These days, it is not that big of a secret that the United
States is going through one of the worst labor shortages in recent history. The
construction industry, which had to deal with COVID-19, generational shift,
lack of new workers with proper training, and general decline is one of the
sectors that probably got the harshest part of this deal.
Be that as it may, according to some estimates, the US
construction industry currently lacks 650,000 skilled workers which is a fact
that makes the recruitment process incredibly competitive.
With these things as they are, the best thing your
construction company can do to get access to the workers it needs is to
streamline the hiring process as much as possible. Let us take a look at a
couple of tips that will help you along the way.
Keep up with the trends
The entire business world is making huge steps in the digital, AI-powered recruitment tools, and automated direction. As a result, present-day
job applicants are pushing their skillsets in the same direction as well, So,
if you are having trouble filling in vacant positions, it might just be the
case that your gig is lagging behind the relevant construction industry trends.
Making a conscious effort to implement the technologies like IoT, modular
construction, 3D printing, and Building Information Modeling (BIM) will
definitely streamline the processes within your company while at the same time
attracting prospective tech-savvy talent.
Market the vacant positions
One of the most common mistakes that construction business
owners make when recruiting new workers is that they expect the unemployed
workers will proactively look for these exact vacant gigs. The modern business
landscape, however, is too cluttered to use these practices so the companies
that want to quickly fill in their positions need to make a great effort to
make sure their message is heard. So, use the same strategies you otherwise
utilize for your marketing campaigns, and let your SEO, social media, and other
marketing departments let the world know that you are hiring and what benefits
you offer.
Look for third-party services
Recruitment is a very complex process consisting of
countless interviews, applications, and assessments. Even if you are running
the best construction company in the world that does not guarantee your
in-house resources will be capable of dealing with this type of responsibility.
This is one of the main reasons why you should consider hiring a third-party construction recruitment agency to do the job for you. Even if we put these facts aside,
professional HR agencies usually have an existing pool of job applicants and
clout in the labor which makes the hiring process even more streamlined and
effective.
Build your own talent pool
The people who don't make it to the end of the recruitment
process should, by no means, fall off your radar completely. On the contrary,
all of their biographies should be stored, reviewed, and taken into
consideration whenever you start looking for new candidates. Some of these
people may hesitate to apply again after one failed try or they might be stuck
at new positions they are not entirely satisfied with. Reaching out to them
after some time has passed may convince them to pick your team instead. Also,
these workers may have gained some valuable experience in the meantime so it's
worth checking out.
Put the focus on critical expertise areas
As we've mentioned in the previous sections, experienced
construction labor has become very scarce these days. So, it would be overly
optimistic to expect that all of the candidates will be able to meet absolutely
every requirement you set ahead. Therefore, you should do your best to narrow
down your expectations to a selected few qualities your construction company
can't operate without and try to fill in the blanks with comprehensive
onboarding and post-hiring training process. The ability to learn new skills
and push professional expertise further may even position your gig as a
sought-out employer.
Make yourself an attractive employer
While we're at it, we would like to wrap things out by concluding that even the most efficient hiring process won't keep your ranks filled if aspiring professionals don't see your company as the next stepping stone in their careers. That is why you should leverage any tool you can to make your business as appealing as possible. Some of the most common mentions include the likes of various workplace benefits, flexible work hours, outlined roadmaps for raises and promotions, and so on. All of these benefits should be widely marketed, implemented, and pointed out during the recruitment process.
We hope these few mentions will help you devise a recruitment strategy that will make sure your construction business is capable of working at its optimal capacity. Over the last couple of years, the entire construction sector took a couple of quite heavy blows that threw the entire sector off the rails. The scarce construction labor is probably one of the most far-reaching consequences of these events. But, with a careful and well-thought-out strategy, even this obstacle can be successfully overcome. Now, you know where to start.
Written by Brigitte Evans
