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This article is part of a series exploring the transformation of RNGD, a contractor with offices in Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama. RNGD evolved from a conventional general contractor to a "true builder,” developing a strategic approach to achieve speed, quality and cost control simultaneously.

However you define an “innovative company,” RNGD can fit the bill. Since its founding in 2013, the contractor’s mission has been to revolutionize the construction industry. RNGD has analyzed and reimagined almost every part of how it works and does business. It became a “true builder,” capable of self-performing full scopes of work and creating value beyond managing trade risk. It adopted a productized delivery model that applies practices and mindsets from manufacturing to achieve optimal operational efficiency. The contractor integrated a comprehensive, advanced tech ecosystem and, in 2023, launched its own manufacturing facility in order to construct and dry-in entire superstructures independently.

However, the company’s ambitious approach to construction is only possible because of its commitment to finding the right team members and then investing in their success. And that’s according to everyone from RNGD’s leadership to the team members themselves. 

We asked Will Cotten, RNGD Innovation Leader and Nick Moldaner, COO, about the company’s approach to leadership, company culture and professional development to understand how being dynamic, communicative and forward thinking in managing people translates to success in the field, in planning and in sales.

Will Cotten, Innovation Leader, RNGD

Nick Moldaner, Chief Operations Officer, RNGD

The Foundation: A Culture of Innovation

Will: RNGD’s identity is clear enough that people want to be part of it. For me, it gave me a chance to pursue my passion for improving upon the business model of construction and finding ways to help innovate without our organization to make the work and output of others easier and more impactful. 

Will: The impacts of this mindset are tremendous. The effect that has on jobsite morale, team culture, collaborating and working together in an integrated delivery model. Being a true builder allows us to work in an integrated manner where the civil and utility contractors coordinate with the steel contractors, who coordinates with the envelope contractor, who coordinates with the MEP contractor. And everyone is focused on the same interests, rather than having misaligned priorities. It changes the paradigm and the results of what you can create.  

Leading the Way: The Role of Leadership

Will: The main thing I’d add is that leadership is a lot about leading by example. I’m thinking right now about utilizing data and making data-driven decisions. If you ask people to be disciplined in the fundamentals of data governance and input, you also have to be disciplined about data governance and input. 

Get Onboard: Finding and Recruiting the Right People

Will: Exactly. And our facility allows us to broaden our search for people with that mindset. We’re offering a different environment that is a lot more comfortable to a broader audience.  We can attract people who want to work in this industry but maybe don’t want to be in the sweltering heat or don’t have the ability to climb stairs or do more laborious tasks. In the factory, you’re working on a level surface in an air-conditioned space that never rains out, working on components that are at hip height.

I think about a high school student who may not want to go to university or trade school, and wants to get to work and develop a skill set. I think about retired military vets or volunteer firefighters. This work can be attractive to a whole slew of workers who might not have thought construction was for them but have all the makings of a great team member. 

An Even Brighter Future: Investing in and Developing Talent

Will: The most important work starts with investing in your people. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for RNGD’s investment in my own leadership development. We extend the opportunity to develop all the way into the field with laborers and craft workers. We provide both technical and leadership skills development through our training academy. By doing that, we’re building a stronger workforce that addresses the workforce challenges and shifting the culture and perception of what it is to work in construction. 

Empowering Workers With Technology and Innovation

Will: We look at technology as an aid to further and enhance what humans can do, rather than replace what humans can do. When we got into steel fabrication, we acquired a facility and some old equipment, but we knew — to hit the production goals that we set for the team — we needed some more advanced machines that would help take what a welder could do and multiply it by five. When we got the machine, we were very intentional about making sure we trained people with legacy skills on how to use the latest and greatest technology, so that their efforts aren’t replaced, they’re augmented. They’re enhanced. They’re improved. 

Will: The first automated report we developed for the facility was a safety tracker. The reason for that was that we knew it was quite labor-intensive and administratively burdensome for superintendents and foremen in the field to do all that paperwork and keep daily reports and binders up to date. We wanted to develop a process that would help automate that for them to the point that they could log information into �鶹��Ƶ and we’d be able to track on a daily basis the questions of, 'Did you do what the plan needs?' It wasn’t a big brother thing. It was a tool that allowed people to feel confident saying, 'I’m meeting expectations. And when I’m not, I know I have resources to help me get there.'

At the end of the day, what we’re ultimately trying to do is make the lives of those in the field easier and better and have them feel like they’re participating in a mission that’s greater than themselves. That starts with giving them a view of how we measure success and how their work contributes to that.

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