How Crain’s Company Culture Improves Project Outcomes

Crain Construction Employees Celebrating 90th Anniversary in Evening Wear

Every company has a culture. When it comes to commercial construction work, combining tight deadlines and high-pressure projects with a commitment to safety and quality can create some fairly complex situations. A strong, healthy company culture makes a big difference in how those situations are handled—and how employees, stakeholders, trade partners, and owners are treated as a result.

 

How Crain’s Company Culture Improves Project Outcomes

At Crain, we recognize that our culture creates ripple effects across every project. After 90 years in the industry, we’ve seen how investing in culture—and embodying our core values in every project—makes a tangible difference in the way our team shows up for work each day.  

What does it mean to get along like a big family in the commercial construction industry? Here are a few intentional ways we’ve worked to cultivate a culture where every employee feels supported, and people want to spend the rest of their career as part of our team: 

1.  We treat each other with respect and communicate with candor. 

Communication is a critical factor in every commercial construction project. And while having an effective framework for communication is key, the way we interact is just as important. At Crain, we’ve worked hard to create a collaborative environment that fosters open communication. Internally, we hold each other accountable and believe that everyone has a voice in the conversation. Externally, we listen to our project owners, architects, and trade partners in a way that identifies solutions and removes barriers rather than insisting on our particular idea or point of view.

Believing that every relationship matters is one of the timeless construction principles that has shaped our work for the past 90 years. And the way we talk to people is a foundational pillar in building strong relationships. 

2. We intentionally celebrate together. 

Completing a construction project takes a significant amount of time, effort, and coordination. Most projects involve a wide range of stakeholders, including project owners, architects, pre-construction engineers, foremen, project managers, and trade partners. At Crain, we host regular Kudos Events to celebrate milestones along the way. These intentional gatherings are our way of recognizing the hard work that’s being done during a project. Here’s a recent example from our topping-out celebration during our BNA project

In addition to celebrating project milestones, we also find creative ways to gather the entire company together throughout the year. Whether it’s volunteering together, family picnics at the Sounds game, bourbon tastings, or crawfish boils, we enjoy spending time together and talking about things other than work.

3. We care about team members as human beings, not just employees. 

At Crain, we realize that work is just one part of our employees’ lives. We’ve intentionally worked to create a culture where everyone is approachable and willing to help one another. We care about our employees personally, not just professionally, and we invest in the overall health and well-being of our team. For example, we offer a chaplain and other resources to help our employees navigate difficult seasons of life. We don’t just want our employees to succeed in their jobs, we want them to thrive personally.

 

Interested in Joining Crain?

If you were to ask most people at Crain about our culture, the first word that you’d probably hear is “family.” As Senior Project Manager James Williams put it, “The team members at Crain aren’t just my co-workers—they’re my friends. We all get along like a big family, and we treat our clients like they’re family, too.” 

Because of our commitment to culture, we take our hiring process seriously. You can explore what it’s like to work at Crain or learn more about our commitment to the next generation of construction talent. If you’re looking for a new job in construction, and you’re interested in joining our team, you can reach out to our team to learn more about the positions we have available.

Related Projects

90 Years of Giving Back: Crain’s Commitment to Community Involvement
90 Years of Giving Back: Crain's Commitment to Community Involvement

Crain Construction was founded on the principles of people over profits and community over competition. This commitment to serving others is evident in everything we do, from our relationships with clients to our giving back to the community. As we celebrate our 90th anniversary in Nashville, we’re proud to recognize our philanthropic culture and the...

From Produce to Permits: Navigating the Complexities of Grocery Store Construction
From Produce to Permits: Navigating the Complexities of Grocery Store Construction

The grocery business can be profitable for commercial developers, especially in a growing city like Nashville. According to a recent report by CBRE, the average rent for grocery stores is higher than other types of commercial space, such as shopping malls and retail stores. Of course, there are also some unique challenges when it comes...

Winter Warriors: How We Support Employees and Subcontractors in Cold Weather
Winter Warriors: How We Support Employees and Subcontractors in Cold Weather

Winter in Tennessee can be a beautiful time of year, but it can also be brutal. Working outdoors in cold weather can be challenging, especially for construction professionals. A few weeks ago, we polled our community on Linkedin about their least favorite season as a commercial construction professional. Winter was the unsurprising winner. And if...

A professional portrait of Brian Hopwood, Superintendent at Crain Construction
Spotlight: An Interview with Brian Hopwood, Superintendent at Crain Construction

At Crain, we’ve worked hard to build a reputation for genuinely caring about the well-being of our employees and passing along wisdom and knowledge to help others grow. These are the core values that inform the way we work at Crain, and Brian Hopwood embodies these characteristics well. Brian’s unwavering dedication to the team, experience,...

Community

We partner with organizations to invest, give back and make a positive impact on the communities where we live and work.

Blog

Get the latest Crain Construction Blogs and interesting insights about our projects and community endeavors here.

When you’re ready to build, we’re here for you

Reach out to start a conversation with our team.