Getting buy-in from contractor back office teams to make a change can be daunting. But what’s the risk of not making the change?

Brian and Gary discuss adopting Workforce Management transformation among construction contractors and the importance of team buy-in, with new co-host Dustin Acker, RIVET Implementation Manager. They share insights from contractors that have captured the power of the labor operations process and the power of RIVET, how labor requests impact project budgets and a team approach to Workforce Management.

“Contractors that have made the change are kicking ass — their profit margins are up, their efficiencies are up, their productivity is up, and they have fewer employees.” — Gary Fuchs

They break down creating an executive vision that can be shared with the team and how to map objectives to the vision for a successful implementation.

The Hot Seat is a burden disguised as a promotion. Some shops call it Director of Field Force. Others, Superintendent. Regardless of the name, it’s a tough job. How long can you ride the lightning before burning out?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Becoming the company firefighter isn’t something you’ll just have to accept because, well, construction is hard. Hopping from job site to job site to job site fixing labor problems doesn’t have to be the norm.

“A little fire prevention helps. The fires aren’t roaring up everywhere you look because you’re doing a better job managing. That alleviates the burden on that individual quite a bit.” – Gary Fuchs

A Workforce Management platform can help prevent losing your most experienced employees to extreme stress. This week, Brian Witt and Gary Fuchs offer their insights on one of the most exhausting jobs for a contractor.

Building your own Workforce Management platform is expensive. On top of that, makeshift scheduling tools can’t withstand the test of time and will leave you in a lurch when they inevitably fail. Your people will find the limitations of your software far faster than you expect. It’s a lot harder than it might seem too, because writing spreadsheet macros doesn’t necessarily translate to building and maintaining a piece of software. This week’s episode takes a deep dive on the hidden hardships of building your own WFM tool.

Let’s talk about Superintendents. Who are they, and what do they do? This episode is dedicated to the hardworking people in this mission-critical role that are notoriously burdened by administrative tasks and outdated tools to do their job.

The devil is in the details. This episode of Construction is Hard takes a look at the perils of runaway detailing budgets.

You probably know a Two Week Thomas. Ask him how much longer he’s on a project, and he’ll always give the same answer: Two weeks.

“He becomes the guy in the trailer and he’s doing all kinds of things. He’s emptying the garbage, you know, he’s keeping the copier full of paper. He’s sweeping the floors.

He’s doing everything, right? He’s running out in the field to answer field questions. He has no real incentive to come off the job. They need him there. He knows he’s needed there.”

He’s sinking your detailing budget.

This season is all about “lumps of coal,” AKA actionable insights that can lead to better business outcomes. For more about Two Week Thomas and life before AutoCAD, listen to the latest episode of Construction is Hard.

We continue our chat with Toby Mitchell from Classic Electric & Consulting about tech adoption for contractors. They dive into how software companies are perceived and how important it is to ensure contractors are the right fit for adopting a tool — or it results in a “failed marriage.”

Season 2 is here, and this time we brought a friend! Hosts Brian Witt and Gary Fuchs are joined by Toby Mitchell, president of Classic Electric & Consulting. Toby shares insights from his paper, providing a simplified guideline and a starting point for contractors who need a roadmap to make confident decisions when adopting new technology.

During the first ever episode of the Construction is Hard Podcast, the crew discusses how Inconsistent Workforce Management is the norm across construction. It’s not standard to do labor planning for all projects, but it should be.

On this episode of the Construction is Hard podcast, Brian & Gary crack open the basics of the Workforce Management business practice uniquely tailored to self-perform and MEP contractors. With technology evolving in construction, the business practice is evolving too.

It’s common in construction to find labor coordinators in a stressed position, and that’s usually because they don’t have the right platform. Without technology in place, the people and processes take on the weight. Learn about Gary and Brian’s history in Workforce Management, and how they landed at RIVET to focus on specialty contractors in need of a tool fit to the task.

A deep dive into the first pillar of Workforce Management pillars: Forecast. Forecasting is a hot topic — it seems like everyone is chasing it. Brian & Gary break down forecasting and discuss misconceptions related to mixing up project planning with long-term forecasting.

We’re on Pillar 2 of the Workforce Management Business Practice. If you’re short on labor, but also behind on maintaining your workforce Roster in a software platform, you’re not set up for success in your field operations. Brian and Gary guide MEP and Self Perform contractors on a successful foundation for Rostering.

What is Scheduling? Brian and Gary go deep on the differences between project and workforce scheduling, who should be doing scheduling, who should be scheduled, how to avoid playing musical chairs, and why it all comes together in a platform fit to the task.

Join Brian, Gary & special guest Toby Mitchell from Classic Electric & Consulting on the fourth pillar in the WFM Business Practice: Communications. We define Communications as the active push of information to pertinent parties. Why hasn’t construction adopted better forms of communication? It’s perplexing. The reason: there haven’t been platforms to create the right foundation, creating a “Central Nervous System” so information can be sent the way it should be.

Why are we talking about Information? Imagine printing out a colored CAD drawing. All the systems are different colors – the power is blue, the fire alarm is red, etc. But then you send the black and white version of the drawing out to the field to save money. The fifth pillar of Workforce Management is Information because prioritizing it can transform your organization from controlled chaos to controlled transparency. Join Brian, Gary & special guest Toby Mitchell from Classic Electric & Consulting breaking down field information, a source of truth and controlled transparency.

Join Brian and Gary on the sixth pillar in the WFM Business Practice: Productivity. We define Productivity as “units of work placed or produced per man hour.” And it’s not to be confused with Earned Value Analysis, that’s a management and planning technique that measures productivity. Measuring it against your Labor Plan can alert you to profit fade before it’s too late.

You’ve implemented the six pillars of Workforce Management. Now what? Sticking to it with a Workforce Management platform, ensuring strict processes and guardrails are in place across the organization to keep things running smoothly. Join Brian & Gary for a conversation all about Discipline.

In the season one finale, Brian & Gary go deep on R.O.I. — return on investment. When you marry Workforce Management principles with a tool fit to the task, you open doors to achieving profits and efficiencies that couldn’t have possibly existed before. Learn the differences between Hard R.O.I. and Soft R.O.I., and how changing up your reporting style can make everyone’s life easier.