Executives at industrial construction leader Turner Industries have a habit of showing up at job sites and offices, ready to help however they can.
CEO Stephen Toups describes how the company’s CIO may head deep inside a refinery at 5am one day, looking for opportunities to innovate, while the CFO could be out meeting clients in person.
“That, to me, is commitment to our people,” Toups tells The CEO Magazine. “We are a very hands-on team.”
Toups has provided hands-on leadership since becoming President of Turner Industries in 2019 and assuming the CEO role two years later. He leads by removing any roadblocks in his employees’ paths and letting people work with their team, rather than being the boss, he explains.
“I am in awe of what our people can do and what they can make every day.”
“I don’t like to talk about how people work for me,” he says. “I work with these men and women. We all have the privilege to work together.”
Toups, a 27-year veteran of Turner Industries, speaks glowingly of the company’s people – an asset he says sets the company apart from competitors in the construction sector.
“It’s the people that make Turner Industries,” he says. “It’s the people every single day who are going out and building that plant or maintaining that plant or inspecting that pipeline or fabricating that pipe, fabricating that module. I am in awe of what our people can do and what they can make every day.”
A Family Culture
Toups works to empower employees daily. Turner Industries promotes a culture of safety, which includes daily safety meetings and giving every employee the right to stop work if situations turn unsafe.
The company also puts a priority on family – with Toups describing Turner Industries as “one big family”.
“If you ask Turner employees, they also know our priorities. It’s God, family and Turner,” he states. “Everybody knows that. I guess that’s a benefit of being a privately held company.”
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The culture helps with employee retention. Toups says craft professions on worksites average 11 years with Turner Industries – an astonishing number for the construction sector – while managers average more than 20 years.
“We want our employees to be safe. We want them to enjoy what they do. We want them to go home just like they got to work,” he says, summing up the culture.
Clean Transition
Turner Industries is renowned for completing heavy construction projects in the industrial, energy and natural resource sector, along with services such as maintenance, turnarounds, pipe and module fabrication and specialized transportation.
“We provide the support required for our customers to produce the fuel and energy and the materials necessary for life as we all know it today,” Toups says.
This support for customers is a continuous evolution. The last few years since Toups took the reins at Turner Industries have been no exception, as the company’s customers continue meeting the world’s growing energy demands, while also minimizing their environmental impact.
“Our role is to support our clients as they migrate through whatever their energy transition may be.”
But even as the clean transition unfolds, Toups sees opportunities and has positioned the company to provide the same construction, maintenance and specialty services for clients wanting to meet their climate goals.
“We build and maintain big industrial manufacturing facilities. Now, when those facilities pivot to biodiesel or sustainable aviation fuel or wind or solar or whatever, we are going to be there with them,” he says. “Our role is to support our clients as they migrate through whatever their energy transition may be.”
While excited about the opportunities presented by the energy transition, Toups remains bullish on traditional energy sources, noting that Turner Industries touches one out of five barrels of oil processed in the United States.
“What we need to do is figure out how to continue supporting industry’s efforts toward more sustainable processes. I think the industry’s heading there,” he adds.
Talking it Over
Any construction company leans heavily on its suppliers and subcontractors, and Turner Industries is no different. One of its trusted suppliers is MSA – The Safety Company, the world leader in safety equipment for industrial workers.
Turner works with its vendors to ensure their viability, which can be fraught in the construction sector.
“We want competitive pricing, and we want amazing service,” he says. “That means we’ve got to afford them the opportunity to make a profit.”
“I believe that any conflict can be resolved when you can sit down across from somebody, break bread and just talk through the problem.”
Toups is also a big believer in communication – with employees and vendors alike. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as supply chains seized up, clients knew they could communicate problems to Turner Industries’ staff.
“We listened to the clients and worked closely with our vendors,” Toups recalls.
He says this approach draws on his southern Louisiana upbringing, where everything is solved over food.
“I believe that any conflict can be resolved when you can sit down across from somebody, break bread and just talk through the problem.”