The top recruitment strategies for construction recruiting include but are not limited to building a great company brand that candidates are attracted to, sourcing great talent in new ways, interviewing appropriately, and continuing to train your new hires.
Construction companies’ recruitment strategies have never been more critical. In fact, Brent Darnell International, a company that teaches emotional intelligence in construction, has even said that there’s a “war for talent” now in the construction market.
In addition, the Home Builders Institute suggests that 740,000 new construction workers are needed annually for three years to account for attrition.
The construction industry needs more than 61,000 new hires every month to keep up with both industry growth and the loss of workers either through retirement or simply leaving the sector for good,” said Home Builders Institute CEO Ed Brady. “From 2022 through 2024, this total represents a need for an additional 2.2 million new hires for construction, and that’s a staggering number.
Build Your Brand for Better Communication
Believe it or not, building a brand to attract employees when construction recruiting is as important as building one to attract customers. Think about it; you’re not the only one hiring; you must provide a reason for employees to choose you over others.
Establish Priorities to Show That You Care
Safety is one of the major concerns in the construction industry and one key priority to highlight and provide focus on. Showcasing how you handle your safety measures is a thoughtful gesture and a great way to promote how you care for your employees.
Through your communication channels, talk about your long-term safety record, how you deal with workplace hazards, and how you plan to improve in the future.
Your communication will show that you value your employees’ health and well-being.
Embrace a Worker-First Mindset
Before the 2000s, working for long hours in the harshest environments meant having a construction job.
Employees back then didn’t have options, so they were forced to accept. Today, many employers have taken the initiative to improve their workers’ mental health.
Take Shawmut, for example. In 2016, they implemented a flexible work program that yielded many positive results. They offered shift sharing, part-time hours, compressed workweeks, and even telecommuting.
Shawmut Design and Construction has announced the creation and implementation of Shawmut Flex, a program that allows employees the option to flex their time, condense the work week, and telecommute. Recognizing that its people are its greatest asset, Shawmut Flex was designed to improve work-life integration, retain top talent, and recruit the best in the industry.
Implement Technology to Reach a Larger Audience
It’s inevitable that your company will have to hire millennials in the next few years, and Deloitte expects millennials to comprise about 75% of the global workforce by 2025. That said, you need to leverage technology to hire construction workers if you aren’t already. That means marketing on social media, leveraging LinkedIn to its fullest, and using an ATS system to review a high volume of resumes.
Brad Humphry, the founder of Pinnacle Development Group, a consulting firm that has built a reputation as a developer of leaders, a facilitator of strategic growth, and a tailored provider of professional resources, mentioned this about millennials.
I don’t think Millennials look at construction naturally because they are very computer-literate and feel more comfortable working with all sorts of electronics.
Further, the Associated General Contractors of America showed that nearly one-fourth of firms report using cutting-edge solutions like robots, drones, 3D printers, and GPS-guided machinery. If you don’t catch up, you’ll soon risk a significant worker shortage.
Build Career Paths to Attract Ambitious Employees
As you learn how to hire construction employees, you may need to remind yourself how much the industry has changed over the last several years. It’s essential to change this idea that all construction workers wear hard hats and that you can’t make much money. If you make it clear that your company provides room for growth, you will attract employees who are ready to be devoted and loyal.
Featuring career paths is especially important for the construction industry regarding student vacancies. Make sure to outline the career goals you offer, then illustrate the training or education needed to reach those goals.
Tyson Conrad, the CEO of Goliath Construction Consulting, suggests the following.
For so long, it was assumed that if you worked with a hard hat, you didn’t make a lot of money, and you were a dummy.
This said, consider going the extra mile by actually supporting your current construction employees with a clear growth path, providing tuition reimbursement, and developing mentoring opportunities for future leaders.
Embrace Your Current Workforce to Avoid Losing Them
It’s obvious that your construction company should retain its employees rather than have a high turnover. It’s more economical since you won’t need to allocate an additional budget for hiring campaigns. It also decreases the likelihood of surprising worker shortages.
If you have unhappy employees, something is wrong with your environment, your compensation, philosophy, etc. Even the best construction hiring strategies can’t fix a broken culture or work environment. In fact, we can tell you how to recruit, but we can’t tell you how to please your current employees. You’d have to analyze your shortcomings to be able to improve them.
What is the best way to find what upsets your workers? Ask them!
A study made in 2017 reinforced this and showed that only 39% of construction companies measure their employee engagement, and even more surprising is that only 21% of the workers are motivated by their bosses!
Allocate Signing Bonuses to Encourage More Applicants
If your budget allows it, allocate signing bonuses to encourage more people to consider your company. However, making them conditional on a minimum employment term is essential; otherwise, people may leave their jobs as soon as they get their bonuses.
Here are a couple of reasons to allocate a signing bonus when putting together your construction recruiting strategy:
To stay competitive: A signing bonus is more likely when a construction company competes with other employers for the same worker. It’s also a clear sign that a construction employer is really interested in a candidate.
To maintain internal salary equity: Sometimes, especially at large construction companies, a candidate will ask for a higher salary only to be told it’s outside the company’s salary range for their level. There might be much less flexibility in terms of salary, and in that case, the company might make up the difference—for the first year—with a signing bonus.
To make up for benefits left behind: If a construction employer recruits an experienced worker who will lose out on a bonus or other benefits by leaving their job, the employer may use a signing bonus to make up the difference.
Spice Up your Offers with Benefits Packages
If you’re low on budget and can’t afford raises or bonuses as part of your construction industry recruitment strategy, you might consider arranging a benefits package.
A workforce report made in 2016 found that 60% of employees consider a benefits package offering crucial for their job satisfaction. In a basic benefits plan, construction employees look for, and employers typically provide health insurance, employer-matching retirement plans, and additional insurance (life and disability) coverages.
Build an Effective Company Careers Page
Imagine that you’ve done an impressive digital campaign to ratchet up your construction recruitment to the next level. You’ve prepared ads, sent emails, and even encouraged your employees to share vacancies on their social media. Traffic to your job posting at picking up!
Now all that’s left is to capture prospects’ interest with an effective careers page on your company website. Here’s how to take your construction company career page to the next level:
Write a Compelling Mission Statement
Let’s face it. Nobody likes a mission statement that sounds bland, and don’t flood it with jargon to make your company look professional.
Instead, write about your culture, what you want in an employee, and why working with your construction company is unique and worth it.
Oh, and don’t call it a “mission statement.” Find a title that goes along with your values and mission.
Add Testimonials to Show Credibility
Please don’t claim that you have the best work environment; let your employees say it on your behalf. Including testimonials on your careers page will make your construction company sincere and credible.
Say No to Stock Photos
A picture is worth a thousand words. Well, stock photos are worth nothing!
Add photos of your offices, employees in action, worksites, etc. Include your branded shirts, banners, and logo in these photos.
These steps will guide you on how to hire construction workers by providing a strategy that’ll work now and in the future.
For more information, please visit matchbuilt.com.
Source: MatchBuild
