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Spring Time Inspection

— By Tom Fife

You can go around your yard looking for the pitfalls that slow your operation down; or just ask your load builders, receiving personnel and drivers! Pay special attention this time of year to those bumps and potholes in your yard – some may be quite new to you.

I know in most yards it’s almost a game to see if you can drive around those potholes and ruts and build a load without being stung! How many times have you or your workers approached the dreaded bump or hole with a load built, creeping up to it and trying so slowly to make your way over the problem area only to find the load falling off your forks and having to be picked up again? You can probably hear the shouts of frustration as one after another tries their best not to lose materials off the forks. The worst is when you have to restack the load and try it again only to have a row or two go tumbling right back down to the ground. Welcome to “double handling” - compliments of your roadway!

It’s frustrating and demoralizing to deal with these kinds of repairable challenges. A small hole or bump may not seem like much, but it is a daily bone of contention with your people. In my seminars, literally everyone holds up their hands when I ask if they have some kind of obstacles that are driving them crazy and slowing them down on a daily basis. The statements fly: “Why doesn’t management do something about them?” “Don’t they care what we are going through out here?” They will lament that they have tried to get the areas addressed only to be told there’s no money for that concern. That’s just saying it’s not a priority. This means skilled workers are spending valuable time filling in holes with gravel, dirt or some kind of patchwork that invariably gives way to the dreaded hole. I can tell you from first hand experience it does drive you crazy!

How would you like it if every time you tried to type a letter or document you had one key that would delete everything if you didn’t hit it just right, so you had to begin once again knowing you were going to get back to the same trouble key again before you could finish the job. I bet a few computers would get thrown out the window. The same plight faces your yard personnel on a daily basis.

A spring time inspection of the physical needs of your operation is essential to getting ahead of the operational hazards that winter weather brought. I urge you to walk around your yard to see it for yourself and confer with your team members to ease troubled minds and increase productively. While you’re at it, take a look at your fork lift seats. Are they in need of repair for the coming season? The cracks that appear after the winter will deteriorate and make your seats way too uncomfortable for optimal performance at the minimum and a safety hazard at the worst. Take a look at the forks to see if they need leveling or shaping to be ready to slice and dice in the spring rush. Forks are often the reason for damaging materials by splitting them like a giant hot dog stick!

We must deal with the physical challenges that face every aspect of our operation. No, I’m not saying that you need to run right out, re-pave your yard and buy new forklifts. We can live with some obstacles along the way; however, an easily fixed problem addresses two very important things. One, it shows we care about the working conditions of our people and two, it improves our chances for being more efficient, which falls to our old friend the bottom line. I can help just holler.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Fife is an industry NSA speaker/trainer/consultant specializing in operations, management skills, customer service and motivation. Contact him at Challenges Inc. 812-330-1640 or and visit www.tomfife.com for additional seminar topic program information.

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New Opportunities Emerge as a New Generation Enters the Workforce

— By Greg Brooks

A few months ago, a group of dealers approached me about developing a seminar on managing the next generation of workers. I have to admit I was not 100% sold.

Not that I wasn't interested. I've done enough research to be convinced that the housing industry will change more in the next decade than it has in the past three as Baby Boomers retire and Millennials, now in their teens and twenties, start buying homes. It's not that I don't think the topic is important, either. Attracting young talent is the most pressing long-range challenge dealers face.

But the attitude some managers have toward "spoiled, narcissistic layabouts who cannot spell and waste too much time on instant messaging and Facebook," as The Economist put it, sounded like the same "kids today don't want to work" theme my generation heard in our teens and twenties. If so, managing the next one is easy: 1) Forget the notion that the world is going to hell in a handbasket just because it isn't like it was 30 years ago, and 2) deal with it.

That's not the whole story, though. While it's easy to over-generalize, each generational cohort is shaped by different circumstances. Like Baby Boomers (now in their late 40s to mid-60s) and GenXers (late 20s to late 40s), Millennials bring unique talents to the job. The trick is harnessing them.

In contrast to GenXers, many of whom grew up as latchkey kids of divorced parents during the unstable 1970s and 80s, both Baby Boomers and Millennials were raised during periods of prosperity and strong emphasis on family values. Boomers' parents tended toward the benevolently authoritarian "Father Knows Best" stereotype. Millennials' parents-mostly Boomers-see themselves as mentors, friends, and protectors.

Millennials are less inclined to rebel against authority as a result, but they also believe they deserve an explanation and have a right to express their opinions. That takes more of a manager's time, but it's not bad-if you can't explain why you do things the way you do, it's probably time to rethink them, anyway. If they give you an idea you can use, they just took ownership for the result.

Millennials also grew up in a far more structured environment than Boomers. Growing up in the 50s, I got booted outside each day after school and told to go play. Millennials were shuttled from soccer to karate to theater to ballet; I've heard stories about ten-year-olds carrying DayTimers.

The upshot is that many are better-organized, more goal-oriented, and more collaborative than we were at the same age (sometimes even now). They like concrete goals and regular feedback, which managers should be providing regardless. They also prefer working in teams, which presents another opportunity. Team selling is by far the best way to minimize dependence on lone-wolf salespeople, but most dealers who have tried it failed due to resistance from their veterans. Your up-and-coming Millennial sales force is much more likely to embrace the idea.

As for their reputation as serial job-hoppers, guilty as charged but with a caveat: The typical college student today graduates $20,000 in debt and earns 8% less than he or she did in 2000. They need to make money now or see a path to make it in the future, and that's yet another opportunity. No one considers the building supply business these days-we don't even show up on rankings of preferred careers-but this is one of the last industries where a front-line worker can support a family on a single salary. So what are you doing to communicate that?

Last but not least, Millennials need a higher purpose. Over half performed community service in high school; they believe they can change the world and they're determined to do it as adults. That's a simple one: not "We sell lumber," but "We co-manage construction projects to build homes more affordably and conserve natural resources."

Flowery? Absolutely, but in the end, it's exactly what you do. If you're proud of it, they will be, too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Greg Brooks is president of the Building Supply Channel, Inc., in New Albany, Ind., a training and research firm dedicated to the construction supply industry.

Brooks is a 40-year industry veteran who spent 20 years in the field, including three as a framing contractor and remodeler. He is a former editor of Hanley-Wood's ProSales and currently a columnist with the magazine, author of Construction Supply Outlook 2008, and a steering committee member at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Brooks is a nationally-known speaker on building product distribution trends who has conducted workshops for thousands of industry executives throughout North America. Contact Greg at 303-845-4880 or .

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Go "Green" with Masonite®

Masonite Safe ’N Sound® Interior Doors
Environmentally Responsible, Beautiful to Look at and Sound-Reducing for Enhanced Privacy

There’s no need to sacrifice design or quality for environmental stewardship with Masonite Safe ’N Sound® “green” interior door construction. These beautiful doors are truly environmentally responsible and offer a great solution for “green” specifiers and consumers.

Masonite makes it easy to go green with their interior doors. Available from Huttig, Masonite Safe ‘N Sound doors boast green features such as better air quality making it the perfect choice for your customers. They feature low formaldehyde/VOC emissions, low emissions adhesives and sealants and no added urea-formaldehyde giving your customers’ the peace of mind they deserve. The environmentally preferred products are manufactured in safe, environmentally compliant plants and made with recycled content, so you can rest assured you’re selling your customers the greenest interior door available.

Featuring a wide selection of designs including Masonite’s Anniversary Collection and Classic Molded Panel Series, going green also means going beautiful. These doors are perfect for specifiers working on a green project as they satisfy virtually any design or application requirement such as LEED certification and the strict CARB (California Air Resources Board) air quality standards, while maintaining the high quality characteristics Masonite customers have come to expect.

Plus, Masonite’s Safe ’N Sound doors answer the call for a “Green” sound-reducing interior door, significantly reducing sound transmission versus a standard hollow-core flush door. The door features a solid core manufactured with DorCor™, a low density fiberboard made from wheat straw, an annually renewable, agricultural, wheat by-product.

These beautiful doors are available in a variety of widths which allow your customers to coordinate interior doors with matching passage and bifold doors. Plus, you can stock the perfect height door for their needs as they are offered in 6'8", 7'0", or 8'0".

Earn Best Buy gift cards by purchasing these doors now – click here for more details

To learn more about Masonite’s environmentally beautiful interior doors, contact your local Huttig rep today.

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Therma-Tru® Introduces New Website

Therma-Tru believes every customer visit to their website should be a great experience, with easy to find information on products that best fit their needs. With that in mind, we’ve redesigned the Therma-Tru website for faster and easier navigation.

For You
The website still features an entire section dedicated to dealers that makes doing business with Therma-Tru even easier, including:

• Dealers that become TTQ users can quickly and easily build and quote any entry and patio door system (check with your Huttig rep for more information on TTQ)
• Additional information on new products and co-op advertising
• Latest newsletters on industry trends and products

For Your Customers
The new website is a one-stop shop and inspirational search tool for entry and patio doors. Site enhancements include

• Easy product selection
• Ability for customers to quickly design exactly what they want
• Easy search for specific characteristics such as impact rated and Energy Star certified products
• An improved homepage that allows people to jump directly into Therma-Tru’s product catalog

To check out the new site, visit www.thermatru.com and contact your local Huttig rep to order your Therma-Tru doors.

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Welcome to HuttigDealer.com, the Huttig Customer Connections Online Portal!

We at Huttig Central Florida are excited about this new online portal and think you will find it to be a valuable resource. It is a great spot to find the latest product information and special promotions for Huttig dealers. The online portal also allows you to view the new electronic Dealer Digest- offering all of the same content as the printed version, plus more beneficial features.

The new electronic Dealer Digest now has two feature articles each month- one with a sales and marketing approach and the other with an operational focus. This month Tom Fife shares the benefits of doing a springtime inspection at your yard while Greg Brooks dishes out advice on working with younger generations.

I encourage you to explore the site and give your feedback through the SURVEY tab. You even have the chance to win $50! And, don’t forget you can share this site with other people at your company by visiting the FORWARD TO A FRIEND tab. Remember, your information is safe with us- we will never sell it to third parties.

We will continue to update HuttigDealer.com, so check back for the latest information.

Thanks for your continued support of Huttig Central Florida and Happy Spring!

Craig Perkins • Central Florida GM •

Tax Incentives with Therma-Tru®

Please take a moment and download this month's Featured Flyer from Therma-Tru which highlights the tax incentives of their qualified energy efficient door systems.

 

Download Flyer

This link will take you to a new window that features the Electronic Dealer Digest and Customer Connections Online Portal survey.

By taking a moment to answer 5 quick questions and provide feedback on the new electronic version of Customer Connections, you will be registered for a chance to win one of ten $50 Visa® Gift Cards.

Thanks for your time! Take the survey now