When you consider
all that has happened in the last decade, it’s tempting to say that everything
has changed. But has it?
Yes, there have
been startling leaps in the equipment and the systems that allow us to wring
ever greater productivity from them. Yes, we’ve witnessed wholesale changes in
the regulations that define so many of our actions. For certain we’ve seen a
significant turnover in our workforce in terms of age and background. Now we’re
confronted with an economy in turmoil, a high degree of certainly that we’re all
going to have to tighten our spending belts, a relative uncertainty as to what
the recently elected Congress and Administration will bring to the table, and
the specter of inflation looming on the horizon. So what does this have to do
with the way we conduct our business? Hopefully not a whole
lot.
When I look back
at my very first Editor’s Comments, I see that even in the lap of tremendous
upheaval, what was true then is no less true today ... if anything, even more
so.
You know what the
margin between success and failure is. You know that every time you turn around,
the competition has gotten stiffer. The insurance rates higher. The regulators
meaner. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in the middle of a building boom or a
depression, does it? Even if you’ve been around for a while and carved out a
niche for yourself, doesn’t it seem that instead of being able to relax a little
and enjoy the fruits of success, you’re having to work twice as hard as before
just to try to stay where you are? And you better believe that it’s going to get
even tougher ... that these here and now are destined to become the good old
days.
In subsequent
issues, we clicked off what we felt were the keys to success, eventually
encapsulating them in what thereafter we’ve considered the cornerstones for the
publication.
Cornerstones
Succinctly put,
they are:
Workforce—Your workers’ commitment to you and your goals is
the single most important asset you have. When you look at the people who work
for you, do you like what you see? If so, you’re on the right track. If not then
it’s time you reexamined your own practices as the first step to
change.
Safety—It’s hard not to look at safety in terms of
accidents, but that’s only part of the equation. True, they’re the yardstick by
which others—notably OSHA, insurers, and potential customers—will evaluate you,
but they’re only the outer manifestation of a more fundamental condition. Safety
is a process that leads to where every single one of your employees, when he or
she looks in a mirror, realizes, “This is the person responsible for my safety,”
and that vision starts with you.
Regulations—There are the direct measures of regulatory
compliance, where failure is reflected in such costs as fines and make-goods.
But as with safety, the real measure lies in an inner commitment to doing things
the right way rather than just meeting the prescribed requirements. While it may
be tempting to say to yourself that “good enough” is sufficient, you know that
anything short of excellence will come home to roost ... and if you don’t, your
customers will.
Technology—Change is upon us. Features such as integrated
worksite communications management, machine control, automated diagnostics and
reporting, and even partial robotics are emerging. It’s not enough to accept
them as inevitable, to take advantage of them you have to make a commitment not
merely to their mechanics but to the underlying principles from which they
spring.
The
Rest of the Story
Your ability to
access, digest, and apply pertinent information is the remainder of the
equation.
In the military
sense, this is intelligence, involving exposure to the knowledge and vision of
others, beginning with the experience of your professional advisors, peers, and
those whose job it is to look into what the future is likely to
hold.
It is here that
Grading & Excavation Contractor fits in as what I hope you will find as a
good servant in your quest for success.