40. Treat People Well

Andrea and Griff chat about unemployment filing, treating people well, and deicer salts on concrete. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Welcome to Loaded, the Hahn Ready Mix Podcast with Andrea Meyer, Griffin Hahn, and producer Lex.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Take two. Let's do this.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

One of the only times that we've had to completely scrap it and start over.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

We were a little too ambitious. So we're recording here on a Monday, which is normally when we we release the podcast because we recorded on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And, you know, the school was out. So we had a couple kids running around. We had Isaac, my son, and Huxley, Carrie's son. We're like, well, have him on the podcast. It'll be cute. And pure chaos.

unknown 0:44

Pure chaos.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

In the middle of trying to talk about our topic, it's I want to talk about bugs, sir. It was, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

I didn't know what we were talking about, and I was in the room. So I can't imagine what it would have been like to listen to.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Well, well, let's see. Hopefully, Lex can splice in like a 10-second just preview of what we're saving you from right now. And hopefully you can put that in right here. But uh do you like to treat people well? Do you like to be nice to people? Yeah. Yeah. Why? Why is it important to be nice to people? Oh, so they can be your friend. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 1:25

So so so then like they don't die.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

So they don't die. Yeah. Well, that is very important. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, um, what do we got for announcements this week since we're starting it?

SPEAKER_01 1:38

Well, it is awful cold and snowy all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Not what we wanted to see here the first week of December.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

But no. My kids had fun playing in the snow, but work-wise, it's pretty much worst-case scenario.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Dead in the water.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Dead in the water. Yes. Yes. Uh in frozen water. Yes. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

That being said, part of what we attempted to talk about in announcements last week was it is time to start uh filing your unemployment claims and going through that whole process. So if anyone that is different this year, especially in Iowa, there's a whole new online system. So I'm sure there will be questions as people uh start going through that process. I know um Leah already had a few uh come across her desk this morning and she had some questions. So if you have any trouble, call me or call Leah and we will help walk you through it. Uh should be should be no problem, but I know there always are processing problems.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

And I had a few people ask me recently, like what's workload gonna be and should I file soon or or what? And and um uh the the there is still work to be done out there, but at least for the next week and a half, the weather's not gonna cooperate to do any of it. So, you know, we're looking at it gonna be below zero on Wednesday. It's crazy. So um there's not gonna be much happening here for the first probably half of the month, and hopefully we can maybe we'll get a warm spell late December or something.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

And we'll continue to talk about it here on the podcast weather. No matter how cold it gets, we can still come in here and record the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Stay tuned. We are snow resistant in this office here. Yeah. Okay, what else you got?

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Uh it is time to be doing reviews and uh having those conversations. So for people in the office, we kind of do a self-evaluation, which is based on our values, you'll remember.

unknown 3:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

So you kind of go through and think of examples of things that you uh accomplished throughout the year that support our values or things where maybe you need to work on things. Uh, this is the time that we kind of recap all of those and the reviews. So those went out to everyone in the office today.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

And if you need a refresher on what those reviews or what those values really mean, well, there are 12 podcasts at least to discuss those those values. So I would encourage you to go back. Yeah, when you get the downloads up on those areas.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

If you've missed any, yeah, now's a great time to go back on those.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Um, and then on the driver side, um, the managers. So Zach, Sheldon, and Sean primarily and Darren work on those reviews. And then Chris from Dispatch and Andrew and Chris.

unknown 4:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Me and you, we all get to weigh in on them. Yep. Um, and then we'll be working on those. I would say probably mid-December is when we'll be having those conversations, but we're gonna get started on them right now.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Perfect. Perfect. Review season is everybody's favorite time of the year.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Yes. No one has any excuses to not be working on them today because there's nothing else to do.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Right. Exactly. Exactly. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

What's your what's your hot topic?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

Well, um two weeks ago, we did a podcast on artificial intelligence and talked a lot about using that technology and that tool to help us be more efficient. Um, and so I kind of wanted to balance that with um kind of the human side of business today, to talk a little bit. And kind of one of the things that spurred this is we got a better business bureau comment or complaint or something along those lines. I tried to run down more information. I couldn't get anything more uh about it. But there was just someone from the general public said uh a Han employee was rude to them in Davenport. And it wasn't that really narrows it down. There wasn't much to go on to figure out what the actual situation was. Um but I do think it is a good time to talk about treating people well and how important the human element of this business is, right? So um I think you can think about this definitely internally on treating our coworkers well, treating people, you know, each other with respect, um, treating uh we we talk about giving the the benefit of the doubt, like a assuming positive intent. Yes. Right. That was a big deal that we talked about when we went through values. And I think that is a massively powerful mentality shift. If you're in that place where like I'm going to give um, I'm gonna assume that they did this for the right reasons. I would say 90% of the time you find out you're right and you've avoided uh conflict or um hurt feelings or or whatever else.

SPEAKER_01 6:27

So I agree with that completely. And I'm trying to work on my skills of uh helping other people see that faster too. You know, my office is some kind sometimes a stream of people coming in with complaints. So I'm trying to get better at like whatever you're complaining about. I'm trying to redirect you into thinking that the other person is doing their best. Right. And it's not easy to do all the time. But yeah, we're getting there.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Well, I heard um on another podcast, I heard a thing, and I'm I'm gonna shame shamelessly steal it. I really liked it.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

Uh, but it was Was it a dumb soccer podcast? Because no one else would know.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

It was not. It was not. Um but it was the the phrase was treat people like people.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

And I I really like that. I think that that makes sense. You know, you hear the treat people the way you want to be treated, et cetera. You know, it's it's along those same lines. But uh, you know, so I I I like that because you know w how how we interact with each other is is what fuels everything that happens here, right? So having that respect, you know, that's tone. There's a lot of times where you you hear the old phrase, you can tell people to go to hell, and there's two ways you can tell them to do it, right? And and not that we're telling people to go to hell, but uh, you know, you you can you can you can say things, even hard conversations in a respectful manner, and you can say things that are uh flippant in a way that will will not um will not be received well. Right. So um so I think that's um a big deal because I mean how we treat each other is really important for like employee retention, morale, engagement, you know, all those things are impacted by how we treat each other. So I think we've come a long way on this front. We you know, we used to have a lot of kind of disparaging remarks you'd hear between people in the office and people talking behind their each other's back and or blame, like who's fault was that? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think we're we're doing a lot better, but it's something we just need to always stay top of mind on. Um so that's kind of the internal side. And then um there's also the the treating the customers well, right? And I think we do a really good job at this. But this is every single person that touches, not touches, but talks to a customer, that you know, we're we're we're handling things professionally, we're doing our best, we're pleasant, we're approachable, um and we're we're treating people well. You know, it's easy to get sucked into um kind of a vortex of of being frustrated with customers because we have customers that ask a lot of us and sometimes in uh unfair situations or or don't treat us fairly. And it's easy to just kind of have a uh us versus them mentality.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Be outraged.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah. And um, so it's important that um we process that health healthily, you know, and and um and and don't let that color how we interact with our customers and don't don't let a frustration with one c customer certainly not impact the way we communicate with the rest of our customers, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah, that's kind of what ran through my head when you said that about treat people like people.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Um our customers are someone's customer, also, right? Like say that backwards there. They are a customer.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Um, and so a lot of times when we're faced with their like somewhat outrageous request or needs, that's coming from somewhere else too. Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

So it's they're they're getting pressure.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Their idea to do it at this time, that's super inconvenient for us uh all the time. So I think like reminding ourselves that they're faced with pressures beyond what we know of, too. Yeah, and we're helping them face those pressures together.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

So and I think if we can treat people well, even when they're under those pressures, I mean, I think about it this way some of the strongest customer relationships that we've built uh sometimes have come out of where we've made a mistake or we've done something wrong. And the way we responded to those issues, or or sometimes it's when they've made a mistake and we don't treat them poorly or mock them or or whatever for it and say, like, listen, we're here, we're on your team, we're here to be for you, here, here for you. Those are the kinds of things people remember. The run of the mill, they order something, we deliver it, there's nothing remote. It's a transaction, there's a transaction relationship there. Where we have the opportunity to differentiate is when things go off track. And the way that we handle those situations and the way that we treat people through working through those conflicts are the things that our customers will remember. And and so that's what's what's really important. And, you know, and I I definitely get why sometimes that doesn't happen. This is a stressful industry. It's fast paced, things are happening last minute.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

And and it's not typically life or death, but it often feels like right.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Exactly, exactly. But if we I think we just keep these things, you know, kind of top of mind, um, treating people well internally, externally, you know, that I think that goes for our vendors, Andrea.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

I'll work on it.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

Yeah, yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Um I bet I you actually you said I've been nicer to the vendors. You have like some vendors.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Like you have some some vendors. You have. You definitely have like your your people and you're not your people.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Yeah. Yes. And I'm already I'm already pushed past the edge with some people.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, right, right. So yeah, so that that's just, you know, I think um the the overlying thing is, you know, yes, we make and deliver concrete here, but the business is people. And when we talk about AI a couple weeks ago, that is the part that will never ever be replaced, is that people always want an interaction with another person, right? Our customers are gonna want that, our coworkers are gonna want that. You can't automate everything. Um we were sitting in a meeting today, and they were talking about getting to automatic dispatch. And it's like I to me that is so far away from what could provide good customer service because it's not what people want. I think there are places where computers and AI and technology can make all of our lives more convenient and efficient, and and we should be exploring those things. But replacing a customer interaction with a computer from a person is that's that's that's a tough hill to climb for me. I I just don't see how that helps us differentiate from our competitors. Um, I think that would differentiate us in a negative manner manner. So um, so when we're having the person, you know, the person-to-person communication, we just gotta make sure that we're we're doing it at the top of our game and we're we're treating people right.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Okay. We've actually had some uh I don't I don't know if this is considered a loaded question, but we have been getting some feedback on the podcast, which I think is incredible. We had we went to the Thanksgiving lunch at Muscatine last week and had multiple people commenting on things. The the Thanksgiving food draft was a hit. I had a lot of comments. I did get some hate mail about the turkey comment, but whatever. I was actually influenced. I made uh homemade rolls since that was uh a favorite. I was inspired to do that for my family, and I think it went over well.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Other than you burnt the bottom of them, apparently.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

First round, I burnt the bottom. Second round, they were perfect. So that was good. I had uh the people that help us with our insurance were listening to the open enrollment podcast and had some good feedback. There's been there's people listening. I think we're picking up some steam here. So it might be a good time to remind people to send us some loaded questions.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

But the question that we have for today is very timely given the weather conditions outside, and people want to know more about de-icers and what your recommendations are.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yes. So we had this from uh a customer and we've had a couple people through different channels kind of ask this question like, what should we use, especially on new concrete, right, to use for ice melt. And every ready mix producer, you know, in in climate that has freeze thaw conditions, the first thing they'll say is use sand, use sand for traction. And that is 100% the right answer for what is going to be the least impactful for the concrete, is just also the least effective at the Well, like so there's realities, right, that sand may be appropriate in some places. And you know, if you have concrete you've poured at the nursing home and Grammy's gonna be walking through the door with her walker, you probably are less worried about concrete is not your top priority. Because concrete's not your top priority. It is uh making sure there's not ice. Right. So uh understanding that that that exists, that that situation and that uh actually having something that will melt the ice is very important in places. There's a lot of different ice melt um products out there. And if you go to Menards or Home Depot, um, the general rule of thumb is the ones that have the big sticker on the front that say safe for concrete are the least safe for concrete, typically. So I don't know where um the I you know it feels like false advertising, but it's kind of like the healthy food labels.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

What does that say?

SPEAKER_00 16:13

Yeah. Um, so some stuff that's really bad. Um uh magnesium chloride is one of the worst, right? So mag chloride, you definitely want to avoid that. Um, there's a product called magnesium calcium acetate that's also bad or calcium, calcium magnesium acetate, something like that. I think it's do we need to fact check you?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Do you have producer lax fact check this portion of the podcast?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Uh anything with urea is really bad. Um, so you you don't want any of those fertilizers, things like that. Those are really bad. Um, so don't use those. Um that le that kind of leaves calcium chloride and sodium chloride. Um, calcium chloride I'd put in the middle bracket that it's like not good, but but not the worst. Not the worst. And um the if you have to use a salt, the best thing would be uh sodium chloride rock salt, as coarse as you can have it, right? So the bigger chunks. And the idea with that is that is first of all, the least chemically um damaging to the concrete. Um, but if you have big rock salt pieces, it's also easier to get off the concrete afterwards. So if you have an area that you've got to put salt down, once you have um melted all of your snow and ice, broom it off the concrete off the new concrete.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

You know, as we see you frequently doing outside the front door of the office.

SPEAKER_00 17:43

Well, you know, if once you have concrete that's been down for a few years, it's gonna be a lot more resistant. So that's less of a concern. But yeah, if you if you pour concrete, if you poured concrete this year and this winter you're salting it, sweep it off.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

As soon as you can, get it off.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah, sweep it off. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

So Paul Griffin, he might come help.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah, sure. Sure. I can do that. Uh so yeah, so if anybody gets questions from customers or homeowners or anybody else calls in and says, what should I use? Um if if they need to use a salt, sodium chloride rock salt is the best choice.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

So do we have any updated fact-checking information, Lex?

SPEAKER_00 18:23

I I couldn't get over uh one of the things you said. Urea? Uh yeah. What were the other ones you said? Um magnesium chloride. Mag chloride's definitely. It's like you don't believe me that this is a thing.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Well, you were mixing up a bunch of words that didn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

The one was calcium, uh calcium magnesium acetate, I think is the one that's too many words. That's too too many words for less. All right, I think we should wrap it up.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Maybe five minutes ago was the time, but the second best time is now. Thanks for listening, everyone. Please uh send us more loaded questions. We'd love to talk about anything, even concrete, if that's what you want to know about.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Uh we will be back next week with another episode.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Thanks so much.