PROVIDENCE – Peter Crump, a partner of Site Specific LLC, a design-build firm based in Providence, said his company “dramatically shifted” how it operates at its construction job sites.
Site Specific has 50 staffers and seven leadership executives managing the operation. Twelve of the firm’s employees work remotely, while 10 operate within the office, and over 30 serve in the field. Crump said his company has instituted stricter health and safety protocols, including routine health checks on field staff at the firm’s sites. He also said the pandemic has impacted him both personally and professionally.
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“I have friends and colleagues who have battled through the illness successfully, and I knew people who have succumbed,” said Crump.
As for its operation, Crump said that, “from April 13, 2020 through Phase 1 of re-opening we had a visiting nurse service on our job sites. For Phase 2 and beyond we have trained our staff to conduct temperature checks in-house, administered by trained employees. These checks, as part of our overall health assessment, take place twice daily, once at the start of the work shift and once at the end. Since its inception our employees and subcontractors have been very receptive to this added safety measure for our worksites.”
“In addition to the daily health assessment and temperature checks, we have a number of people continuing to work from home, strong social distancing guidelines in place for the office, occupancy limits on areas like conference rooms, guidelines for wearing masks and our communal areas, such as the kitchen, and patio, etc., have limits on how they can be accessed and used,” he said. “Although our offices are open, most of our meetings are still via videoconference to help people maintain their distance.”
“Our COVID task force is comprised of 10 members of the leadership team, across all departments: Field Operations, Project Management, Finance, HR, Business Development and Client Services,” said Crump. “In March and April, we met daily, seven days a week to discuss best steps forward for workplace safety and business continuity. Currently, we continue to meet weekly and remain vigilant in our efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection and the R.I. Department of Health have been our best resources as we navigate through the pandemic. This group would also be called upon to prepare for and respond to any emergency incident moving forward.”
PBN is asking local business owners and leaders five questions in a survey designed to understand how the new coronavirus has affected them and their businesses and what they have learned from the unprecedented challenges. Here are Crump’s responses:
How are you coping amid the COVID-19 crisis?
In our trade, the need to keep jobsites up and running safely is always paramount, however for the COVID-19 response we needed new protocols, to assess daily. We dramatically shifted how our jobsites function, adding very strict cleanliness and hygiene protocols. Throughout the lockdown and through Phase 1 we had visiting nurse service to perform routine health checks for our field staff, for Phase 2 and beyond we have trained members of our team to perform those same checks. For our office folks we were also forced to quickly adapt to working remotely. Our business has traditionally thrived on putting smart people in a room together to solve problems, suddenly unable to do that we pivoted quickly and have successfully adjusted to this new approach. We are working well remotely thanks to technology and we are very focused on staying connected and communicating with every one of our employees.
Have you found silver linings in these difficult times?
Absolutely. Nothing reveals more about your people and culture than a crisis. Site Specific is much stronger today than we were pre-COVID. This crisis offered us a fresh look at how we operate across all the functions of our business, and our staff has pulled together to support each other. The other thing we have confirmed is that we are working with the right people. Our clients, subcontractors and partners have really been amazing throughout this crisis.
How are you maintaining your company culture?
We are a group that does a lot together. We thrive off the energy we give each other in the office and on our project sites. Looking at it today we have done a pretty good job keeping everyone as together and engaged as possible. As we move towards the new normal we are confident that our culture remains intact.
Long ago at a company retreat, we developed a social contract with one another, one of respect, trust, responsibility, humor, and empathy. Leaning on that commitment to one another has helped us to stay true and focused, we rely on that daily. We are a team that strives for excellence in everything we do. To maintain that, we have had to be intentional about communicating and staying connected through technology – more virtual meetings, more picking up the phone to connect directly. We also have an internal newsletter that keeps the team connected about what is happening both in our organization, and in the lives of our team members and that has been important to help keep people connected. This crisis has meant some additional effort and outreach to keep the team well-informed and engaged, but the foundation was already in place.
Did your business continuity plan work or were there surprises?
We formed a COVID-19 working group in early March that began meeting daily. I am not sure anyone envisioned such an all-encompassing shutdown then, but we did feel that our operations were going to be directly impacted to some degree. We are look-ahead planners and problem solvers by nature, so anticipating the different scenarios has been helpful in navigating us through the last couple of months.
Do you have advice for other local companies?
Hold fast to True North and the core values that guide that direction. If everyone does that, we will come out of this as a stronger state and people, ready to handle the next inevitable curve in the road that comes our way.
Cassius Shuman is a PBN staff writer and researcher. He can be reached at shuman@pbn.com.
