Braden Black CEO
“Skilled Trades is a skilled personnel provider to the industrial, commercial, and energy construction\maintenance industry. If you would like to learn more about how we can help your business maximize productivity and minimize employment risk, please click on your state below for a Market Manager in your area.”
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Recruiting Trends
Remember those heady days when contractors could pick and choose their projects and even build in a little extra profit margin? The tanking of the economy, of course, put the kibosh on those flush times. And even if the marketplace continues to build momentum and begins to turn the construction industry around, it is difficult to believe that we will return to red-hot private construction in the next several years.
But one aspect of running a construction firm that is sure to improve throughout the recovery is the ability to find qualified men and women to fill the skilled worker and management functions that will be necessary as firms refill their pipelines and get back to the business of building America. When the economy was rolling along, contractors struggled to staff their projects with competent, proficient, safe tradespeople. Many were forced to raise rates even for entry-level workers in order to lure employees from competing companies. Recruiting budgets ratcheted up; human resources professionals logged long airplane flights to interview soon-to-be-college graduates at campuses across the country; they developed lucrative relocation perks; and they supplemented their field crews by converting temporary workers to full-time employees.
As the recovery gradually builds momentum – the steam train leaving the station – finding workers with the minimum skills required to complete the job will be one of the lesser concerns for contractors. The employment pool promises to be deep, with construction firm closings and layoffs adding to the mix.
But that doesn’t mean restocking the employee cupboard won’t be a challenge, as it is still among the most important management functions for construction professionals. The sea of potential candidates will allow contractors to be selective, ignoring the merely competent and angling for true trophies. And once it becomes clear a contractor is in the market, candidates will circle like sharks with blood in the water. Fortunately, plenty of tools – both traditional and cutting edge – are available to help contractors avoid being bitten in the feeding frenzy.
Job Boards – The Internet and mobile applications are the newest ways to find, attract, track, and manage construction workers. Potential workers now can be found instantly from around the world. In less time than you can write a “help wanted” ad, you could download and print dozens of resumes from qualified applicants. Online job boards – especially the large, general ones – may add to the personnel department’s workload, forcing it to wade through voluminous submissions from applicants with dubious qualifications in order to find viable candidates.
Social Media – The Information Age’s take on networking and relationship building, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. make professional connections easier to maintain. They also allow recruiters to keep tabs on potential future employees, whether they’re working for a competitor, or are currently looking for work but the company has no openings available. Some of these sites (Twitter most notably) have incorporated features that allow recruiters to make contact with people they don’t know but who in the future may be valuable members of the firm. Job-seekers, on the other hand, can use social media to reflect more personality and confidence than shines through in a resume.
Third-party recruiters – Small contractors may be put off by the perceived high cost of engaging a recruiting agency. But the little guy may gain more from it than his giant competitors. A small contractor’s hiring of a poor project manager may prove disastrous because there may be less oversight and fewer checks and balances to ferret out incompetence or malfeasance until it is too late.
“Help Wanted” ads – Some experts warn construction companies not to embrace electronic and technological recruiting tools at the expense of traditional, proven methods. “Often, the best prospective employees are people you hear about from trusted friends or associates,” according to allbusiness.com. “Likewise, an inexpensive advertisement in a trade publication or the classified pages of your paper might draw qualified candidates to your door. Be sure that your ad details the work you need done and the qualifications you require.”
Temp Agencies – More and more temporary worker agencies are incorporating the best of the above methods. Agencies that specialize in providing construction labor are experts in the field. They have stables of tried and trusted workers, so they can assign just the right talent to the jobs contractors require in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Most of these companies have established nationwide networks of local employees, keeping relocated workers in the system, concentrating knowledge of local labor laws, customs, building codes, training requirements, and client needs, while also taking advantage of economies of scale, consolidated back-office functions, and marketing initiatives to keep rates low.
Temp agencies can do for contractors what all that social networking does, but without the need to merge, purge, and otherwise spend time managing contacts. Temp agencies also provide fertile ground for finding potential permanent employees, a tactic that is gaining traction as the economy comes around. Traditionally, temporary jobs rise in the early stages of economic recovery, as companies test the waters without making a full-time commitment. Jobs in the temporary services industry are up 22 percent compared to this time last year, U.S. Department of Labor.
But one aspect of running a construction firm that is sure to improve throughout the recovery is the ability to find qualified men and women to fill the skilled worker and management functions that will be necessary as firms refill their pipelines and get back to the business of building America. When the economy was rolling along, contractors struggled to staff their projects with competent, proficient, safe tradespeople. Many were forced to raise rates even for entry-level workers in order to lure employees from competing companies. Recruiting budgets ratcheted up; human resources professionals logged long airplane flights to interview soon-to-be-college graduates at campuses across the country; they developed lucrative relocation perks; and they supplemented their field crews by converting temporary workers to full-time employees.
As the recovery gradually builds momentum – the steam train leaving the station – finding workers with the minimum skills required to complete the job will be one of the lesser concerns for contractors. The employment pool promises to be deep, with construction firm closings and layoffs adding to the mix.
But that doesn’t mean restocking the employee cupboard won’t be a challenge, as it is still among the most important management functions for construction professionals. The sea of potential candidates will allow contractors to be selective, ignoring the merely competent and angling for true trophies. And once it becomes clear a contractor is in the market, candidates will circle like sharks with blood in the water. Fortunately, plenty of tools – both traditional and cutting edge – are available to help contractors avoid being bitten in the feeding frenzy.
Job Boards – The Internet and mobile applications are the newest ways to find, attract, track, and manage construction workers. Potential workers now can be found instantly from around the world. In less time than you can write a “help wanted” ad, you could download and print dozens of resumes from qualified applicants. Online job boards – especially the large, general ones – may add to the personnel department’s workload, forcing it to wade through voluminous submissions from applicants with dubious qualifications in order to find viable candidates.
Social Media – The Information Age’s take on networking and relationship building, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. make professional connections easier to maintain. They also allow recruiters to keep tabs on potential future employees, whether they’re working for a competitor, or are currently looking for work but the company has no openings available. Some of these sites (Twitter most notably) have incorporated features that allow recruiters to make contact with people they don’t know but who in the future may be valuable members of the firm. Job-seekers, on the other hand, can use social media to reflect more personality and confidence than shines through in a resume.
Third-party recruiters – Small contractors may be put off by the perceived high cost of engaging a recruiting agency. But the little guy may gain more from it than his giant competitors. A small contractor’s hiring of a poor project manager may prove disastrous because there may be less oversight and fewer checks and balances to ferret out incompetence or malfeasance until it is too late.
“Help Wanted” ads – Some experts warn construction companies not to embrace electronic and technological recruiting tools at the expense of traditional, proven methods. “Often, the best prospective employees are people you hear about from trusted friends or associates,” according to allbusiness.com. “Likewise, an inexpensive advertisement in a trade publication or the classified pages of your paper might draw qualified candidates to your door. Be sure that your ad details the work you need done and the qualifications you require.”
Temp Agencies – More and more temporary worker agencies are incorporating the best of the above methods. Agencies that specialize in providing construction labor are experts in the field. They have stables of tried and trusted workers, so they can assign just the right talent to the jobs contractors require in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Most of these companies have established nationwide networks of local employees, keeping relocated workers in the system, concentrating knowledge of local labor laws, customs, building codes, training requirements, and client needs, while also taking advantage of economies of scale, consolidated back-office functions, and marketing initiatives to keep rates low.
Temp agencies can do for contractors what all that social networking does, but without the need to merge, purge, and otherwise spend time managing contacts. Temp agencies also provide fertile ground for finding potential permanent employees, a tactic that is gaining traction as the economy comes around. Traditionally, temporary jobs rise in the early stages of economic recovery, as companies test the waters without making a full-time commitment. Jobs in the temporary services industry are up 22 percent compared to this time last year, U.S. Department of Labor.
Labels: Commercial, Construction Industry, Industrial