A month into 2020 and RJS has new projects to share, a new plan, along with the same teamwork and values you can rely on.
In our last blog we talked about the projects we did in 2019 and the massive growth we were expecting this year with new projects and expansions. We want to share a couple of projects that we’ve been working on this past month. We also want to share our experience at this year’s Winter Summit at the Breakthrough Academy and what it taught us about teamwork.
Without the committed team we have at RJS, going fearlessly toward the future couldn’t be possible.
New Portfolios for 2020
We’re excited to announce that we have eleven new portfolios coming up this year! One of the major projects we began this month is the 45 unit townhouse owned by Cougar Creek, Red Door Housing Society and BC Housing in Surrey. We’re doing a complete envelope remediation as well as re-piping, re-modelling and upgrades. Visit our social media regularly to see project updates.
One of the portfolios we’ll be working on is the pet crematory at Gateway Pet Memorial. We understand how emotional it can be to say goodbye to our little furry friends, and it’s why we feel this is a much-needed service that gives families the best in pet aftercare.
Another portfolio we’re happy to announce is the expansion of the office and warehouse of Thirst First Coffee in Surrey, BC. We know how much people love their coffee in BC, so we’re excited that Thirst First will be starting their own roasting site, right here in Surrey.
Both Gateway and Thirst First will begin their permit process in May. You’ll notice that a lot of our projects this year are happening in Surrey. We’re very proud of the fact that more and more people look to Surrey for growth and opportunity, and we’re honoured to be supporting that growth with the best quality construction possible.
Winter Summit and Moving Forward in 2020
As we explained in our last blog, this year we will be increasing our company’s growth by 60%. But the question of how we move forward with that growth is one we’ve been navigating through.
We began to get our answers when we recently took part in the Winter Summit organized by Breakthrough Academy January 9th-11th. The summit brought together many of our peers and trades professionals to discuss strategy and growth using the BTA Management System. During the summit, our founder, Ryan Steward, was invited to speak on a panel where they discussed:
- How to strategize a plan and move fast.
- How to quickly implement that plan.
- The value of good teamwork.
At the summit, Ryan also heard from Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK and Breakthrough Academy’s keynote speaker, who spoke about vision and teamwork. Brian said that at one point in 1997 he understood that in order for his company to grow, he needed a team that shared his same vision. So, he hired new staff committed to wanting to grow with the company and see it succeed. He even changed his tagline to one that would reflect his culture of his team: It’s All About People. Now, since 1998, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has made over $105 million in revenue and is found in 150 countries. Brian said he attributes this success to a focused and valued team.
The winter summit was a great opportunity for RJS Construction to network with other peers and strategize our plans for the future. After the summit, Ryan recognized now was the time to meet with the rest of his team and understand what they saw for themselves and for RJS in the next five years. He held a company-wide meeting to ask them what they thought.
How RJS values teamwork to move forward as a whole
A main theme at the meeting was how to keep good communication going among our team. In the last few months we’ve hired new employees and accepted new opportunities, and of course this new growth brings on it’s own set of challenges. We discussed how to revamp our Goal Setting Review meetings with each employee by making them more efficient and consistent. We also discussed having regular company wide meetings in order to become more transparent as a company.
Another theme was continuing our company culture. RJS takes pride in every team member and we treat each other like family. Our staff explained this is a big reason why they stay with us and hope to continue these team outings as we grow larger. We agreed to budget for quarterly fun events organized by a different team member each time. We agreed this a great way to build morale and share in a little friendly competition on who can organize the best event.
No matter how much we grow, RJS is a company that values everyone’s role on the team. We frequently host company wide fishing trips and camping trips to bond our staff together, and we’ll continue those traditions throughout the next five years. We do this because, as Brian Scudamore said, we can’t move forward into the future without our team looking in the same direction.
At RJS It’s About the People
We feel confident about the future thanks in part to the winter summit, our new portfolios and our team vision. We are excited by the prospect of success in 2020 and we feel we have the right tools to see RJS thrive in the next 5 years.
When everyone looks forward in the same direction, then the sky’s the limit.
