Choose the right teammates. Youcan always train technical.We look for attitude and foraccomplishments. Have theybeen able to accomplishthings? It depends on whatlevel of position you’re looking for. The accomplishments of somebody out ofcollege are going to be different than a senior manager,for instance, but you want tosee if they’ve taken initiative, taken some risks and triedsomething.
We also do personality testing by a third party and lookat all the different aspects ofthe individual to see if they’rea good fit for our culturebecause we all work on thesame team.
Create a positive culture. Myfather [Robert Elsperman,former Tarlton president]would say that he has twofamilies: the one that he’srelated to and the one at5500 W. Park Ave. Employeesspend a lot of time here, andit ought to be enjoyable.
They ought to have balancein their lives, but we expecta lot while they’re here, aswell. It’s that work hard, play hard piece. As long asour clients are happy, andeverybody here is happy, weusually have great results.
We (recently) had our fieldversus office softball game.We have a company picnic.We have a day in our equipment facility where employees can bring their families,and their kids can climb onequipment. We try to have alittle levity at Tarlton becauseour employees are hereawake more than any placeelse. We want people tostick around.
Loyalty is important to us.If I treat you as I’d like to betreated, it works.
Keep an open mind when makingdecisions. Sometimes you’vealready gone down the process of, ‘I know how wecan solve this.’ Sometimesyou have to be the personthat solves it, and sometimesyou have to make unilateraldecisions. If you’re lookingfor lasting success, createopportunities for decision-making that people can buyin to.
That trickles down intoour projects. For instance,one of the best things wecan do when we put together a schedule for a construction project is to getsubcontractor feedback aswe’re going through thatprocess. It makes them partof the team and helps thembuy in to those goals thatwe’re setting up.
HOW TO REACH: Tarlton Corp., (314) 633-3300 or www.tarltoncorp.com
