Empathy isn’t soft; it’s a competitive advantage. When you can see the world through your team’s and customers’ eyes, you spot unmet needs earlier, reduce rework, and earn trust. That trust is what gets people to surface bad news fast and take smart risks—two ingredients that keep innovation alive.

Build empathy with deliberate habits: spend one hour a week in customer support tickets or sales calls, ask “What’s hardest right now?” in 1:1s, and repeat back what you heard before offering solutions. In meetings, invite the quietest voice first and ask for one concern that could derail the plan.

Pair empathy with clear standards. Set outcomes, constraints, and decision owners, then give people room to choose the method. When someone struggles, coach the skill and fix the system rather than blame the person. Track whether empathy is working by watching cycle time, retention, and how quickly problems get raised.

Listen, reflect, and adjust one decision daily based on what you learn from others.

Thornton Construction Company, Inc. is a Miami-based contracting and construction management firm with over 26 years of experience. It delivers institutional, commercial, and residential projects, including new construction and renovations, and is a frequent choice for schools, healthcare facilities, municipalities, multifamily high-rises, and airports across South Florida.

Its mission centers on collaboration with clients and trade partners to shape the community through exceptional quality construction services. Core values translate that intent into daily behavior: safety first for employees and partners; quality and service delivered through strong teams and reputable trades; professionalism in every interaction; empowerment to solve problems; and accountability for exceeding expectations.

The company treats relationships as a deliverable, emphasizing open communication and artistry that earns repeat business. It also invests locally through volunteering, charitable giving, and community-building initiatives, connecting job-site performance to the neighborhoods its projects serve. The result is a model in which scale is measured less by volume than by the trust that returns.

Repeat business follows when safety, collaboration, and accountability stay nonnegotiable.

Private capital is moving directly onto the waterfront. CMA CGM and Stonepeak are launching United Ports LLC, a joint venture valued at nearly $10 billion, with Stonepeak investing $2.4 billion for a 25% stake and CMA CGM contributing 10 terminals, including Port Liberty in New York and Fenix Marine Services in Los Angeles. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

For U.S. construction firms, this balance sheet item matters because terminals are constrained assets. If owners can finance upgrades, they can pull forward berth strengthening, yard paving, crane electrification, gate automation, and on-dock rail connections. But every improvement must be implemented without disrupting container flow, which forces phased outages, strict safety plans, and early utility coordination.

The insight is that money is not the bottleneck; interfaces are. Winning contractors will sell certainty: standardized designs, repeatable work packages, and commissioning plans that prove throughput before final acceptance. Owners who price contracts around measurable availability, and that lock permit milestones with the same rigor as procurement, will convert capital into capacity instead of congestion.

Fund upgrades early, but contract around uptime and permitting reality.

A new analysis shows the rental market is tilting decisively toward large apartment buildings. About 33.1% of renter-occupied homes are now in large multifamily properties, the highest share since at least 2011, while single-family rentals have slipped to 31%, a record low. Large buildings overtook single-family homes as the most common rental type in 2022, and construction of large multifamily hit a record in 2024.

For residential builders, this changes the demand signal. More renters are being served by professionally managed complexes, which favors standardized unit stacks, repeatable details, and tighter cost control. At the same time, fewer detached houses are entering the rental pool, weakening the case for dedicated rental neighborhoods that rely on investor underwriting and predictable lease-up.

If you build for renters, win by designing for operations: durable finishes, simple mechanical systems, and layouts that minimize maintenance calls. Lock in long-lead equipment early, set clear QA documentation for inspectors and insurers, and coordinate a lease-up schedule aligned with the delivery of amenities and punch-list work. Builders who treat rental housing as a product line will outlast a choppy sales market.

Follow renters; an ample apartment supply is the steadier pipeline.

Good morning, crew. Before work starts, we will walk the area and confirm that the lighting is on, aimed correctly, and not causing glare. Any dark corners, holes, stairs, or edges get lit and marked before we move tools and materials. Wear high-visibility gear and keep your head up to avoid collisions with equipment and traffic. If you cannot clearly see your footing, your hands, or the signal person, stop and fix the lighting.

Low light increases the risk of errors because depth and distance are harder to judge, and shadows can obscure trip hazards, rebar, cords, and open edges. Glare from portable lights can be just as dangerous, washing out the view or blinding a driver or operator. Set lights to cover the task, reduce harsh shadows, and keep a clear line of sight between workers, spotters, and operators. Slow down, communicate, and reset when visibility changes.

If we cannot see it, we cannot control the risk. Today we will light the work, control glare, keep paths clear, and make sure operators and workers can see each other at all times. Speak up the moment lighting fails, shifts, or creates blind spots. Stopping to reposition lights is fast. Recovering from a fall or being struck by an object is not. Clear visibility is a job requirement.

Light the work, control glare, and finish the shift with zero close calls.

The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.

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