Our team members are our biggest asset.
We know this is something that a lot of businesses say but, here at Sheriff, it’s a statement that’s absolutely spot on. We couldn’t achieve half of what we do without all the highly skilled, dedicated team members we have on board.
To show how much we mean it, we’re continuing with our ‘Getting to know you’ series which places the focus directly on some of our team members and, in their own words, tells you more about what they’re doing in their daily work. For this blog, it’s the turn of Shahin Shabani, Contracts Manager (brickwork).
Coming from an agricultural background, Shahin completed his training as a bricklayer and worked as part of a bricklaying gang (alongside Sheriff’s Managing Director) long before Sheriff ever existed as a company.
Being part of Sheriff’s story from day 1, Shahin worked his way up to become a site Foreman and, following a company restructure, was recently promoted to Contracts Manager for our brickwork division. He is also a shareholder in the company.
Here’s what he had to say about the work he’s involved in right now:
“I recently started working on the biggest project in my life experience at High Wycombe. We are building five block of flats and there are 239 units, all of which we are building with high standard materials.
But the key to a good job is not only because the materials are of a high standard; we have to give a high standard of work too. We do this because, first of all, we want to make our clients happy, but at the same time we are making our company happy and we are making our team happy. It’s good that everyone can see what amazing jobs we can do.
To build five different types of brick into a 50 different section, you have to be very focused and be concentrating on it one hundred percent. It’s not just about building; we have to follow hundreds of details in the spec, including how we are going to build them and making sure we don’t miss any details.
Imagine we are building amazing curves with bricks and we are right on top of the job to be completed. Now imagine what happens if we’ve done something wrong. That’s going to cost us huge losses as a company. But, it is not just that, we would also lose the client’s trust and lose our jobs too. That’s why you can win a big job in UK and even if it doesn’t have the biggest demands, to get on with that kind of project you to have to work very hard and be smart about the way you complete the project. Before you hand over the finished work, you have to build the trust and be confident you can do it.
What I have seen in this industry is that, if you work on three main points, you will get the job done great. These points are:
1. How well are you in control of the project?
2. Who is the second in charge after you (i.e. the Supervisor)?
3. Do you have the right team?Get these three things right and you can build the biggest project in the world!
Of course, we also have to talk about the importance of health and safety. Because we are dealing with over a 100 people on site, we have to be there to help them and explain how health and safety is important. We go through hundreds of pages of paperwork to make people aware of the dangers, make sure they work safely in hazardous areas and that they go home happy to their families every single day. Seeing this makes me happier than everything.
The main thing is I’m so pleased to have this big project in my hands. At the same time, I also can’t wait to hand it over and then be excited about the next project!”
We would like to thank Shahin for sharing his story today and hope it provides you with a better understanding of life inside Sheriff Construction.
Are you working on a project for Sheriff Construction? If you’d like us to feature a piece about you and the job you’re doing right now, please get in touch.
05.06.2019
Main image source: Shutterstock
Duncan Andison/Shutterstock.com (added 12.08.2020)
