CE Pro September 2022 - 53

Labor Management
Gets Personal
" I used to like sending birthday
cards to all my people,
and I did my best to know
about their families ... what
they like to do and retain
information about their personal
lives as much as I could.
It's very important and it's
even more important today.
The money that you need to
pay these people has gotten
excessive in some cases, and
so you need other connections
beyond just money.
That increases your chances
of holding on to somebody
from going to another company
that waves more dollars
in front of them, " he says.
Streamline Software
Selection
" Once you get mired in multiple
pieces of software, you're
ultimately wasting time, not
saving time. And time is the
most precious commodity
that we have both on the job
and off the job. End-to-end
software has come a long,
long way in our industry.
Years ago, we were never big
enough to attract the attention
of the big-time software
guys to create something
specifically for our industry so
everything was off the shelf
and had to be modified. Once
you start modifying software,
it costs time implementation.
It all takes forever.
" I am not going to endorse
one piece of software
over the other, but I advise
dealers that they don't
have make their proposals
overly fancy. Years ago it was
acceptable to do proposals
in Excel. The truth is a client
skips the last page anyway,
but it's all about time and
time management. "
whether it's the project
manager or the principal,
actually see the finished
product when it's in place
" The old maxim
is: Inspect What
You Expect. I don't
think enough
people, whether
it's the project
manager or the
principal, actually
see the finished
product. "
-Franklin Karp,
founder, Franklin
Karp & Co.
forcement. This doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as
simple as sending an uplifting email about an employee's job
performance.
You can also be positive when things aren't going so well.
This is where leaders in the most successful company cultures
make a considerable impact. They're confident enough
to transparently admit their own mistakes, and they have
sufficient confidence in their team to accept with grace
when others also make mistakes.
Are you setting an open tone? Are you transparent and
candid? Are you providing the kind of positive energy that
employees look for in their careers? If so, you're helping to
build the type of culture that's required to retain top talent.
True culture - the kind that isn't manufactured and that
doesn't only appear as words on the wall - is inherent in
everything a company does.
In my experience, this begins with asking yourself one
simple question: How can I contribute to this culture today?
Ponder that question frequently. Then, take personal responsibility
to make your organization a great place to work.
Author DON MASTRO is vice president of sales at AVI
Systems and an NSCA board member.
cepro.com
Adhere to Standards
& Best Practices
" I think standards and
practices is something that
a lot of integrators say they
do but very few actually do
what they say they're doing,
or even understand that
there is a much better way to
do it, " says Karp.
" Almost every integrator
uses the least expensive
RJ-45 jack they can buy. I
can tell you from firsthand
experience how many times
a service call was generated
because that cheap RJ-45
jack was used and the cable
came loose. That costs you
to roll a truck to go and plug
that RJ-45 jack back in. Also,
many guys rush their jobs
and then a problem occurs
and you've got an unhappy
client. The old maxim is:
Inspect What You Expect. I
don't think enough people,
and inspected.
" A client doesn't want to
see the integrator's guys
walking around with a laptop
trying to figure something
out. That does not give them
a high sense of confidence
to see the technician still on
the job tinkering. "
Forming a
Succession Plan
" It's incredibly important
to the rest of your staff,
because you do want that
business to continue, you
have an obligation to service
those clients. Having
a plan, it's not just for the
ownership or leadership
of a company; some cases
you have a key technology
person, a guru, that
person shouldn't be the
only server that has all the
knowledge. That has to be
looked at as well.
" The interesting thing
about the integration
business is everybody has
inflated belief about the
value of your company ...
most people don't have a
clear idea of the numbers.
What's EBIDTA? Having
the right financial plan,
having the right person
advising you or advising
the next generation -
whether it's family or you're
planning to do a leveraged
buyout to your employees
... being open and honest
and showing where you
are, and having people with
a working knowledge of
what's in your business, will
help them believe in your
business. " CE Pro
September 2022 CE Pro | 53
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CE Pro September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CE Pro September 2022
