THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE CANADA important.” As Jamie previously mentioned, building that trust also requires delivering to a high standard of workmanship – and Winwood Millwork definitely does that. Jamie partly credits their high quality to their embrace of technology, and to their closeknit relationships with suppliers, who keep them up to date. “We’ve made sure we’ve kept up with machinery, with equipment, with all of the new products that are coming out,” he says. “We’re connected with our suppliers, we work well with them, and we meet often. We have open communication so we know what the new products are.” In addition, Jamie also credits the experience and expertise of the company’s team – most of whom are longstanding, and many of whom joined the company right out of school. “Most of our leaders in our shop and in the office have actually been with us for 15 to 20 years. They’ve come up through the ranks. They know what the expectations are; they know they can’t get away with anything other than quality. The importance of quality is instilled in them right at the beginning. They know what we’ll accept and what we won’t.” Jamie believes Winwood Millwork has been able to earn the loyalty of team members by making them feel valued. He acknowledges that his employees they are “just as important, if not more important, than myself to this whole endeavour.” “Without them, we’re nothing,” he says. “They’re vital to the success of the company, and we treat them as such. We communicate in an open fashion. We have social events. We don’t just talk about work – we talk about their families and their lives. We believe if you treat people with respect, you get respect back the other way, and when you have a happy employee, you get better results.” Many of Winwood Millwork’s suppliers and vendors are just as longstanding as their employees. Some of their supplier relationships actually go all the way back to the company’s beginning. Again, Jamie believes that longevity is largely credit to their honesty and style of open communication. “If we have problems or issues on products, delivery dates, even cost, we will get to a solution together,” he explains. “Our approach is to figure out what our issues are, what their issues are, and then we get to that middle ground and make sure that everybody’s happy.”
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