Matt Barbara lives his life in the fast lane. He was born in Australia and came to the U.S. as a race car mechanic. He decided to stay in Iowa because it is home to one of the best race tracks in the world, but his business isn’t in racing. Matt is the founder and CEO of Kustom Concrete Pump, a concrete pumping business that is about to pass its tenth anniversary.

How did he go from race cars to concrete? Well, his father worked in concrete and construction, so you could say concrete is in his blood. However, it isn’t the construction side of things that gets Matt’s heart pumping. It’s building a company around a team of employees, some of whom have been with him for 5+ years, that inspires him to go to work every day.

Working in concrete and construction isn’t for everyone. These are long days in hot weather carrying heavy equipment and shouting to one another across sites, which makes hiring and keeping employees a very tricky business. Matt discusses some of the changes he’s seen in the job market over the past decade and how he has evolved to keep up with them.

The biggest changes he’s made are in employee engagement. Employee engagement includes fishing trips and year-end parties, but it also extends to offering work opportunities in the off-season and creating a safety department that is headed by two of his best operators. Being able to anticipate the needs of his employees not only keeps Matt one step ahead of the game, but it also shows his team that he listens to them.

Ten years into the game, Matt now has the time to sit back and take a closer look at the things that work and those that don’t. Listen now to hear about some of the new initiatives Matt is planning to implement and how they can be applied across blue-collar and white-collar organizations.