It is no secret that an engaged construction workforce is crucial to the business’s long-term success. Loyal, highly motivated workers can improve every aspect of your company, from its management to safety records, operations, and more.
As a construction company, you have to devote effort, time, and the best resources to continuously improve the overall engagement of your workforce. One way or another, doing this and putting in extra effort can bring you many benefits.
In this blog post, we will share seven of the best ways to increase your entire construction workforce’s overall engagement and coordination.
Read on!
The Current State of Construction Workforce Today
It is no longer surprising to anybody working in the sector that the construction industry faces a significant skill shortage. One factor contributing to this shortage is the aging workforce in the industry. Most of the employees are retiring slowly, and retirement will happen in the next decade. On the other side, the number of new workers and apprentices coming in is not enough to meet the anticipated demand in the upcoming years.
- 20% of most construction vacancies are reported as “persistent and hard to fill because some employers cannot recruit the right skills.
- The sector is sitting on a retirement timebomb – 22% of the construction workforce is over 50, and fifteen percent are in their 60s already.
- Younger employees tend to leave their employers for more stable jobs and higher competitive pay rates.
- 20 percent of the early leavers have issues with their employers, hence, why they leave the industry.
- · Over a quarter of the employers in the industry consider early leavers to be the major problem.
The best way to ensure your construction company can maintain a more satisfied workforce with higher retention rates is to maintain a high level of employee engagement. Employees who are engaged are most likely to stay with their company, reducing overall turnover and its expenses. These employees have a stronger bond to their company’s purpose and mission.
Practical Tips for Developing a More Engaged Construction Workforce
Employee engagement is a critical management method designed to boost your employee’s well-being and the relationship you have with them. This is in hopes of making them trust your company more, which leads to their decision to stay longer as your employee.
As such, here are the best practical tips we promise to share for better workforce engagement in your company.
1. Boost collaboration with team-building exercises
One of the most important aspects of success is teamwork among your workforce, especially when working onsite. For such reason, it should be in your best interest as an employer to nurture the collaborative environment of your people and continuously improve teamwork.
Plan team-building exercises. These activities have been popular in either small or huge organizations. This fosters socialization outside of work and strengthens your team’s bond.
2. Keep your workforce in the loop
One important aspect your employees value is a sense of belonging. Everyone wants to feel seen, heard, and valued in the organization. And this is one part that most employers take for granted the most. The lack of recognition and empathy has been evident in so many scenarios. It also becomes the most common pitfall that often drives people away from the company.
To build trust between you and your people, be transparent and straightforward with your decisions and share all updates regularly. With the help of subcontractor scheduling software, you can improve collaboration overall, and keeping everyone in the same loop will never become a challenge anymore. This fully integrated software amplifies productivity, reduces risks, and tracks performance for optimal efficiency.
3. Enhance workplace safety
While all kinds of jobs are often associated with some risk, the construction sector is particularly dangerous. You know firsthand that it involves working at a certain height, handling hazardous materials, using heavy tools and machinery, and so much more. That said, workplace safety is a top priority in construction.
Your workforce will most likely stay in the company now that you emphasize workplace safety. To get started, you must create a workplace safety plan and include your people during the creation. Involving your people in decision-making is one great way to boost engagement with them.
As a business leader, building a more engaged workforce requires a ton of effort. And it takes patience and time to see some progress. That is why you must prepare and plan and be equipped with the best practices to follow, combined with the latest construction worker schedule, that makes things easier to track, monitor, and update.
4. Recognition and reward performances
Of course, who dislikes being recognized for their hard work? Everyone wants that. Being knowledgeable because of great work performance is such a boost in confidence. Learn to recognize all your employees from all departments. Make sure that achievement is recognized at all levels of your construction company.
It is not enough to assume that a salary increase would be enough to motivate your people more. Sometimes, the rewards can be something other than financial. You can ask your employees for their ideas on how they want to be acknowledged.
5. Enable seamless communication using construction crew dispatch software
Conditions in the sector are always changing every single time. Something unforeseen will occur, whether it’s the weather, traffic, delays, or other factors. With reliable communication and regular updates, your workforce can stay in touch and in the loop.
Your people should always be connected. A single software solution like Pro Crew Schedule can keep everybody on the same page, which is crucial for seamless connection and communication. Pro Crew Schedule is cloud-based, meaning you and your workforce can access updates and information you need anytime and anywhere.
Accessibility is on another level. Everything can be accessed in the palm of your hand!
We offer a free demo trial for our software. Check it out.
6. Make resources available to everyone
Construction tasks are obviously done by hand. Everything is fast-paced, making everyone exhausted and busy every single time. Without a better view of all information, updates, and messages regarding the projects, your people will feel discouraged.
Each of your employees already better understands the contributions they put up for a certain project. And they put value to their work. So, simply providing simple, fast, and reliable access to complete resources will make your people feel valued, supported, and extra engaged.
Always remember that the environment in the industry can sometimes be pretty challenging, but know that employee engagement and retention do not have to be challenging. Simply empower your construction workforce by constantly recognizing their efforts, giving value to their contribution, and showing endless support for what they do.
7. Foster Transparency and Openness
Having a fully-integrated software to communicate is one thing. However, knowing how and what to communicate is another. Here is the main thing – trust is the solid foundation of employee engagement. So, if your people do not feel they cannot fully trust you and your company, you cannot get their loyalty.
This is where you need to go above and beyond regarding construction workforce/employee engagement. First, you have to foster a strong culture of openness and transparency. You may consider creating an open-door policy for your employees. This means they have the freedom and the right to approach management to voice their major concerns.
As their employer, they mustn’t feel scrutinized and judged for voicing their concerns. It’s one way to get their full trust and foster transparency.
Need a Custom Construction Software Solution? – Pro Crew Schedule is the Key!
While there is more than one construction software tool designed for contractors and builders, know that you only need to look for the right one that can be tailored to your current needs. Whether you want to scale up your workforce or promote better engagement and good relationships with them, you need the perfect construction scheduling software!
Look no further than Pro Crew Schedule!
Pro Crew Schedule is designed by a subcontractor for subcontractors and all other construction professionals. Our software was born due to a greater need to address recurring issues from our construction company. Hence, we put our maximum effort, time, and experience in the industry towards designing Pro Crew Schedule.
Our all-in-one construction management software is built to minimize the stress of tracking down all moving parts of a construction business – especially in managing construction projects and supervising your entire workforce! We designed all features and functionalities with the best of intentions. Also, time is gold in construction, and having our software put in place will help save time and increase efficiencies at all levels.
The greater the efficiency, the better flow of your business operations and the relationship and engagement of everyone will be reinforced – all because of Pro Crew Schedule!
