People who are still working, it is presumed, are supposed to feel grateful for their jobs. This might not be the case - and it points to the continued importance of what some contractors are doing to make their workplaces attractive to employees. The winners of our Best Contractor to Work For contest, like trained magicians, make it look easy, but we took a look behind the scenes.
Bill Phillips sets the tone at Island Temperature Controls Ltd., Victoria, British Columbia. It’s the caring that Phillips has for employees, which is reflected in how he looks after them, and in turn the regard that they have for him that earned Island Temperature Controls the award of NEWS’ Best Contractor to Work For in the Canadian region.
The recession doesn’t exist in Cincinnati; at least not at Thompson Plumbing Heating and Cooling. Successfully operating and expanding in the face of adversity is what tipped the scales in favor of Wesley Holm, president of Thompson, as The NEWS’ Best Contractor to Work For contest winner in the North Central region.
There’s a reason why Fort Collins was named one of the best places to live in the country - its location at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains make it visually stunning and also allows for some terrific recreational activities. It’s also where Poudre Valley Air, the West Region’s winner of The NEWS’ Best Contractor To Work For contest, conducts business.
When you name your company “Doctor Cool & Professor Heat,” you know you are drawing attention to yourself and raising expectations. But it is more than a name, a concern for reputation, and a motto that has earned Doctor Cool & Professor Heat honors as The NEWS Best Contractor to Work For in the South region.
Although the delegates to the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen failed to come up with legal, binding agreements, many at the event saw pluses - especially regarding opportunities discussed to save energy and reduce emissions through improved efficiency in homes, schools, offices, and other commercial buildings.
I had a dream, (or was it a nightmare?), that I spent my next 30 years advertising budget on a 30 second Super Bowl commercial. When I woke up, I remembered I had spent the previous day working on my ad budget for the year. The irony of the Super Bowl ad hit me. In my dream I hadn’t bothered to determine who really is my audience.
As an HVAC distributor we have often wrestled with the issue of how to draw more attention to our contractors. Most of them market on the fly. Some turn to their distributors. We welcome that responsibility, and it was in this spirit that we saw how a contractor’s participation in a new program we started might help contractors everywhere.
When we set out to establish our business goals, we want to achieve more business, better profits, and less stress. And we know that our goal has to be calculable, attainable and clearly defined. But sometimes the goal is too much, too soon, and it is unreachable.
Unsure economic times are still on the horizon. In these times, it is important not to risk losing customers by reducing services and cutting inventory to bare bones levels. Instead, continue to evolve your product offering while at the same time begin to offer more services in an effort to move business forward. Focus on cutting cost elsewhere.
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