CHAPTER 4

Driving a Company Culture

Finding quality employees, then keeping them for the long haul can increase the stability and productivity of any company. With the labor shortages in the trades, that’s even more important. To nurture your workforce, build a company culture that empowers and rewards everyone.

SECTION 6 OF 8

Effective Delegation

Company owners in the skilled trades can have control or they can have growth.  But they can’t have both.  

To grow, leadership must learn to delegate responsibility and authority to create an empowered team that takes action.  By reducing the number of tasks or responsibilities assigned to any given individual, delegation frees time for that individual to focus on top priorities that can make the biggest impact. 

Knowing when to delegate is a key factor in the success of a leader.  Common reasons to delegate include:

  • When someone else can perform the task better.

  • When someone else can be trained to perform the task at least 80 percent as well.  

  • When it’s a repetitive task that can be accomplished using a proven system or checklist.   

  • When the task is urgent and can’t be accomplished efficiently alone.

  • When other tasks are of equal or greater importance. 

  • When the task isn’t a strength or passion. 

Fear of delegation holds many contractors back. The common mentality is that “no one can do this job as well as I can.” 

Once a contractor understands when to delegate, growth can follow. The next question to answer? How. 

The contractors who are the most successful at delegating begin by making a list of “hats” they are wearing, or roles they are filling within the company. 

The contractor can then assess the list to see where he or she is the most valuable to the company. That adds focus for the contractor, and transfers some authority and responsibility to other employees. But delegating tasks without delegating that authority and responsibility is a recipe for failure. That gives others the idea that items are being dumped on them without the accompanying power to control the outcome.

But that can be easily avoided.

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