Somewhere, lurking on your calendar, marked with a huge “X”, smiley face, swear words, or exclamation points…emblazoned in your favorite Sharpie, signifies the change of the season. Summer is over, meaning one thing:
Shutdown season is approaching fast. Are you ready?!
In this entry, we will cover how to ensure your shutdown projects fill in (possibly) minutes flat, giving you more time to efficiently plan the project and create higher potential to finish your projects ahead of schedule.
Because who wants to be scrambling to find 20 millwrights for a Monday start…Sunday night?!
We crafted this handy checklist you can go to anytime you have a shutdown project coming up on the books.
1. Plan ahead for who you need.
You have TONS of work going on, and making sure you have the right staff for your shutdown projects is often easier said than done. A shutdown can often conflict with other job deadlines, and may require additional resources to complete on time. Using a staffing company can be a great remedy for this. At Grus, it is not uncommon for us to fill 20 – 30 worker orders for short-term projects. With the option of placing workers on our payroll, you save yourself the risk/time it takes to onboard all those workers, and allows you the freedom to cut them loose as soon as the final piece of machinery is aligned and set.
These projects come up quick and need to be finished almost as quickly. Do not take the chance to lose the project if you do not have the manpower to complete it.
2. Overtime. Overtime. Overtime.
At Grus, our workers blow our phones up when we post jobs with overtime. Not only can this be used as an incentive, but it also has potential to move the job along much faster meaning you could end up spending less on labor costs, and get the kudos you deserve when you finish the job earlier than expected.
Then, your client resumes production, and you are now the client’s go-to contractor for every shutdown job they have. Like magic! (But magic that makes you money…not the sad, children’s birthday party kind.)
3. Offer Per Diem.
There are benefits associated with offering a per diem. While this is another cost to consider (as is the case with overtime), it can mean serious gains for your projects and company in the long run. This allows you to get a broader range of skill set, lightning fast (especially when combined with overtime). In construction, reputation is everything. If you have the best workers showing up each day, getting work done ahead of schedule, the business will come to you!
Follow these simple rules, and you will be successful. Better yet, Grus can help! Visit our Request A Quote page to start the process, and see who we have available. Don’t let that ominous “X” on your calendar give you stress dreams. Let us make this seasonal transition seamless. We’re ready when you are!