The real work happens before the job starts

In drainage, people often assume the real work happens on-site. When the jetter's running, the tanker hose is out, or the excavation begins. But I've learned something different over the years:

The real work happens before the job starts.

In the training.
In the habits.
In the small daily standards that decide whether a job runs smoothly or falls apart.

Anyone can react to a blocked drain.
It takes a trained team to prevent problems and turn a simple call-out into lasting value.

Training is not a one-off event.

Most of us were brought up in environments where "training" meant:

• A quick demonstration,
• A few pointers,
• Then: "Right, you've seen it once, now get on with it."

But drainage is hands-on work with real consequences. Water damage, contamination, customer stress, costs, reputation.

Training cannot be a one-time instruction.
Training is repetition.

Just like boxing. You don't learn footwork by hearing someone describe it.
You learn by moving until it becomes your rhythm.

The same applies here:

• Reversing a tanker safely requires rhythm.
• Reading a drain's behaviour through the jetter hose requires rhythm.
• Putting the camera down every time before and after jetting. That's not just procedure, it's rhythm.

When a skill becomes rhythm, it becomes reliable.

Experience alone isn't enough.

We have men who have been in this industry for decades, including myself.
Experience matters, yes.

But experience without reflection can become habit.
And habits can drift.

A person can do the same job for 20 years and still not be doing it well.

This is why training has to include:

• Reviewing how we did something,
• Asking why it worked,
• And adjusting when it didn't.

Experience tells you what happened.
Training teaches you to understand why.

The strength of a team is in the standards it keeps.

When I look at our best jobs, the ones customers talk about for years, they were not the quickest or the easiest.

They were the jobs where we:

• Checked the drain properly before jetting,
• Cleaned it thoroughly,
• Camera-surveyed it afterwards,
• Spotted the real underlying issue,
• And communicated it clearly to the customer.

One small fault, like a broken dip pipe, can lead to a failed land drain. Spotting it early can save £6,000+ and a lot of disruption.

It's often a tiny issue, like a pipe out of place, that leads to a £2,000 dig. We spot it before it gets to that stage.

It's the gateway to everything else we do.
But only if the person attending is trained to see what others miss.

Leadership must be calm, clear, consistent.

This year has taught me something important about leadership:

It's not enough to explain something once and assume it will stick.

People don't follow instructions.
They follow examples.
They follow tone.
They follow standards that don't move.

I used to jump in, fix the problem myself, push through by willpower.
It works, but it burns you out.

And it teaches the wrong lesson:
The company works because Gerry is there.

What I want now is different:

The company works because the system works.
The system is strong because the standards are strong.
The standards are strong because the training is constant.

Training is not correction. It's growth.

When someone gets something wrong, it's easy to get frustrated.
I've done it. We all have.

But the goal is not to blame.
The goal is to repair the gap, not replace the person.

Correct the behaviour, not the character.
Build confidence, not confusion.

It takes patience.
It takes calm tone.
It takes repetition.

But it's worth it, because the person you train today might be the one leading tomorrow.

Where we're going next.

Our intention moving forward is simple:

• Every job has a before and after camera survey.
• Every job has notes. Clear, simple, repeatable.
• Every call-out is treated as an opportunity to learn, improve, and prevent future issues.

Not because someone is watching.
But because that's who we are.

Professional.
Reliable.
Proud of our craft.

The work we do is invisible once the ground is backfilled.
But the quality remains for years.

And that quality comes from training.

Not once.
Not occasionally.
But every day. In how we speak, how we look, how we think, and how we work.