Kinetic Construction by North American Constructors Journal

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Kinetic Construction:

Finding A Different Path Kinetic Construction of Victoria, BC has forged a culture that empowers employees, values clients and respects contractors. Written by Kevin Doyle Produced by Stephen Marino

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Under the guidance of 30-year industry veteran President/CEO Tom Plumb, the company has forged a culture that empowers employees, values clients and respects contractors, setting the company apart from its competitors. “It starts with values which relate to our culture and our ability to develop relationships both in house and out. Our staff are passionate about our work and are focused on continuous improvement – we are on the lean construction path that will help be a differentiator us now and in the future,” Plumb explains. “How do you broadcast a culture that we actually have fun at work? When your employees talk about it, people want be here. Employees know that when they work here, they are part of something bigger with a purpose,” Plumb says. “ I like David Ossip’s (CEO Ceridian) ‘People don’t work for you, your job is to take care of them.’ That’s the deal. If your people are happy, your clients will be. I actually expect people we hire to retire with us. It doesn’t always work out that way but anything less is short term

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Thinking. I prefer long term thinking. “It takes more than just talking culture – you need to walk that talk. You walk it by having an open door for everyone, by developing career plans for everyone bottom to top that they believe this a great place to work. By empowering people. By listening to people. Richard Branson said, ‘Managers that don’t listen will soon be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.’ I believe that. You also really have to care for people, even outside the workplace. Your good people are 100 percent the value of the company,” Plumb says. “We are focused on building a better engine. If you have a great, disciplined, process driven engine, with good

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How do you broadcast a culture

that we actually have fun at work? When your employees talk about it, people want to work here. Employees know that when they work here, they are part of the job and the overall purpose.

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stablished in 1984, Kinetic Construction of Victoria, BC has painstakingly crafted a sterling reputation for expertise of multiple delivery methods as a general contractor, construction manager and design-builder.

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- President/CEO Tom Plumb

Kinetic Construction | 5 people focused on continuous improvement, loving where they work, come all the things you need to prosper as a company that achieves real growth,” elaborates Plumb, a proponent of Lean methodology. Lean’s foundation is respect of people. “When you put employees first, your organization and the client reap the benefits.” Owned by 22 employee-shareholders, Kinetic employs 140 across three offices, generates annual revenue of $120m and has more than 30 active projects across the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island.

and removing the redundant handling of paperwork will save $500k in time over 16 projects in one year in project time and avoiding multi level paperwork,” he explains. “This provides the team more time to focus on the project which is better value for the client.” The company embraces the WorkSafe BC Regulations as an operational guideline and has earned Certificates of Recognition from the BC Construction Safety Alliance; Injury Management and Return to Work Certification; and Health and Safety Certification (COR) recognizing

Safety First and Always Plumb knows this much to be true: Safety can’t be a formula or a list. He takes great pride in the fact that, for the first time in 34 years, Kinetic hit a record of 575 days without a lost time injury. “Safety has to be a part of your culture. A few years ago we thought that the only way we could make progress is if every person takes a role and acted as a leader, empower the lowest laborer. We use “see it, say it, fix it” as our safety motto. The secret to success is in not making a convoluted system; make it easy to follow. At a Lean Kaizen SAFETY event by our Green Belts, we did an exercise on how to make safety simpler and more efficient. Digitizing safety documents

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Some Key Projects Brooks Education Group School: The six-floor, 70,000 sf project completed in August 2018 included 78 dormitory suites, an academic wing, five house parent suites and six common suites as well as cafeteria/food services and school administration. Kinetic cut delivery time from 17 to 13 months, delivered the project on time and under market value. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We were able to get them started a year ahead of schedule and provided the client $8 million in additional revenue. We promised and delivered

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Kinetic Construction | 7 primarily using the Last Planner System, a lean collaborative work plan tool we train our staff and subs on. We plan the work backwards and with the entire team Plumb explains. In the beginning you get some push back when they ask “Why are we in here planning our work when we should be out there doing it?” We ask, “think about what you just said, since when is unplanned work productive?” They soon get it and fully embrace it. Fleet Maintenance Facility Phase V, Cape Breton: (an EDK JV) Completed in 2018 for The Defence Construction Canada/Dept. of National Defence in Esquimalt, BC, the project replaced antiquated, outdated and deficient facilities as part of a fundamental

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modernization. The Royal Canadian Navy will receive an additional 200,000sf of shop space. Resulting in one of largest enclosed buildings in the Pacific Northwest. Yello On Yates Residential Development: Completed in April 2018 for Chard Development Ltd., this 15-storey mixed use development in Victoria, BC included ground floor commercial/retail space as well as 209 rental units. The reinforced concrete structure includes three levels of underground parking and a rooftop deck. University of Victoria student housing project: The joint venture with EDK is

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in the planning stages. It is the largest project UVIC has undertaken and will add 780 units of housing with new food services and administration areas.

The Market out There Plumb says the industry has been on a tear but is due for a slowdown due to many different factors occurring simultaneously. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are a global community now and decisions made elsewhere affect us. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to predict outcomes. We are faced with a variety of cost escalators such as material, a serious shortage of skilled labour, a higher cost of living, greater design and energy

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Overall the biggest

challenge is the industry itself – we are the second most wasteful industry on the planet and we have not

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adopted another way.

- President/CEO Tom Plumb www.kineticconstruction.com

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Kinetic Construction | 11 requirements, increased taxation, and governments at all levels who seem to act as blocks to progress rather than partners in success,” he says. “Overall our biggest challenge is the industry itself – we are the second most wasteful industry on the planet and we have not adopted a better way. While other industries evolved, we continue to struggle” Plumb says bluntly. “The demands on us and our resources have are changing what we build so we need to change how we build. The entire mindset has to change – there are very few examples of true team collaboration focused on a common, client centric goal. “Some data shows that 70% of all projects come in over budget and past schedule. I’ve seen data that states construction leads all measured industries in three categories: bankruptcies, litigation, and inefficiency. We are less efficient (productive) today than we were at our peak in 1965. What are we doing here? We are bunch of really smart people and hold a significant part of GDP. ‘That’s the way we’ve always done it’ is a disease in our industry,” Plumb stresses. The standard Design Bid Build process attempts to level the playing field and forces a hard look at the low builder, which Plumb disputes. “People think that open competitive

tendering is the best value but so much data shows it’s not.” he says. “The competitive tender world focuses on low price and not low cost. The client is no longer the focus, it’s beating the other guy. How is that good value for a client? In the mid1700s Oscar Wilde stated, ‘Nowadays, everyone knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.’ Not much has changed in the last 175 years in this respect. “I’ve spent the last three years talking to the stakeholders including subtrades and if there is one thing we have in common in the industry it’s misery. The trades want a better way of doing things,” Plumb points out. “We’ve just become comfortable living with chronic pain.” Aside from the quality of its work, its reputation as a great building partner and a great place to work sustains Kinetic. Plumb’s personal path can serve as a guideline to success within the industry. Prior to rising to CEO, Plumb explains: “After a tech education, I went into the field to learn about the work and got my Red Seal as a carpenter. I figured if one day I wanted manage the work, I first needed to do it. I then went to Super, then to PM with estimating duties, to branch manager. It provides a connection with our team that a carpenter can have a relationship with the CEO. I can walk

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on the site and talk about what they do because I was there. When I give the Super a hug and not a handshake that means something to people. I chose to work many levels, and can relate.” Succession is important to Plumb.

impact on public policy or industry progress – you need to have a large group of like-minded people to push agendas and provide a source of education,” notes Plumb, who teaches a course in Project Management 101. A final thought from Plumb: “Construction is too hard. If you don’t love it, you can’t do it well. Construction is 80 percent art and 20 percent science, maybe. Your most powerful tool is a paintbrush and not a sledge hammer. Construction is made up of people who are both motivated and encouraged by the same things in life. It’s called being human. The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can build meaningful relationships and get things done.”