Human-Centricity is the Secret that is keeping Construction Companies from High-Growth says this Executive
We have avoided it for as long as we could, it seems, but with outspoken Executives like Kifah Semaan bringing a human-centric culture to the forefront, the industry is bound for change.
Kifah, a man with an incredibly well decorated background, is now the Executive Director of TAMAS Projects — one of most reputable specialized contractors in the GCC Region. Prior to TAMAS, Kifah held Executive roles at DAMAC, Parsons Corporation and Al Nasr Contracting, and for our podcast, Building Leaders, he shared with us his story and insights into what he believes is key to the success of the Construction Industry.
The Ultimate Success is to make yourself Redundant
Kifah has a high-energy, deeply humble tone when he speaks. Transforming idealism into reality, as he often does, Kifah says that there is nothing wrong with looking back and saying “I’ve built that”, but he says it’s even more powerful to be able to look back and say “I’ve built that and now I can watch it grow without my intervention”. That’s a hard statement to come by. If you’re even the slightest bit interested in building a lasting legacy, take a cold hard look in the mirror, admit who helped you get where you are, thank them, empower them and enable them to give a lasting legacy to your hard work. Otherwise you risk collapsing your legacy just as fast as the collapsing of the company you left behind.
You cannot Out-Humanize any Company
When speaking about his ex-company with admiration, Kifah emphasized how deeply involved they were with the wellbeing of their employees. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve come into digitizing, your people are central to your success. When asked to what extent “caring” stood in the way of high-growth, Kifah said that putting people in the center of the equation will only help you in your cause. On a practical level, as he points out, you should have a culture that enables a human-centric approach: “If not just myself, but all other executives and managers as well in my company have an open door policy, then less people will need to come to me”, thus enabling him to run his company more efficiently, while still cultivating a positive culture.
The clear Definition of what it means to Take Care of People
Taking care of people, Kifah says, does not mean that you must sacrifice the finances of your company to keep people there as long as possible. It means giving your people enough coaching, advice, and opportunities to advance themselves, so that they are able to take care of themselves, even in times of crisis.
Kifah is thankful for his mentors and past experience, and perhaps, if just like him, you too are able to realize through experience and guidance that you have outgrown your role in your position, you may end up with a seat on an Executive board of an influential corporation.
It’s Time to Redefine the Core of Construction
We are a human-centric industry lacking a people focus.
Take care of your people so they take care of your customers. Be loyal to them, give them opportunities to fulfill their ambition and they will be there for you when you need it the most. Hand in hand, like protons and neutrons in the Nucleus of an atom, a customer focus will also take a central role in construction, something that has fallen visibly behind the curve in our industry. “Most of the time, we’re too busy fighting to survive” Kifah says, but in an industry that has ignored the demands of their customers for so long: wasting less energy, providing more affordable housing, getting the work done faster, and being more transparent; putting them center-stage, might, just might, result in a more profitable, more sustainable and more resilient industry.
Listen to Kifah’s full episode below:
