Power Design Ramps Up Services to Beat the Competition
Since the Great Recession finished laying waste to much of the Southeast construction industry, an increasingly robust rebound has taken hold across the region as most market sectors generate more work than many specialty contractors can chase. As this reshaping of the construction landscape has unfolded, specialty firms and general contractors alike have focused not only on improving their technological skills-think BIM-capable iPads on every job-but also on the main issue limiting their opportunities, finding good workers.
With an untold number of seasoned craftsmen having chosen to leave the industry for good during the downturn, firms today are often struggling to find experienced workers, and are instead hiring and developing younger workers, often referred to as millennials.
One firm that is successfully attracting millennials-and non-millennials, too-by building a workplace culture that drives high levels of both performance and engagement is St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Power Design Inc., this year's Specialty Contractor of the Year.
"The commitment to our culture is something I love," says Joseph Micallef, regional vice president at the firm. "We work hard, but we play hard. And we try to give employees that extra something that makes them want to stay."
That approach is not only garnering recognition from industry-the company has boosted staff by 19% so far this year-but from national media, too. Earlier this year, Power Design placed 43rd on Forbes' list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials. The electrical contractor earned that ranking based partly on input from employees, who rated the company on numerous criteria. In the Forbes piece, anonymous employee comments noted the "unmatched" freedom to work independently as well as "great opportunities" to grow.
Overall, says Frank Musolino, executive vice president, "There's a level of energy here that's nice."
There's also a "nice" bump in revenue going on at the electrical contracting firm. The bounce has been powered significantly by its expanding multifamily portfolio in South Florida, where its clients include condo heavyweights like Plaza Construction, Coastal Construction and Suffolk Construction, among others-and where it's working on projects like the Richard Meier-designed Surf Club and Jade Signature, designed by Herzog and de Meuron.
As a result, the company saw its Southeast revenue jump by 69% in 2014, for an $89.15-million total-or about $36 million better than in 2013. Additionally, that growth pushed the company up 11 spots to 13th overall on the Top Specialty Contractor ranking.
People Skills
As with other construction and design firms that have managed to reshape themselves since the recession, Power Design officials credit an evolved mind-set toward workers.
Saying "it took a few years to recover," Trisha Peare, human resources manager, says the contractor used the slowdown to "invest in the company and invest in our employees." Part of that involved implementing a one-week training course for all workers, including field managers, that brings staff up to speed on company policies and, notably, values. Or, as Peare says, "the company culture and why we're here."
In 2008, Power Design initiated Project V5, a company-wide, employee-driven program that identified five key corporate values: integrity, accountability, teamwork, innovation and growth. Additionally, the contractor created a related program, called Answering the Call for Excellence, or ACE, that recognizes employees every quarter for upholding those values.
Project V5 distinguishes itself from standard corporate-values efforts via its charitable function. Funded by the collection and sale of scrap metal from project sites, Project V5 supports charitable requests from employees, and in a big way. In its first year, Project V5 donated more than $200,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And in 2010, the fund fully sponsored a flight of medics to Haiti after a massive earthquake devastated the island nation.
Essentially, the company says, "Project V5 was established to take our values into the communities in which we work."
Earlier this year, the contractor undertook a campaign aimed at discouraging workers and others from engaging in distracted driving-which, it should be noted, faces only limited sanctions in the state of Florida. Called the Power of 1, the campaign-inspired by a real-life distracted-driving incident-goes well beyond simple slogans and company posters on break-room billboards.
Instead, in a slick-but-quick company video, the words of CEO Mitch Permuy add heft to the kickoff campaign, where he notes that as a result of today's technology, "the urge to respond has become so compelling that we become distracted, and the unsafe driving begins." Permuy goes on to urge workers to "join me to make the one decision to not text while driving; the one decision to not email while driving; and the one decision to not drink and drive."
In support of the message, the company will pay for employees to get a ride home, if necessary. Additionally, for every employee that pledges to drive safely, Project V5 makes a donation to the group End Distracted Driving.
Beyond the primary message of discouraging unsafe driving, the campaign seems to be resonating with employees on another level. Taylor Precourt, a senior IT project director, says, "It's not just a marketing scheme. They see the value of the individual employee. There are a lot of drunk drivers, but texting while driving is becoming just as serious. We're a very sincere company, inside and out."
Tech Savvy
As important as those personnel-related soft skills are to the company, it is Power Design's field savvy that's kept the contractor busy. Again, like other firms that have remade themselves post-downturn, an emphasis on technological skills is playing a key role in the company's resurgence.
In the South Florida multifamily market, for example, the contractor has been able to differentiate itself from competing specialty firms by utilizing "full in-house 3D capabilities," such as BIM, and by using total stations on its jobs for layout.
Most South Florida condominium projects today are being built by the "big guys," says Musolino, his term for highly sophisticated general contractors. "These companies are cutting edge on technology, so they like firms that pair up well with them."
Power Design's design-assist capabilities also aid with winning jobs in the Miami-area multifamily sector, he adds. "In Florida, they don't hire us until they're done with piles," Musolino says. "Then it's, Go! So we have to jump on the job and do our design-assist to get to the right price" quickly.
As a result of situations like these, the firm has earned a reputation for being a go-to company.
Saying Power Design has a "really good response time," Adam Batley, project manager with Pompano Beach-based Current Builders, adds: "They really utilize the advancing construction technology well, and do it better than a lot of specialty contractors."
That reputation for savvy field performance comes from a lot of effort, including a $4-million investment in training during 2014, adds Musolino.
In addition, the firm has undertaken other internal initiatives-including a best-practices program-that aim to enhance on-the-job performance, adds Micallef.
About three years ago, he says, company leaders began to think about expectations for new workers. "We wanted to get to the point where we knew, if we hired you as a superintendent, what really are the expectations?" he says. "We have core values and things we can read to (new) people and have them understand. But once they get out there onto that jobsite, what's their guide?"
So the company built an intranet-based field guide of best practices, covering every possible task that their workers might encounter. Micallef says this enables workers to look up an extensively detailed, flipping book-style description of proper-and improper-procedures, along with links to code references that further explain the reasons behind the methods. While arguably benefiting less-seasoned workers most, Micallef says it has been key to overcoming some longtime field issues.
For instance, in the past, a high percentage of installed telecom outlets in multifamily projects would often end up not aligning perfectly as units neared completion, thus requiring some minor rework. By putting the best practice for installing these items at everyone's fingertips-individual task descriptions can run as much as 30 pages-the results have improved.
"This type of forward thinking and commitment to getting these practices out to the field, and having all of this on our intranet has made a huge difference," Micallef says.
For this type of focus on employees and technologically savvy field performance, ENR Southeast recognizes Power Design Inc. as 2015 Specialty Contractor of the Year.
