“Managers had to be very, very well trained to be able to identify when the people weren’t OK,” she said. “We trained our managers how to do mental health check-ins with their people, because at times you would see that they would have their cameras off during these sorts of periods.”
Resilient workforce at Metricon
A resilient workforce, according to Hotchkin, is one that pulls together during difficult times.
“There were times at Metricon when our back was up against the wall because of the state of the residential construction market; we’re not there anymore, but when we were there, what I noticed was, our people, our leaders, and our suppliers just came together and said, ‘We’re in this together,’ and it was the power of that togetherness that caused us to be able to exhibit the grit and the survival mentality. It wasn’t an option not to survive,” she said.
Having a strong workplace culture helped with this resilience, according to Hotchkin, who noted that the strength didn’t end with leadership.
“[It was] the way the leaders led with honesty upfront, but also the way that the team pulled together to say we’re in this together was really what I think caused us to exhibit our high levels of resilience,” she said.