit to a 90-day period of such review fail to have any real plan for a new employee. Here’s the typical first few days for a new employee.
- Introductions to co-workers and leaders
- General orientation to company policies
- “Go to work…and figure things out!” I.e. Employee is “turned loose” to see what they can do
While the above points may be a little exaggerated, the efforts are not far off for many contractors…of all sizes. Think about this reality for a newly hired employee. When they arrive for their first day of work they have invisible antennae on “high alert” listening, watching, and sensing anything and everything that confirms for them about the decision they made to join the new contractor. Personalities, smiles, tones of voices, jokes, manners, and amount of attention are all just a sample of the things that a new worker will be sensitive to experience.
And when that new worker arrives at home after their first day at work, and if that worker has a spouse, significant other, or even just a room-mate, you can be sure that at least one question will be asked of the new worker, “How was your first day?”
How that new employee answers this question is totally based on how they interpreted their first day of reading the workplace and the people they just spent time with. What sort of impression do you imagine would be realized by a new worker at your work place…on their first day?
This is why I developed something that I call simply the “The 90-Day Plan.” It’s not magic, but it does provide you with a bonafide strategy to share with your new workers on their first day. Just imagine the positive first impression a new employee might have for your company if on the first day they received, as part of their first day orientation, a well thought out plan for their first ninety-days?
While such a plan might scare some new workers, it will more likely have a positive impact on the employees’ mental attitude, as they clearly understand that your company is prepared for their participation. The “plan” also sends a strong signal that they are expected to be better prepared to contribute sooner rather than later.
While every 90-Day Plan created can be different for every new employee, there probably are several items that might appear on most of your new worker’s first ninety days of work. Let me share with you a sample 90-Day Plan for a Crew Foreman. Look more at the range of things that are presented during the first ninety days rather than the specifics. Obviously what you might create would be tailored to your organization and the job that you hired the new employee to complete.
The 90-Day Plan for Crew Foreman
Wk #1 – General Information About Company, Policies, and Walk-Through of Employee Handbook
Wk #2 – Focus Time Discussing Leadership Skills & Techniques
Wk #3 – Focus Time on Job Scheduling & Planning
Wk #4 – Training on Construction “Math” to Improve Calculating Productivity Rates and Projected Manpower
Wk #5 – Review of Company Equipment, Vehicles, Tools Needs and Maintenance & Operating Requirements
Wk #6 – Discuss Industry, Challenges, and Trends
Wk #7 – Training on Building Teamwork for Construction Crews
Wk #8 – Communication Training to Improve Interactions with Different Personalities
Wk #9 – Training on Coaching & Counseling Employees
Wk #10 – Review of Material Use, Advantages, and Options
Wk #11 – Introduction to Improving Customer Retention Through Satisfaction Techniques
Wk #12 – Developing the Crew Foreman’s Strategy for Growing Crew Productivity, Quality, and Safety
Now, there are a few other “secrets” to making this approach more beneficial to both the company and the individual.
First, there should be a weekly “pop quiz” every Friday for the first twelve weeks. The pop quiz can be verbal or written and should not necessarily be conducted to “flunk” the new worker. In fact, just the opposite intent should be in play. For example, to have some fun with the new worker, the questions for the pop quiz at the end of Week #1 might include some of the following questions:
- Where are the rest rooms for the Women and Men?
- What are the hours of the company?
- What are the company colors?
- What type of construction did you experience this week?
- What is the name of two employees you met this week?
You can see from this list that the first weeks questions are softball. Not intended to trip up anyone but simply to remind the worker that the company expects them to retain some of what they learned during their first week. Certainly the questions can become a bit more challenging as the weeks proceed.
Second, the worker should be engaged with work and their peers as soon as possible. Short of positioning a new worker in an unsafe work situation, the sooner the new worker can join their peers and begin to get a feel of the tasks involved the better the worker will be motivated. While there may be some weekly topics for training or discussion, the contractor needs to expose the new worker to their specialty of construction as quickly as possible, even if the new worker comes from a similar background. The contractor must demonstrate why their company is different from the company the new worker just left.
Third, the new worker should have a “partner” while at the workplace for the first twelve weeks. The “partner” might be a fellow crew or department worker but the more important role is for the partner to check in with the new worker at least once a day to see how the “newbie” is getting along. Such extra attention can really go far in winning the new worker over to the culture of the contractor AND, such a relationship also provides the contractor with another employee’s opinion about the new worker.
Fourth, a “lessons learned” report from the new worker. Like the pop quiz addressed earlier, contractors can gently push new workers to be more alert and interested in learning their new role. Here’s what I would recommend a contractor ask from the new worker to verbally report to their senior leader each Friday, just before the quiz. Have the new worker answer the following three questions:
- What did you learn this week?
- What did you learn that will improve your performance or behavior?
- What did you learn that will help this company be better?
The questions are simple and really allow the new worker to demonstrate their awareness and their attention to what was presented them during the week. A contractor might be surprised at how many new workers, even management level, “sleep walk” their first few weeks. It’s almost as if the new worker is enjoying their lack of accountability.
Well, the 90-Day Plan will not cure all of your new employee learning needs but it will set your construction company apart from many of your competitors. Remember, raising the excellence at your company can be done through a number of means. The 90-Day Plan…is just one method to building long-term employees.
Make the first 90-Days work for you and your new workers!
Brad Humphrey
The Contractor’s Best Friend™
