Labor Planning every job helps you sidestep problems before they start
Schedule compression happens. So does schedule slippage. These have always existed, but today they’re a lot more common. Gillespie Electric used to just throw bodies at these problems. If you’re managing labor with a spreadsheet, seeing the ripple effects of that tactic before they bite you is impossible.
Ops manager Ed Tryon said with the RIVET Workforce Management platform, “it becomes apparent that you’ve got to deal with it right up front and not wait until two months from now when it becomes a big headache.”
Tryon recently joined us for a webinar presented by Construction Executive to talk about the impact Labor Planning and Workforce Management have had on Gillespie. At his shop, Labor Planning starts with the estimating team.
Forecasting jobs in pursuit
An estimator will want to do a bid review to talk through the job. How many hours are needed to complete it on time, a projected start and stop dates, any milestones involved with hitting those.
“We used to thumbnail that when we did the bid review,” Tryon said. “Now I put that prospective job in [RIVET] as a prospective job and we Forecast” the amount of labor they’ll need for it. Because Gillespie Labor Plans every job – all the way down to small two-man projects – Tryon always knows how much manpower he’ll need to tackle not just active jobs, but those in pursuit too.
“You know that you need more manpower to support where they’re going with those estimates,” he said. “Is that the right thing for your business? It might be a growth opportunity, it might be that perfect customer.”
If it’s not, you’re going to strain company resources because you don’t have a project manager to run the job. Or a field leader with the right skill set. Maybe there isn’t enough cashflow to support the additional manpower. The heart of the matter is you can’t see where you’re going because you don’t know where you’re at.
Without a purpose-built tool, managing labor is a guessing game. It’s time to change the rules.
See what a Workforce Management platform can do for your specialty contracting business, schedule a demo today.