If the recession is over (already?), then I guess that means the War for Talent is back on.

I’m not sure what other people are seeing out there – for us, the private sector is still pretty frozen – but certainly public sector capital spending is coming on like a freight train….and the baby boomers are moving inexorably toward retirement.

At EllisDon, we did the usual thing last autumn: We ‘reprioritized’ which is a polite way of saying that we started focussing on lowering overheads and expenditures. We also figured we were clever by trying to lay the strategic groundwork for coming out of the recession in mid 2010.

Now it looks like we might not get the luxury of that extra year. (Yeah, yeah, that’s a very good thing.) So we are back to focussing on creating EllisDon as the best possible place to work – especially, in the short term, in Ontario, where there are lots of opportunities right now.

So if you are a great Superintendent, Project Manager or Project Engineer, give us a call. Nobody has as an attractive a work culture or the growth prospects that we do.

OK: And yes, I do think it’s OK to sometimes use a blog for shameless self promotion. We have a lot of growing to do, we are ranked the Number One Company In Canada To Work For, and we need great builders. Come on over.

We have promised our clients, employees and anyone else who cares that we are going to open up EllisDon and offer everything we can to the construction community (making profits for the core business by building relationships and opportunities). We are getting going by rebuilding our entire IT infrastructure on an open source platform, and trying to create a Project Collaboration Environment rather than a traditional Project Management System.

But don’t stop reading: None of that is the point of this particular blog, it’s just some context.

We are also in the process of attempting to create a construction industry ‘community space’, where people can go to share (and perhaps sell) their knowledge and expertise. Nothing like this exists for our industry; we are prepared to build and support this forum, and ensure that it is entirely open, to everyone’s mutual benefit.

But we are still working through the optimum format for this site, and would be happy to have any advice or guidance that we can obtain. Right now we are thinking of a ‘challenge’ format, where problems and challenges can be posted, and people can either respond ‘freely’ with their suggestions, or offer to sell their expertise to the poser of the challenge. People should be free to share; they should also be free to sell their knowledge, imagination and brainpower.

So the only question is: What’s the business model? Not for the site, but for the sharers, buyers and sellers. How do we both encourage people to provide the challenges (opportunities), and then to respond in a way that protects and serves both sides of the exchange? What we would like is a little knowledge exchange around the effective creation of a knowledge exchange community. We’d be happy to hear from anyone, anywhere (the more exotic the better).

A Builder’s Internet Community – But What’s The Business Model?

The construction industry is going to consolidate. It has to. How can it not? It is one of the most fragmented industries on the planet. It has been kept that way for decades by local barriers to entry, a lack of innovation and efficiency, a general resistance to change, and an unenlightened focus on price competition by our clients and ourselves which kept the industry weak. None of that can last much longer.

The important question isn't whether consolidation will happen, or when, but rather how. Everybody I talk to assumes that 'bigness' is the key. The big balance sheets will eat the small ones. And there is no question as to that threat: If a company can design, finance and build and absorb large losses, how do the small or midsized companies compete?

EllisDon is not 'big' in the global market. We are midsized. But if we keep performing we will be big soon enough. But I don't buy this 'big wins' argument.

Brains win. If they are combined with speed and agility. And if all that is combined with courage and conviction. And I.T., of course, is the potential nuclear weapon. It is the great equalizer.

Years ago when EllisDon was weak, I was terrified of industry consolidation. I was worried that we would be left out entirely. Now, as it nears, it is an invigorating challenge to put it mildly. We aren't yet big enough, but we are smart enough. And we are pretty agile. The question is are we gutsy enough? (I think so.)

And: If we can hit a company wide homerun on I.T. and collaboration (econstruction.com), can we trigger profound industry change ourselves?

The War For Talent Resumes?

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