Problem solvers

Human resource managers keep businesses afloat

Insurance rates, drug problems, labor restraints all part of the job

By Sean Ryan
Daily Reporter Staff

"An employer needs to try and control the costs because they’re going up so quickly. But at the same time you have to provide a quality benefits plan." Cathy Brendel Director of Human Resources C.G. Schmidt Inc.

Human resource managers are the parents of the industry.

They keep workers happy and healthy with cheap and effective health benefits. They're responsible for keeping their people drug-free and cleaning them up if they're not. They oversee training of young workers and make sure they'll be successful once they graduate.

They're all difficult tasks, especially for contractors that can't afford full-time human resources people to handle them. However, there are ways to simplify the duty of parenting a fleet of construction workers.

Start them young

State Department of Workforce Development economists predict a quarter of the construction industry will retire in the next eight to 10 years. It gets worse as Wisconsin's population growth shrinks and the industry's demand for workers escalates.

So where can human resource managers go to pull new workers from the depleted labor pool? High school shop classes, for starters, said Tammy Altmann, human resources manager for Ed Altmann Construction Company Inc. in Wisconsin Rapids.

Altmann started a school-to-work program in 1997 with John Edwards High School in Port Edwards. It's an independent study program that allows high school students to work part time on job sites and learn special construction skills from shop teachers.

"The students can work in the morning or the afternoon," Altmann said. "It ties in education and work-based curricula. The curriculum is taught in school as independent study, and then they get hands-on experience here at the company."

Altmann said she started the program to get high school students interested in construction and to train future employees.

"Back then, (the labor market) was starting to really get tight, and we had started talking to high schools about this program that would really get more marketing at the high school level," she said. "At least it keeps construction out in front of the technical education teachers who are teaching the woods classes and the drafting classes -- the construction classes in high school."

Brian Spielmann, Altmann's first recruit, started at Altmann Construction when he was 16, setting up scaffolds, mixing mortar and learning how to use hand tools. Today Spielmann is Altmann's safety intern, giving toolbox talks to the same journeymen who trained him five years ago.

Altmann said it takes a tenacious student, along with patient journeymen, to turn a green high school junior into someone responsible for his fellow workers' safety.

"We train our journeymen to be mentors, and we stress to them that these employees are students, not 25-year-old apprentices," she said. "For us there is a lot of credit to our journeymen and a lot of credit to Brian himself. He was wanting to learn as much as he could, and he really enjoyed what he was doing."

But whatever the interest, these students are still in high school and represent special problems. Spielmann said his first barrier was the child labor law limiting him to 20 hours at Altmann each week during the school year.

"I was only allowed to work certain hours, so I had to work within that range," he said. "I would have liked to work a lot more, but I couldn't. The foreman knew what time I had to leave and worked within that limit."

Altmann said Spielmann worked as long as he could during school and doubled his hours at Altmann during the summer.

An inexperienced high school student working on a job site creates other problems. Altmann said it was difficult to train Spielmann without interrupting project schedules.

"The student's can't operate any heavy equipment -- part of our everyday jobs -- and that was an adjustment the journeymen have to work around," she said. "We have them work on entry-level things and then they move up and they study different things."

Although student workers require extra attention on a site, Altmann said their training yields a high return as they develop new skills.

Spielmann said after a journeyman teaches him a job, he is able to do it on his own the next time. So the more he learns the more he contributes.

"A lot of the jobs I was doing they had to train me first before I was able to do it," he said. "I was working with carpenters, but I was able to move around with the concrete crew and work some with the masonry so I was able to get a full view of everything instead of just the carpentry side of it."

Spielmann is earning a business degree with an emphasis on construction management at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He said he plans to work for Altmann after he graduates.

Keeping clean

Victoria Krantz, human resources manager for Madison-based Windsor Homes, a residential contractor, had three workers fail drug tests, but her response demonstrated that contractors shouldn't consider firing as a first option. She said her success in reforming workers saves her from replacing experienced employees.

About a year ago, one of Krantz's drivers tested positive for marijuana. She said the news shocked her because he was one of her hardest workers.

"He had one of those attitudes," she said. "You know people that are just like, 'What can I do next? What can I do next? I want to learn. I want to learn.' It was a complete and absolute disappointment. It was like a personal slap in the face."

Krantz said she first called the worker's supervisor, and the two agreed the driver was a star performer who deserved the chance to clean up his act. She said when she asked the driver how often he used marijuana, he said he didn't realize how serious his drug use was.

"I just asked him, 'Is this something you partake in on a regular basis or is this just a one-time deal?'" she said. "He just said, 'I'm stupid.' I don't think he realized that he could lose his job over it."

Krantz said she meets with all employees who fail drug tests to make them accept responsibility and convince them their jobs are too important to throw away.

"I try to point out that you are the individual who put yourself in that situation, or you are the one holding the bottle or the joint," she said. "In this worker's case, I focused on the long term, 'Where do you see yourself in five years?' In another I asked about how it would impact his family to lose his job. You just need to figure out what makes them tick and focus on that."

Krantz said she convinced the driver to enter a nine-week program at Gateway Recovery, a substance abuse center in Madison, even though Windsor usually won't send an employee to rehab until the second offense. She said Gateway helped her turn around three workers, all of whom still work at the company.

The driver completed the Gateway program more than a year ago and has passed every subsequent drug test, Krantz said

"I'm so pleased with this kid," she said. "The happy ending is he is a wonderful employee. He has never let us down since."

Health plans

A growing senior citizen population, inflating prescription drug prices and consolidating health insurance providers are driving insurance premiums through the roof. Cathy Brendel, director of human resources at C.G. Schmidt Inc. in Milwaukee, said her company's monthly premiums increased about 45 percent in 2000.

"That was a huge hit for the company, and we absorbed most of that," she said. "An employer needs to try and control the costs because they're going up so quickly. But at the same time you have to provide a quality benefits plan."

Brendel said it's important that contractors maintain a solid health insurance plan because it helps attract and retain employees. However, rising insurance costs are jacking up prices for both employers and employees.

After C.G. Schmidt's prices nearly doubled in 2000, Brendel said she began making new plans for 2001. She needed to maintain the same benefits package, while at the same time managing the company's insurance payments without passing too much on to employees.

She tackled the problem by asking her employees last August for their views of the company's package.

"All of our employees were satisfied with the overall plan that we offered, and all responses were satisfied with overall medical benefits," Brendel said.

Brendel said the survey showed that some employees wished to pay more in monthly premiums while others wanted to pay more out-of-pocket fees, such as deductibles and co-payments. In order to satisfy all the employees, Brendel said she chose to give them a choice between several different options.

"What we came up with was instead of offering one plan design, we offered three plan designs to meet all of our employees' needs," she said. "It gave our employees the flexibility to choose what was best for their needs. They really like the fact that we have various options, and it is all through one provider."

Brendel said there are three basic steps to finding a health insurance plan that satisfies workers and balances budgets. First, she said, managers must be proactive.

Brendel recommended getting employees involved early to find out what they want from a plan. She said it's also important that managers do their homework on providers and all their different plans.

"Research and look at all of the options that are available," Brendel said. "Some people just go with an HMO, and they don't know there are other things they can do."

Brendel said she is already preparing new plans for 2002 because her company's premium rates jumped another 37.5 percent.

Madison Writer Sean Ryan can be reached at 608-260-8571 or by email.

Questions or help? Drop us a line

© 2000, Daily Reporter Publishing Company, All Rights Reserved.