The construction industry is experiencing a labor shortage, and general contractors and project managers are scrambling to hire more people to finish their projects. Many construction company hiring managers have been looking for ways to improve how they find new employees to keep up with the rising demand.
But labor shortage is more than hiring workers and filling vacant positions, and construction companies must also use their best plans to retain and engage employees. In this article, let us look at the impact of labor shortage in the construction industry. We will also let you in on some simple strategies you can use to hire high-quality workers and keep your current employees.
The Impact of Labor Shortage in the Construction Industry
You need help filling open positions with qualified, skilled workers on your job sites. According to an article by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the construction industry needs about 546,000 more people in 2023 to keep up with the current demands (Construction Workforce Shortage Tops Half a Million in 2023, Says ABC | News Releases).
As project managers, you must devise creative ways to deal with it without sacrificing quality or your bottom line. Companies that want to grow need to know how to hire and retain their construction workers. It is important to have an effective and affordable construction strategy for managing your crew.
Companies can utilize the power of digital technology to keep up with other industries and attract new workers. These solutions help teams work better and faster, streamline your process and ensure successful results, and appeal to younger people who are tech-savvy and want to use these tools. This will help keep current workers from being overworked and burned out, helping keep your projects on track and within budget.
Top Hiring Strategies That You Can Utilize
It takes a lot of work to find a job right now – many industries compete with the construction industry for the same talent pool. Companies can only fill open jobs with the help of the best recruitment strategies for construction companies. Depending on age, each person seeks different benefits, paths, and career growth. Younger workers like jobs with clear ways to move up, while older workers might want to be able to take their kids to events.
Employees will choose the company that gives them the best benefits or allows them to move around. Construction companies should consider what they offer compared to what other construction companies and local jobs offer. Here are some ways to hire top talent for your company:
Plan and Think Ahead
Planning is the critical first step to your process – you need to know how many personnel your project needs and the current number of workers you currently have. It would help if you looked at the schedules for your current and upcoming projects to ensure that you have enough workers, managers, and other staff. You can utilize construction crew scheduling software to see what your crews are working on. When companies have time to do a full search and evaluate their current state, they find more useful results by creating unique strategies that meet their needs and demands.
Add Clear Descriptions for The Job
After figuring out what positions are needed, the company has to write a job description and decide on the minimum requirements for the job. Construction companies find people to work for them by giving job descriptions to people who might be interested. It seems easy, but it plays a big factor in hiring the right people for the right job.
List the exact hard and soft skills that are needed for the job. These should also be included in the job description. If this is listed, it will be easier for applicants to know if they are right for the job.
Use The Right Platforms to Advertise Job Openings
Some companies receive fewer applications because they often need to advertise the open position on the right sites. Different candidates will look at sites. So, companies must post the job on many sites or choose the few that will help the most. You can use job websites, social media, internships, or get referrals.
Create Attractive Career Paths
As you learn how to hire people for the construction industry, it is important to note how the current mindset has deviated over the last few years. It is no secret that many people think construction workers need to make more money and are stuck on a stagnant career path. You can create attractive career paths and show that your company offers much room for growth. This way, you will be able to find employees who are ready to be loyal and
Give Your New Workers Ongoing Training
Most construction companies usually put new workers into an existing crew and tell them to watch and try to keep up. This is hard for some workers, especially if their processes differ from your company. You must provide efficient onboarding training to help your new workers become familiar with how your company works. New crew members are not productive in the first two or three weeks so you can use this to your advantage. You can utilize construction workforce management software to help manage your crew’s training, activities, and skill development.
Set Up a Healthy Company Culture
The term “company culture” is used in every industry – it is what the younger generation looks for when choosing a company to work for. They want a workplace that is aligned with their vision and work ethic. The company’s mission, vision, values, goals, and work environment are used to build a brand and bring in customers, but they also help bring in and keep the best employees. It is about creating a good culture that attracts the best people and keeps them invested once they’re on the team.
How to Retain Your Current Employees Using Construction Technology?
Adopting digitalized construction technology, such as construction task management software, helps bring in younger people who are good with technology and gives the industry a chance to retrain and keep valuable. These experienced workers want to stay in the field. In this section, let us look at how construction technology can help you get the most out of your team.
Improve Your Workers’ Effectivity and Efficiency
Investing in new construction technology is a good idea to help your current workforce work together, communicate better, and improve efficiency. This way, your crew can focus on the more important tasks rather than all the tedious, repetitive tasks.
Construction software creates a single, easy-to-find source of truth that everyone who needs it can access. It helps eliminate many human mistakes, which are unavoidable in manual workflows and can quickly cause costs to go up. Communication both inside the company and with clients gets faster and easier.
Choose the Right Software For Your Company’s Needs
If you want your teams to use construction software, invest in training your crew on how to efficiently and effectively use it.
But let’s say that training is important to your company. Still, people will only remember what they are taught if they are reminded often. So, ease of use is important. Highlight the software’s advantage – for example, how it can create a more efficient construction inventory management system. When crews understand how it can benefit them, they are less likely to give up on it and more likely to keep using it.
Ensure Open Communication and Close Collaboration
Have a centralized place where everyone on the team can talk to each other. This makes the way work is organized clearer and helps people work together and get along better, which has been hard for field and office teams in the past.
Knowing the people on the crew makes training and communication more effective, and better teamwork helps leaders figure out who has the right skills for the right jobs. Keeping employees longer will be easier if you use technology to create a central space for your company’s culture. They will now feel like they are part of a team and that their tasks and the whole project are important.
Do Not Let Language Barriers Get in The Way
Some people on your team might need to learn to speak English as their first language or feel comfortable using English in a business setting. Still, that should not stop them from doing their jobs.
Make sure that everyone has access to training and learning materials in the language of their choice when using digital tools.
Key Takeaway
The most important resource of a construction company is its workers. Losing one worker might have little effect on your business. Still, if you keep losing your employees, your turnover rate is continuously increasing, and you need help hiring new ones, we have a problem. If this continues, it will hurt your company’s productivity and morale and could even put your business at risk. In today’s competitive industry, companies need to focus on meeting the needs of their workers if they want to keep them.
