Written by Megan Hamilton • Reviewed by Skyler Moss
July 28, 2022
People see us on social media or listen to Dirt Talk, but we still get asked: what exactly does BuildWitt do?
The short answer is that we work with Dirt World companies to help make the Dirt World a better place.
But what does that mean? Let’s break it down.
What we do
Everything we do here at BuildWitt is to help solve the people problem in the Dirt World while making it a better place.
This Dirt World is amazing, but it’s facing a huge problem now. People are hard to find and even harder to keep. One of the reasons that’s happening is because companies aren’t telling the stories about how fulfilling a career in heavy construction is.
“We have to show people how impactful it can be, how we're touching communities and changing lives by doing the work that we do each day,” said Dan Garcia, President of CW Matthews.
We focus on four main areas to help solve the people problem: attract, recruit and hire, onboard and train, and retain. How do we do that? BuildWitt Services, BuildWitt Training, and Dirt World Awareness.
BuildWitt Services
Companies experiencing a people problem (i.e., not getting enough recruits, having a high turnover rate, etc.), discover that they need to work on at least one of the following: media, web development, branding and creative, marketing, hiring, or training (more on that last one later). Here’s how we do that.
Media
We capture the stories of Dirt World companies through photos and video. It’s an essential part of storytelling.
We do everything from headshots to overview videos, and our media team knows no limit when capturing epic Dirt World content.
By creating an engaging story for companies, good media generates organic interest from people curious or invested in the trades. They want to work for a company that’s telling stories, working in crazy environments, and operating gigantic machines. And you know what else? People like sticking around and working for a company that helps tell the story of what they do daily.
Good media = good recruits and employee retention
Web development
Pretty much every company has a website. But is that website doing what it should?
We believe that a good website should reflect a company’s values and vision and will naturally attract people–customers and recruits alike.
When a website works well, a recruit shouldn’t have friction when applying for a job.
Branding and creative
Businesses need good branding so people can recognize them in the marketplace.
We learn about each business (their values) and what they do (their purpose). Then, we work with them to build a brand based on those things. We’ll help ensure everything they do and every story they tell matches their brand.
How does this help the people problem? Much like media, good branding and creative attracts recruits. But it also helps keep good team members on board. People are proud to work for a company that’s telling real stories from the field, backed by a strong, recognizable brand.
Marketing
Once a brand is established, it has to be marketed. After all, that’s how you attract potential recruits and customers. Here are some marketing services you can expect from us:
- SEO & analytics
- Paid media campaigns
- Email marketing
- Social media strategy
Many businesses don’t have a full-time position in the office to handle these tasks. Or when they do, that person will have additional responsibilities, and marketing can fall through the cracks.
On top of building brand awareness, good marketing helps get good people hired.
Hiring
This section might feel broad, but we consider all the previously mentioned things when we talk about hiring as a service. We work to figure out where in the people life cycle your company is experiencing issues (i.e., attracting, recruiting and hiring, training, retention). We help you smooth out the hiring process and work to make your company an employer of choice through employer branding.
We help every company we work with to become a place people want to work, so there’s never a people shortage.
BuildWitt Training
Now that we’ve gone through the BuildWitt Services, it’s time to talk about our newest venture, BuildWitt Training.
Attracting recruits is great. But once you hire them, you’ve got to equip them to do their jobs. So we built a training platform to develop the next generation of Dirt World workers. The best part is that experienced team members will also benefit from the content.
It includes training courses for six critical roles in the Dirt World: laborer, grade checker, pipelayer, operator, field supervisor, and leadership. Plus, you can create custom training courses or mix and match your content with ours.
With BuildWitt Training, you know your foremen are always using the right training tools and teaching your team how to do things the way you want them done.
Dirt World awareness
Eric Jumper, longtime operator, heavy equipment junkie, and BuildWitt Field Training specialist, says we must show people how they can build their careers in the Dirt World.
He explained, “People don't understand that you can start at the bottom of the company and work your way right up to the top with nothing more than a shovel in your hand to start. That's something you're not going to find anywhere else. It's only in the Dirt World.”
When recruits hear stories of people who have made their way to the top in this industry, they start to visualize themselves doing the same thing. Suddenly, they’re interested in a career they may not have known about 10 minutes before.
This is how we tell those stories.
Dirt Talk
One of the ways we tell stories is through Dirt Talk, a podcast about what’s happening in the industry. With over 120 episodes about all things Dirt World, there’s no topic we won’t cover. We’ve shot the breeze with folks from Australia to Canada, talking about everything from mega-auctions to robotics to the ingenious work-arounds when it comes to rapidly-changing emissions laws. Guests like Chris Guins (letsdig18), Dave Turin, and Marcus Sheridan have all appeared on the podcast, expanding our understanding of leadership, growing a business, and the messy aspects of the industry we all love. leadership to getting messy to growing businesses.
Articles
Our articles bring everyone from all walks of life to our site. We’ve got parents looking up “what is a skid steer” for their young dirt enthusiast to someone who’s been in the business for decades, researching how to resolve a conflict between their office and the people in the field.
The Learning Hub contains articles and videos about every aspect of the Dirt World. There are articles on heavy equipment and jobsite safety, as well as developing company culture, recruiting, and leadership.
Aaron Witt
Aaron certainly doesn’t belong at the bottom of this list, but he’s a humble guy, so we’re putting him last.
Aaron’s Instagram following of over a quarter-million is full of people who love the Dirt World as much as he does. His YouTube audience goes wild overseeing stuff get blown up, checking out what $30,000 tires look like, and digging underwater with a skeleton bucket.
Aaron brings awareness to the Dirt World through the incredible people, environments, and equipment he encounters in his travels. His insights aren’t simply a result of traveling more than an airline pilot. He sees the world through a unique lens—every story and every interaction is fueled by a passion he’s carried since childhood. There’s a reason his official title is Chief Dirt Nerd.
Why the Dirt World?
Everything we do focuses on the Dirt World and its people because we care deeply about them both. Noone can live without this industry, and people are the key to it all.
“The roads we drive on, the houses we live in, the water we drink, the technology we use—without the people who work in the Dirt World, none of it happens,” explains Benjamin Holmgren, BuildWitt’s Chief Customer Officer.
Jason Richmond (Director of BuildWitt Services) says, “Everyone talks about the rough conditions and the hard work. And yeah, there's plenty of that. But what they don't understand is at the end of the day—when you finish the job, and you look back—there's a sense of pride in saying, ‘We built that.’”
At BuildWitt, we want to help companies in the Dirt World tell customers and recruits what they do and how it positively impacts our world. We believe it’s our responsibility to help get those stories out into the wild.
In the words of one of the original BuildWitt team members, Field Team Lead and Content Producer Kjell Gerber: “That's why we're here—to tell the stories of the industry, to help companies and people be better. We're here to give them the tools, support, and help they need to make a bigger impact on their people and the world.”
Join Us
Our mission here at BuildWitt is making the Dirt World a better place, but we can't do it alone. That's why we're building a community of companies and individuals who want to improve the Dirt World by providing better training, helping workers develop their careers, sponsoring students, raising awareness, and changing perceptions of blue collar work.
If you love this industry and want to help make it better, there's never been a better time to start.
