The Forbes Bros. Group of Companies’ core values are the blueprint for how we work and what we achieve; every employee works toward honoring our core values every day.
We had the opportunity to interview employees with insight on how our core values are demonstrated in the field.
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Jake Fleming has been with the FB Group of Companies for almost 5 years and is currently a Foreman. Working in the field on various projects throughout Alberta, Canada, Jake has seen firsthand how important our core values are in operations.
Jake says that everyone is involved in the safety process. He sees safety “everywhere, from morning board call-ins which includes supervisors and directors” right until the end of the day. Project managers are “always involved” too, making sure that everyone is following procedures correctly. Keeping everyone on track goes further than getting work done; safety always comes first.
When it comes to the safety culture at Forbes, there is a common theme of consistency and dependability. Jake describes the safety culture at Forbes as accessible; “If you have any questions, the procedures are clearly written out for reference. You’re given an iPad, so they’re always readily available.” Everyone is given access to technology which increases safety knowledge and awareness.
On the job, small actions make a big difference when it comes to safety and employee well-being. Jake says that “Simple questions like “how are you doing” to make sure that your coworkers are alright and fit for duty” go a long way to check in on your team. And of course, everyone on site is required to meet the latest safety standards that are continuously updated.
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David Jackson has been with Forbes for 3 years and is a Regional Manager with our FB Bullet team in British Columbia, Canada.
Delivering Solutions stands out to David as he loves to see the work we do and its impact on people and communities. In general, he sees our “Contractor of Choice” motto as building relationships with clients and developing as a business. And of course, being our client’s contractor of choice means working safe every day. “My specific focus is that client relationship and development, and part of that is always coming to the table with solutions. It’s always resonated well with me especially in the role that I carry.”
David explained that there are so many examples of times when Forbes went above and beyond to help employees who were in need; whether an employee was experiencing mental health issues or going through life changes, there have been plenty of times when management teams have “went over and above what the potentially set expectation could be.”
“For me personally, it means a lot. It’s always really exciting and the company is in a real growth phase. I’ve been provided an exceptional opportunity to move up within the company. I’m genuine to say that I like going to work everyday and I like everyone I work with.”
“I think that the number one thing is that everyone is responsible to hold each other to the highest standard possible. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the stigma of working in the construction industry of “rough and dirty” sometimes, and I really think that we set ourselves a part in that which comes down to everybody. Everybody’s responsibility is to make sure that the person working next to you and the people working on your crew holds themselves to a higher standard.”
“One thing that I’m very passionate about is community involvement, so every holiday season we do some type of a donation drive. For the first couple years we did “Adopt a Family”, so we were able to support 10 families in total. This past year we did a Children’s Hospital donation drive. We were able to raise $5800. Our community involvement in my opinion is amazing.”
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Jamie Thomsen is an area supervisor and has been with the FB Group of Companies for 7 years. For Jamie, working safe means working together. Everyone in the field understands the importance of safe work, and there has to be continued collaboration to ensure this is achieved every day. “My job is to make sure that everything is ready to go when the crews arrive with no unknown conditions to run into.” Being prepared prevents hazards and keeps everyone on track, and Jamie is integral in achieving this.
Jamie has seen countless times how everyone is treated like family. Taking care of your family means keeping them safe, so these two core values go hand-in-hand. Jamie saw this in action when he had the opportunity to travel to BC after FB Valley became part of the FB Group of Companies. “We all had to work together to help get operations started and actually had to promote the Forbes way. It was a great experience to bring everyone together and use past experiences to launch a new division.”
Being part of the Forbes family for Jamie means “trying to help and promote Forbes to grow as a family. In my opinion, I’m here to progress in my career while helping Forbes progress as well.” When one of us succeeds, we all succeed.
Part of being in the Forbes family means helping the communities where we work as we always look for opportunities to assist in any way we can. Jamie told us that he had a crew in Lac La Biche “help out with an Indigenous preschool where they took the day to expand their playground with spare power poles. They donated their time and used Forbes tools and equipment to improve their school.” We received great feedback from the school administrators, as they were very grateful for the work that was completed.
