Hiring Smarter: Build a Revenue-Generating Construction Team

• Why Hiring Smarter Matters

• Why Most Contractors Hire Wrong

• The Revenue Generator Mindset

• The Smarter Hiring Framework (Step by Step)

• Real World Hiring Example

• How to Know If You Hire Correctly

• Final Thoughts

• FAQ: Hiring Smarter, Not Harder

WHY HIRING SMARTER MATTERS

A contractor once told me:

“Liz, I keep hiring helpers… but somehow my payroll goes up while my profit keeps shrinking.”

This problem is far more common than most owners admit.

Most contractors don’t hire with intention — they accumulate people. They bring on whoever shows up, simply hoping the workload gets lighter. Instead, they end up with a payroll bill that grows… while profit shrinks.

Here’s the truth most contractors never hear:

Your team should generate revenue — not just consume it.

In a healthy construction business, every role should produce or protect at least 2× its cost.
When that happens?

• You get your time back

• You stop firefighting

• You finally evolve from Chief Everything Officer to CEO

This guide shows you how to hire smarter — not harder — using the same systems I install for $1–5M contractors inside the Contractor Operating System™.

WHY MOST CONTRACTORS HIRE WRONG

Most hiring mistakes happen before the interview — not during it.

1. Hiring Out of Desperation

Someone quits.
Jobs fall behind.
You panic-post an ad on Indeed.
A warm body applies… and you hire them.

This is the #1 cause of:

• High turnover

• Low performance

• Endless owner frustration

Desperation hiring is expensive — in time, money, and morale.

2. No Clarity on Role Outcomes

Most contractors can describe tasks.
But ask them:

“What measurable outcomes does this role own?”

Silence.

When expectations aren’t crystal clear:

• Accountability disappears

• Performance drops

• You end up micromanaging

Clarity is not optional — it is the foundation of a self-managing team.

3. Employees Become Overhead Instead of ROI

Owners often hire to “lighten the load.”

But if a hire does NOT:

• Reduce your workload

• Increase your revenue

• Improve efficiency

…then you didn’t hire a team member — you hired overhead.

This is why so many owners work 60–70 hours per week despite having a full team. You’re surrounded by people… yet still doing everything.

THE REVENUE GENERATOR MINDSET

Here’s the mindset shift that changes everything:

Every role must directly or indirectly generate 2× its cost.

Examples:

• A project manager should increase profitability and reduce overruns

• A foreman should improve efficiency and reduce waste

• An admin should free up your time so you can generate revenue

• A VA should remove 10–15 hours/week off your plate

If someone costs $60,000/year, they must create at least $120,000/year in ROI.

This forces you to ask:

• How will this role make the business money?

• What KPIs prove this role is working?

• What outcomes will they own?

Contractors who adopt this thinking no longer hire “helpers.”
They hire profit multipliers.

THE SMARTER HIRING FRAMEWORK (STEP-BY-STEP)

This is the exact framework I teach inside the Roundtable Mastermind.

STEP 1: Time Audit — Your Wasted Hours = Your New Hire’s Job

You can’t hire correctly without knowing what you should NOT be doing.

We track:

• Time-draining tasks

• Tasks only the owner should do

• Tasks that could be delegated

• Tasks that are costing revenue because YOU are doing them

If your time is worth $500/hr, you shouldn’t be doing $15/hr tasks.

The time audit always reveals the next correct hire.

STEP 2: The Role Detective Questionnaire

This eliminates guesswork by forcing clarity.

Ask yourself:

• What does this role own?

• What results must they deliver weekly?

• How will I measure success?

• What tasks must they STOP doing?

• Does this role generate or protect revenue?

Most contractors think they need a PM.
But after the Role Detective process, they discover they need a foreman or VA first.

Role clarity = profit clarity.

STEP 3: Job Description + KPIs That Attract A-Players

A real job description includes:

• Role summary

• Specific outcomes

• Top responsibilities

• KPIs tied to revenue or time savings

• Reporting rhythms

Vague job descriptions attract B- and C-players.
Clear ones repel the wrong candidates and attract high performers.

STEP 4: The 30-60-90 Day Onboarding Plan

Employees don’t fail because they're bad — they fail because their onboarding is bad.

A great onboarding plan includes:

First 30 days

• Training

• Shadowing

• Learning systems

• Understanding expectations

60 days

• Taking over responsibilities

• Demonstrating proficiency

• Producing measurable output

90 days

• Owning the role

• Hitting KPIs

• Generating ROI

• Reducing the owner’s workload

This is how contractors in my program get new hires producing ROI in under 90 days.

STEP 5: Align Roles With Working Genius

Skill is not enough.
Working Genius (W, I, D, G, E, T) reveals:

• Strengths

• Bottlenecks

• Natural energy

• Friction points

Example:
One remodeler had a team full of “ideas” people (Invention/Discernment), but no Tenacity.

Result?
Punch lists dragged, jobs stalled, clients frustrated.

We hired one person with Tenacity + Enablement.
Within 60 days, the business transformed.

REAL-WORLD HIRING EXAMPLES

These are real outcomes from contractors using the system.

1. The $27/hr VA Who Saved 10 Hours/Week

This contractor was drowning in admin:

• Emails

• Scheduling

• Estimates

• Material orders

• Change orders

• Client communication

After hiring a VA:

• Saved 10+ hours/week

• Estimates went out faster

• Errors dropped

• Client communication improved

That’s 520 hours/year saved.
At $200/hr value:

→ $104,000 in reclaimed value from one hire.

2. Foreman Who Increased Revenue by $20k in 90 Days

The owner thought he needed a PM.
The Role Detective revealed he needed a foreman.

Result:

• Increased field efficiency

• Fewer delays

• Better sub accountability

• Owner freed from daily jobsite babysitting

→ $20,000 in new revenue in 90 days
→ Jobs finished faster with fewer callbacks
→ Owner got his evenings back

HOW TO KNOW IF YOU HIRED CORRECTLY

1. The 30-Day Check

You should see:

• Less chaos

• Better communication

• Some workload coming off your plate

If not — that’s a red flag.

2. The 90-Day ROI Check

By Day 90, they should generate 2–3× their cost through:

• Higher efficiency

• Faster closeouts

• Less rework

• Better scheduling

• Owner saving 10+ hours/week

• Increased gross profit

If they aren’t producing ROI, the issue is usually clarity — not the person.

FINAL THOUGHTS

You don’t need more people.
You need the right people, doing the right things, in the right order, with the right systems.

Hiring is NOT about:

• Filling seats

• Cheap labor

• “Helpers”

• Putting out fires

Hiring IS about:

• Increasing profit

• Reducing chaos

• Removing yourself as a bottleneck

• Building a business that runs without you

When you hire smarter, you finally step into the CEO role — and your business begins to scale without sacrificing your sanity.

Imagine having a business that runs even when you’re not on the job site.
That’s what happens when you hire smart—not out of desperation.

If you're ready to:
✨ Step out of day-to-day operations
✨ Hire people who take ownership
✨ Build systems the whole team follows
✨ Reclaim your time
✨ Grow profit without growing chaos

Then your next step is simple:

👉 Join the Contractor Operating System and build the team that gives you freedom.

FAQ: Hiring Smarter, Not Harder

1. How do I know who to hire first?

Start by identifying where your time is being wasted.
Your time audit will reveal exactly which tasks are costing you the most money—and which role should take them over.

Most contractors jump ahead and hire a PM, estimator, or sales rep when what they truly need is a VA or foreman first.
Your wasted hours = your next hire’s job description.

2. How can I tell if someone will actually be a revenue generator?

Use this simple question:
“Will this role directly or indirectly generate at least 2× their cost?”

Revenue generators:

• Reduce job delays

• Increase efficiency

• Improve communication

• Free up owner time

• Increase close rates

• Finish jobs faster

• Reduce rework and mistakes

If their presence doesn’t increase profit or decrease your workload, they’re not a revenue generator.

3. What if I don’t have time to hire or train someone?

That’s exactly why you need to hire.
If you’re too busy to hire, you’re trapped in the 80% of low-value work that keeps you stuck.
Hiring the right person creates capacity so you can get back into the 20% that actually grows your business.

4. What roles should directly make money vs. support revenue?

Direct Revenue Roles:

• Project Manager

• Foreman

• Estimator

• Sales/BD

• Lead carpenter (in premium services)

Indirect Revenue Roles:

• Office admin

• VA

• Bookkeeper

• Coordinator

• Scheduler

Indirect roles should free enough of your time that you can generate far more revenue than their cost.

5. How long should it take for a new hire to produce ROI?

30 days: Reduced workload, improved communication
60 days: Taking ownership of core responsibilities
90 days: Producing 2–3× their cost in revenue, productivity, or efficiency

If you don't see ROI by Day 90, there's a clarity or training issue—not a hiring issue.

6. I’ve been burned before. How do I avoid a bad hire this time?

Three things prevent bad hires:

1. Clarity (role, outcomes, KPIs)

2. Structured onboarding (30-60-90 days)

3. Working Genius alignment

Most bad hires were actually victims of unclear expectations and poor onboarding—not bad employees.

7. How do I interview for the right traits—not just skills?

Ask scenario-based questions:

• “Tell me about a time you finished a job when everyone else dropped the ball.”

• “What systems do you rely on to stay accountable?”

• “How do you handle incomplete information on a job?”

You’re testing:

• Ownership

• Communication

• Tenacity

• Problem solving

• Accountability mindset

The right mindset beats skill every time.

8. What if I can’t afford a full-time hire?

Then start with a part-time VA, fractional role, or trial period.
A good VA will free up 10–15 hours/week for less than $30/hr—often returning $50,000–$100,000+ in reclaimed value.

You can scale into full-time roles as the ROI compounds.

9. Do systems matter more than hiring?

Systems alone won’t save you.
People alone won’t save you.
It’s the combination of systems + people + accountability that removes you as the bottleneck.

A players still need structure. B players become A players because of structure.

10. How do I create clear KPIs for each role?

Ask:
“If this employee only did these 1–2 things exceptionally well, would they earn their keep?”

Examples:

• PM → Jobs delivered on time/on budget

• Foreman → Reduce wasted labor hours by 10%

• Admin → Turnaround time for communication under 24 hrs

• VA → Save owner 10+ hrs/week with documented tasks

KPIs must tie directly to revenue, efficiency, or owner freedom.

11. What’s one sign I hired the wrong person?

If by week 4 you feel no difference in your stress level, workload, or job performance—you hired wrong or onboarded wrong.

By week 12, they should be a multiplier, not a manager-dependent task rabbit.

12. How do I know when I’m truly hiring smart—not hiring more chaos?

Hiring is “smart” when:

• Your workload decreases

• Profit margins increase

• Jobs run smoother

• Communication improves

• You’re not answering 47 questions/day

• The business runs when you’re not there

• You start acting like a CEO, not a firefighter

When your team generates revenue—not drama—you’ve hired smart.