FBi Buildings foreman challenges his crew, a ‘well-oiled machine’ /
“Take his extraordinary level of drive and passion, add a crew truck pulling a trailer full of tools, point it at any project an architect can dream up or a salesman can sell and you have a formula for success.” You also have a snapshot of Crew Foreman of the Month Kole Kroft, as described by his supervisor, Greg Lehman, director of construction services at FBi Buildings Inc., Remington, Ind.
This statement includes just a few of the many fine leadership qualities that Lehman attributes to Kroft, who has served as foreman for 10 of his 15 years at FBi Buildings. “Project by project, Kole leads his crew to exceptional quality and productivity through a strong desire to maximize the value of each project and make winners out of every man on his crew,” Lehman explains. “His high level of confidence on and off the job makes him a leader you want to follow and a carpenter you want building for you.”
Kroft’s adept skills are reflected in his performance numbers, which have been nearly perfect in safety, quality and productivity for several years. Not surprisingly, he and his crew have received numerous company performance awards.
Kroft’s talent also is seen in his crew-retention numbers. As a clear sign of his coworkers’ commitment to both him and their work, Kroft has retained the same crew for more than five years. “That crew is a well-oiled machine that FBi utilizes to produce the largest projects we build,” Lehman says.
So is Kroft a born leader? “I’m just not much of a follower,” Kroft says. He explains he developed a strong work ethic early in life, watching his hardworking father juggle several jobs in a typical workday. In high school, Kroft led sports teams and during his senior year he worked in construction, laying concrete block and brick with highly skilled carpenters he found to be lacking in good character.
“I decided then that I was going to find good people and make them good carpenters and it’s just turned out great for me,” Kroft says. Since then “I haven’t had much turnover at all. With a lot of these guys, I just have to make the call and they are here in five minutes. It’s a close-knit group that understands the importance of hard work.”
He works closely with his crew by clearly explaining the day’s work on the way to jobsites, developing project timelines and taking an interest in his coworkers’ personal lives. He also understands human nature and makes work fun and competitive by challenging his crew members to outperform each other at putting in purlins, setting poles or driving nails.
Kroft is a big-picture person who likes to meet the increasingly high expectations of customers. Having grown up in a small rural town in Indiana, he particularly likes working on big projects on dairy farms with other hardworking “farm boys” and his longtime crew. “It fascinates me to watch the whole thing go together, from concrete to electrical,” he says, “You have to communicate with everyone on these projects and I enjoy that.”
Overall, however, Kroft credits his success to his crew. “It’s all about keeping your men together so they grow from experience on construction tasks,” says Kroft, who likes nothing better than to see his guys develop the skills needed to be successful post-frame builders.