EMJ employees gathered last week at the Omni Resort at Championsgate in Orlando, Fla. for EMJ Construction’s annual Summer Summit event focusing on its mission, values, and what it means to “Be the standard,” a thorough review of EMJ’s Standard of Excellence (SOE). The SOE is a manual that gives employees a detailed resource guide on how EMJ performs preconstruction and field operations, as well as lessons learned from 53 years of construction.
During the Summer Summit our employees were reminded of what it means to “Be the standard.” That means each employee should perform their job consistently at a high level, in accordance with these standards. It also means that we all own the standard by which we measure excellence.
The Summit kicked off with EMJ managers participating in a full day of Gallup’s Boss to Coach Journey encouraging them to continue to engage and develop employees, strengthening workplace culture and investing in our most valuable asset—our people.
The next day started with a welcome from our President, Jack Bowen, and a day full of breakout sessions led by EMJ leadership. Breakout session topics included:
Safety
Accounting
Quality
Bidding, Preconstruction, and Managing Buyout
Starting and Managing the Project
Managing Billing and Payment
The Client Experience
Completing and Closing the Project
Harassment, Diversity, and Inclusion
After a day full of breakout sessions and training, the night ended with an Awards Dinner to celebrate those within our organization who have exemplified operational excellence by handing out the Jolley Awards and recognizing employees’ years of service—those of which ranged from five to 37 years. Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant David G. Bellavia also joined the Summer Summit Awards Dinner as the honored guest speaker.
The night ended with some fun competition in which employees got to play glow-in-the-dark volleyball, putt-putt, and corn hole. Most highlights of the night happened on the putt-putt course where CEO, Burt Odom, issued a putting challenge to those willing to oppose him which led to several hole-in-one moments.
Each morning of the Summit started with an opportunity for new employees to spend time in a Q&A session over breakfast with CEO Burt Odom and President Jack Bowen. Not only did new employees get to hear and ask questions about the construction industry from our company leaders, they also had the chance to learn more about them on a personal level. In order to cultivate a culture that embodies people serving people, our leaders see the value in connecting with new faces and looked forward to this time.
“It was great to be together and talk about operational excellence, our clients, and safety,” said Jack Bowen, president, EMJ Construction. ” While many things have changed over the 53 years we’ve been in business, many significant things have stayed the same—like our commitment to quality, integrity, and safety. We only achieve our goals through our people, our most valued asset, and this was time well spent.”