My first couple of months as Editor in Chief at R&R Magazine have been full of traveling to tradeshows, meetings and of course trainings. All to get me up to par on how things flow at our company, and then having me meet a lot of you, our experts, and see firsthand the many things the restoration, remediation and cleaning industry entails. Aside from the very informative classes that I’ve attended while at the trade shows, one of the most rewarding things has been the great conversations that I’ve had with everyone I’ve met. From those conversations have come business relationships, authentic connections on personal topics such as family, interest outside of the industry etc. This led me to the understanding that one of the most driving factors in the industry is the building of relationships.
Now of course, the relationship you have with someone is important in every business… but typically, it comes in partnership with someone having to have worked in a field for many years or have years of education. But in the restoration, remediation, and cleaning world, although education can be of immense help, the relationships you build hold precedence. As someone new to the industry, I have come across so many people who have been willing to lend me their expertise if needed, even for the simplest of questions. Not only that, they have been willing to teach me best practices of their specialty in the industry and openly talk about mistakes they have made in the process to building these practices.
The make-up of the professionals in this industry speaks volumes as someone who again is just getting their feet wet in exploring the possibilities of opportunity that is available. I write this note just to acknowledge all of you for your kindness, professionalism and servant leadership and to remind everyone of the importance of building these relationships across different life spectrums. “Who you know, not what you know”, and how you make people feel upon meeting and connecting with you will have someone being willing to give you their spare time, or even go out of their way to help you gain the knowledge needed for a particular job.
Remember this when moving forward in your hiring process, job-seeking process or entrepreneurial process. According to Workforce report The State of Human Connection at Work, employees who have quality relationships with their co-workers are more likely to be engaged and happy at work. But, more than anything the reality is, according to ReviseSociology, most of us are at work more than we are at home. Because of this the workplace becomes like a second home and coworkers an extended family.
