Information.
A commonly held view... which is a matter of religious belief in Eastern Europe, and some other backward places... holds that all information is a valuable commodity, to be hidden away, and never shared. Sad to say, most management types seem to think along these lines.
The other view was expressed by Adam Smith, in his "Wealth of Nations." The free flow of information in the marketplace resulted in a "hidden hand' that directed things in the most useful directions.
So where am I going with this? Documentation- and sharing it, publicly, as soon as possible. The employees are your "marketplace," and they NEED this feedback!
It's probably not possible to post every day for every man. It most certainly is possible to post every job when it closes! On bigger jobs, a continuing tally can be posted.
Such a posting would be simple: Price of job, money for materials, money (or hours) for labor. Let the guys see how they're really doing, in a timely manner.
If the crew sees that, say, Joe is consistantly coming in under target... and know that Joe is getting paid more... watch their attitudes change!
Likewise, if they see that Joe's jobs bring in more money than theirs, they won't begrudge him his pay.
There are other issues... that's what management is all about... but honest, real figures are where you must start.
