By Charles W. Coker, PhD, SPHR
LifeThrive
In my conversations with builders, their biggest concern is worker shortages.
The Associated General Contractors of America says this is true of 52 percent of contractors, and 40 percent said they were also worried about rising direct labor costs.
Additionally, 45 percent of contractors reported they were worried about worker quality, clearly related to worker shortages.
Making things worse is the fact that construction workers suffer about 5 percent of U.S. work-related deaths, even though they make up less than 2 percent of the workforce. And 47 percent report that inexperienced skilled labor and worker shortages are a major challenge to the safety and health of workers.
To make it worse, most contractors pay relatively high premiums for insurance, including workers’ compensation, general liability and surety.
When you add delays and defects, accidents by inexperienced or overworked employees, there are many ways people issues can eat into profitability.
The challenge for most contractors is that 90 percent of the time they are reacting to challenges presented in the normal building processes, rather than proactively.
While we cannot change the weather, quality of products or the buyer’s mood on a particular day, we can focus on what we want our company to look like, people-wise.
Contractors are increasingly aware they need to keep the talent pipeline full to replace retiring talent, particularly at top positions as more boomers plan to retire.
A Nonresidential Construction Industry panelist put it this way: “We are focused on hiring the top talent available before we need the help. Waiting to hire a body because you have more work than you can handle produces weak results and unhappy teams.”
The unemployment rate in the construction industry is higher than the national average. People are available if we approach people needs proactively.
That means going through the normal search processes before you actually need to hire someone and building a backlog of resumes and lists of people you can call when you see opportunities on the horizon.
To do that you must become an “Employer of Choice.” Even if you have only a few employees, you can begin to build a solid foundation. These are the steps to start this process:
• Network with community and industry groups that normally have turnover and could supply you with available prospects.
• Increase recruiting efforts at schools, colleges and universities, which has been shown to be highly effective along with internship and co-op programs.
• Establish core competencies by position, making sure job descriptions are clear and understandable so potential hires understand their roles and job requirements.
• Employ best practices to retain the key talent you already have. Provide incentives for mentoring and coaching new employees and designate the new hire as part of the existing employee’s role.
• Institute training beyond on-the-job training to improve performance in specific competencies the organization needs now or will need in the future.
• Identify current gaps in core competencies and direct your hiring efforts at filling the gaps, rather than just hiring what is needed for a specific job.
Once you have these efforts underway, begin creating a desirable culture. That culture will be a collection of values and repeatable behaviors you want your employees to display at work.
While some cultures are formal, others are informal and more entrepreneurial. Without a definable culture a company’s ability to succeed long term is extremely limited.
Employees are attracted to cultures that hire and retain good people because those principles help the organization achieve lasting success.
They attract talent that will join you, regardless of who they are working for now, because they know they can grow and develop within an organization that builds their competencies.
Additionally, employees are looking for fulfillment in these areas to:
• Work closely with their peers to build a sense of team camaraderie
• Have pride in their work and accomplishments and to be recognized for their efforts
• Know that fair and equal standards apply to everyone, along with fair business practices
• Understand that there is a shared sense of respect among all team members
• Never doubt that their leaders are credible and trustworthy.
Make your company an employer of choice and build your pipeline with people who take pride in their work — ahead of time, not when you are under the gun.
For an outline of the process or additional assistance, contact me at [email protected] or (904) 838-8585.