Bark, bite and... er... berate! so often painted as the snarling dogs of the firm, the modern contract manager is showing a more cuddly side. Rod Sweet inspects three of the best in show

Reports are coming in suggesting that a key role in any contracting organisation – the contracts manager – is undergoing a startling evolution. They’re getting nicer!

That’s right. Where before you wouldn’t want to meet one of these people in a well-lit room let alone a darkened alley, nowadays the men and women who oversee several contracts at once are having to get in touch with their softer sides. Putting clients at ease, gaining their trust (and therefore repeat work) is now the order of the day.

“The role of the contracts manager has changed greatly with the increase in partnering and non-adversarial forms of contract,” says Tony Martin, construction director at Higgins Group. “Far greater emphasis is now placed on client relationships and pre-contract involvement. This encourages collaborative working and repeat business.”

Also, contracts managers today are more coach-facilitator than hard-to-please dragon. “The role is that of team leader during the construction process and to provide support during pre- and post-contract phases,” Martin adds. “Our contracts managers are asked to motivate and take responsibility to ensure optimum performance from all parties.”

It might sound easier than before, when barking, b****cking and biting were the coveted skills. But think again. Tim Carpenter, managing director of Willmott Dixon Housing, says the contracts managers of today are more exposed, their successes and failures more visible, than they were 15 years ago. They cannot protect themselves by slinging blame around the way they could, and indeed were expected to, in an environment of highly competitive bidding and precarious profit margins.

“The successful ones were conditioned to surviving s**t-storms,” he says. “Now some of them can’t operate in the new environment. They lack interpersonal skills. They are abrasive, one-dimensional, and can’t see beyond their former role.”

Finger-pointing comes across as excuse-making in the new environment, made softer by negotiated wins, partnering, and integrated project teams. Results are what matter now, which is why, to characterise today’s contracts manager, Carpenter uses the term “master politician”, with its connotations of charisma, persuasiveness, and willingness to compromise to achieve the goal.

Training has changed accordingly. 15 years ago contracts managers were expected to take courses on technical or contractual issues. Now they learn communication, problem solving and people management.

So let’s meet three of these charming and dynamic diplomats...

Recruitment practices have changed, too. Carpenter says his company puts more store by personal recommendation than before, and screens candidates more deliberately.

He adds that these changes apply to everybody in the chain, not just contracts managers.

1. Terry Spraggett, 43, operations director, Bovis Lend Lease

Career to date?
I started as an electrician but came off the tools and studied on a day-release programme. I stayed in services but became bored because I was interested in structures. I began to get involved with project management with former employer Taylor Woodrow. I moved to Bovis nine years ago and graduated to larger projects. I worked on the fast-track retail side, looking after client accounts. My first biggy was a £35m new-build John Lewis store in Bristol. I did the £107m refurb of the Peter Jones store in London (See CM, June 2004). I was very involved with John Lewis as a client. We gave them options and sometimes even changed their ideas. I took on a bigger role three years ago overseeing several client accounts and projects. I look after Berkeley Homes, P&O, St Martins Property Corporation, and a PFI hospital at Roehampton for Wandsworth Primary Care Trust.

Current workload:
Approximately £150m turnover.

Salary?
At my level in Bovis you’d expect a package worth £75k-plus.

What do they really pay you for?
I’m known as a deliverer and commercially astute as well. I understand projects and how to make a buck from them. I can also communicate with people at all levels.

Next step:
Head of a region or a business sector.

2. Steve Wallace, MCIOB, 43, Contracts Manager, Willmott Dixon Housing

Career to date?
At school l wanted to be a biochemist! But I decided to go college in Herts full time to do the OND and HND in Building Studies. After five years’ study l joined Jarvis as an assistant site manager and progressed through the ranks over my 20-year career. There’s been some blood, ‘swears’ and tears but l love this industry.

Current workload:
Six projects with a total value of £38.5m

Salary?
My wife asked me that before Christmas!

What do they really pay you for?
My integrity, good interpersonal skills at all levels, being a team player and driving ambition to create the right environment for everybody to succeed.

Next career step?
Hopefully, to be a production director at Willmott Dixon Housing.

3. Glen Roberts, MCIOB, 35, Contracts Manager, Higgins

Career to date?
I started out doing a four-year day management training course with Rush & Tomkins, including day release at Erith Technical College, Kent, followed by two years as an assistant general foreman gaining site experience with another firm (Peter Ling Construction).

I then worked for Higgins for six months in 1992 as assistant general foreman before leaving to get some life and people experience working in fast-track refurbishment and maintenance works.

I returned to Higgins in March ‘94 as a general foreman and progressed quite quickly through the ranks, from site agent to senior site agent, to project manager then contracts manager. I’ve been a contracts manager now for four years.

This fast track was a combination of my dedication and the company giving me the opportunity to develop quickly. I will have been at Higgins for 10 years this March.

Current workload:
Between four and six contracts at one time, between £20m and £25m turnover

Pay?
Benefits package in excess of £65K.

What do they really pay you for?My loyalty and drive. I have a certain aggressiveness that’s required to keep the projects on track and to timescales.

I tend to want to get more out of people. If a job takes five minutes, I want to know why it can’t take four... but nicely, of course.

Next step?
As I’m relatively young for the job, I’m looking to cement and progress as a contracts manager for the next five years to increase my knowledge, experience and to learn about different methods of construction. I would then like to move to a construction directors role, hopefully with Higgins.

Source

Construction Manager