Culture

Our culture is the personality of our company.

It’s what makes us unique, and is the sum of our values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors and attitudes. It’s not just a list on the wall or stuffed in a desk drawer. Our culture attracts great talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness and drives performance. It is influenced by leadership, management, policies and people. In 2017, Alcorn Construction developed the Alcorn Way in order to be deliberate and unified with the behaviors that make us successful. We review one value as a team every Monday morning, and see ways to apply them each and every day.

Do the right thing - Always.

Integrity is not about convenience. It's an unwavering commitment to do the right thing in every action we take and in every descision we make, even when no one's looking. Make decisions that build strong, trusting relationships

Take ownership.

Take personal responsibility for making things happen. Respond to every situation by looking for how we can do it, rather than explaining why it can't be done. Be resourceful and show initiative, and embrace the responsibility and trust that you have been given by seeing things through to conclusion. Ask for help or assistance when needed, but remember that you own it.

Respect your personal life.

Recognize that the reason we work is to support the people and things we love outside of work. Work efficiently and professionally so that you can maximize the time doing the other things in life that are important to you. Take work seriously and be your best so that you can achieve a healthy balance.

Deliver legendary customer service.

Do the little things, as well as the big things, that blow people away. Create extraordinary experiences they’ll tell others about. Mere customer satisfaction is for lesser companies. Create customer loyalty by doing the unexpected and by making decisions that reflect a reverence for long-term relationships.

Be vigilant about safety.

Know and practice the safety procedures for your job. Watch out for the safety of your teammates and our subs. Never take short cuts that compromise your safety or the safety of your teammates or our customers. Safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Make customers feel safe.

There’s no better way to earn people’s trust than to deliver on your commitments, EVERY TIME. Do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it. This includes being on time for all phone calls, appointments, meetings and promises. If a commitment can’t be fulfilled, notify others early and agree on a new commitment to be honored.

Be a fanatic about response time.

Our customers expect us to respond to their questions and concerns quickly. Whether it’s in person, on the phone, or by email, be a fanatic about response time. Getting back to people promptly demonstrates your passion. If you don’t know the answer to a question right away, respond quickly by letting people know that you are working on it and give them a deadline to expect your response.

Be obsessive about organization

Spend time up front to get organized, including tools, software, use of our systems and having a clean work area. Have a personal organization system for everything you do. When times get tough, it’s the discipline of your system that will keep you on track, and when you go on vacation, you can have peace of mind that your systems will help others fill in for you.

Manage expectations and minimize surprises.

Create clarity and avoid misunderstandings by discussing expectations up front. Communicate precisely what we’re going to do and what will happen when. Deliver big news in person or by phone, rather than via email and find out from your customer if there is a way to phrase the information that works best for them before confirming in writing.

Be grateful, thankful, and humble.

Part of our tremendous success as a company is the knowledge that being allowed to serve our customers is a privilege and if we don’t continue to perform, we may not have a company tomorrow. Check your ego at the door, and be grateful for all of our blessings.

Recognize problems quickly and push for solutions.

Don’t procrastinate tough decisions. Tough problems come up every day in construction. Once a problem is identified, take the time to gather complete and accurate information, discuss the problem with experts and trusted advisors, and move for a quick resolution.

Speak straight.

Speak honestly in a way that helps to solve a problem, rather than simply making a point. Make clear and direct requests. Be willing to ask questions, share ideas, or raise issues that may cause conflict when it’s necessary for team success. Address issues directly with those who are involved or affected.

Listen generously.

Listening is more than simply “not speaking.” Be present and engaged. Give people your undivided attention by quieting the noise in your head, limiting distractions and stopping the desire to multi-task or look at your phone. Above all, listen to understand.

Practice blameless problem-solving.

Just fix it. Focus your attention on developing solutions, rather than pointing fingers or dwelling on problems. Identify lessons learned and use those lessons to improve yourself and our processes so we don’t make the same mistake twice. Get smarter with every mistake. Learn from every experience.

Create a great impression.

Make every interaction friendly, warm, and helpful. This includes phone calls, emails and voicemails. Always identify yourself, use people’s names and smile. Be personally engaged. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Walk in your customers’ shoes.

Understand both your internal and external customers’ world. Know their challenges and frustrations. Show “business empathy” by thinking from their perspective. The better you understand them, the more effectively you can anticipate, meet their needs and make them look good.

Assume positive intent.

Work from the assumption that people are good, and that the intent behind their actions is positive. Set aside your own judgments and preconceived notions. Give people the benefit of the doubt and create win/win solutions.

Be relentless about improvement.

Stay ahead of the competition by regularly and realistically assessing every aspect of your job and the services we provide to find ways to get things done better, faster and more efficiently. Avoid making extra work or creating new steps.

Make quality personal.

Take pride in the quality of everything you touch and everything you do. Always ask yourself, “Is this my best work?” and get in the habit of doublechecking. Everything you touch has your signature. Sign in bold ink.

Check your ego at the door.

Don’t let your own ego or personal agenda get in the way of doing what’s best for the team. Worrying about who gets credit or taking things personally is counterproductive. Make sure every decision is based solely on advancing team goals.

Celebrate success.

Recognizing people doing things right is more effective than pointing out when they do things wrong. Regularly extend meaningful acknowledgment and appreciation — in all directions. Be for each other.

Follow-up on everything.

Record a follow-up date for every action and take responsibility to see that it gets completed. Follow-up personally whenever possible. Persistence is often the difference between success and failure.

Add value.

Customers hire us because we are experts in our field. Bring solutions to problems before they are asked for, find ways to expedite schedules and help customers to meet or beat budgets. Never ask questions without posing a solution, and never accept anything just because it is the way it has always been done.

Have a design-build mindset.

Always provide our customers with bids that contain detailed clarifications and never leave anything out just because it is not shown on the plans. We bid the plans, but always provide clarifications and alternate prices for unclear issues. This idea applies to more than just pricing and means that at our company, we have a comprehensive, all-inclusive mentality.

Finish strong.

You can do all of the things described here, but if you don’t close out well, profits are eroded and the last impression the customer has might be negative. Get a lightning focus at the end of the project and finish strong.

Keep things fun.

While our passion for excellence is real, remember that the world has bigger problems than the daily challenges that make up our work. Stuff happens. Keep perspective. Don’t take things personally or take yourself too seriously. Laugh every day.

The Alcorn Team