A Strong Foundation

Many companies profess "people are our most important asset," but tdindustries (ranked No. 27) backs up the statement with an employee retention track record that would make any company envious. A major player in the high turnover construction industry, tdi's workforce is a loyal lot: 368 of the company's 1,413 employees have been with the Dallas-based company for more than five years, and more than 85 have been there for at least 20 years.

Why? Because of tdi's commitment to the personal and professional development of each employee, which is best illustrated in the company's "People Objective." This objective promises to ensure that employees will succeed as a "total person," grow with the company and feel important. Through extensive personal and professional training programs, tdi cultivates well-rounded employees, while simultaneously enhancing its bottom line.

For tdi, creating an environment that promotes longevity begins with the concept of servant leadership. Based on Robert Greenleaf's Servant as Leader theory, the philosophy—in which managers (servants) cultivate employees (leaders) by serving and meeting the needs of others—lies at the heart of nearly all business functions.

To keep servant leadership central to tdi's corporate culture, new employees are assigned to servant leadership discussion groups, which meet weekly for six weeks to discuss particular elements of servant leadership and how to apply the concept to all areas of their particular job. Additionally, tdi's employees who supervise at least one person must go through more extensive servant leadership training at tdi's Leadership Institute.

To assist in developing the servant leadership mentality, tdi's mentoring program was developed to give all new hires a positive start at the company. A mentor adopts a new employee for the first six months of employment, and the relationship continues as long as both employees work together on the same job site. If, and ultimately when, the new hire changes job sites a different mentor is assigned.

New hires are not the only recipients of tdi's development initiatives, however. In fact, many personal development efforts begin at the top. For example, tdi's Board of Directors developed "Learning Partners," a program in which participants in every training class select a "learning partner" from amongst their classmates. The idea is to encourage employees to not only use what was taught in the class and apply it to their jobs, but also to share that continued learning with their partners.

"The concept of learning partners is that future careers will require a higher level of skill and competency," says Christina Bell, tdi's training coordinator. "Therefore, continual learning is a key business success factor and serves as an area of differentiation in our industry."

Like most companies, however, capitalizing on the expertise that results from continual learning is contingent upon people staying with the company. To minimize the likelihood of a new recruit leaving shortly after the initial, costly, training period, tdi created tdtech, a yearlong, three-phase recruitment program. It serves as the gateway for new hires and has been lauded by the state of Texas as an innovative way to reach a hard-to-serve, low-wage population.

After signing a yearlong agreement, new recruits enter the first phase of the program—a two- to three-week field assignment designed to acquaint the recruits to jobs and working conditions performed on a construction site. The second phase is an intensive four-week trade-specific classroom and laboratory training program. The final phase consists of six weeks of mentored on-the-job training during which time the recruits must earn competency certification in a variety of skills and processes to graduate. Upon successful completion of the program, employees are given a $1 per hour raise and are expected to enroll in the next available trade class.

tdi also has implemented training programs aimed at specific business needs. For example, following Lean Production and Theory of Constraints training programs, tdi witnessed a phenomenal jump in manufacturing productivity. In fact, total throughput of its manufacturing facility increased 25 percent, according to Bell. "By cross-training employees we were able to reduce production bottlenecks and create a flexible workforce. We've seen the results of training—well-rounded, successful employees—and know that it's key in preparing tdi for long-term growth."