6 HR Challenges for the Construction Industry

Recruiting for construction companies is no small task. In addition to the current labour shortage and the difficulty of attracting new talent, construction jobs are selective in terms of skills.

How do you recruit skilled construction workers while dealing with time constraints and a generalized labour shortage? 

To optimize your recruiting practices, we have 3 tips – and 3 detailed articles! – to share with you:

• Combine recruiting and marketing: recruiting is no longer limited to finding, selecting and hiring candidates.
• Improve your presence to attract more candidates: to attract the best talents, a good presence on social networks and efficient job postings are necessary.
• Use SEO strategies: SEO and HR marketing go hand in hand! SEO adds visibility to your job postings and brings awareness to your organization.

Have you ever heard of ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)? These tools improve your recruitment practices while saving you precious time.

They help you avoid the cost of a bad hire by customizing your entire process, transferring applications to your platform, and letting you take notes in the files.

ATS improves the recruiting experience for candidates. It’s all about making a good first impression on your recruits.

Finally, look for training opportunities to boost your workers’ skills, like getting a HAZWOPER certification. This certification is important for construction workers dealing with hazardous materials. Applicants can now get the HAZWOPER certification online, making it more accessible and convenient for them to obtain. Also, consider other certifications and training programs to make your workers more valuable and increase their job satisfaction.

A crucial issue in the construction industry is maintaining a safe workplace. >Safety precautions ensure good working conditions and limit workplace accidents and the resulting absences.

In addition to raising team awareness on safety issues at work, you will need to manage and monitor accidents effectively.

Folks HR has features dedicated to workplace accident management. You will be able to track accidents by employee, centralize documentation and manage resulting absences. All the HR tools you need are included in Folks HR management software!

Folks HR also offers accident rate KPIs with indicators on the seriousness of the accident. They will allow you to quickly identify gaps and injured workers and monitor the actions to respond to potential accidents. Therefore, our solutions support quick and relevant strategic decisions!

Compliance with laws and regulations is another major challenge in the construction industry. It is easy to feel overwhelmed when concerned about compliance with rules on top of other daily HR issues. Fortunately, there are many strategies and tools to help you.

The first step is to take the time to learn about the various laws and regulations and keep up to date on new information. Then, as with workplace safety, it is vital to make your employees aware of these issues. With their help, the challenge will be much easier to overcome.

There is nothing better than an HRIS to ensure that you comply with the current regulations. Folks HR offers to track all your training with entirely customizable features. In addition, the training module helps you produce annual reports.

If you still have concerns and are short on time, why not ask for external help?

Qualified consultants can help you stay on top of the many regulations while performing a compliance diagnostic on your company. This solution will save you time and provide you with peace of mind.

It is also essential to keep track of your workers’ certifications to comply with the regulations. Why not take this opportunity to support professional development? In addition to improving employee engagement, this approach will allow you to improve your company’s skill set and daily productivity.

Are you managing the certificates of each of your employees individually without centralizing and dematerializing your information? It sounds like an organizational nightmare!

Fortunately, there are solutions to automate the management of certificates. For example, Folks HR has dedicated features with automated reminders when a certificate expires. They will also allow you to plan certificate renewals and avoid oversights and delays in your management.

To further develop your employees’ skills, there is only one solution: introduce ongoing employee training! The advantages of this strategy are numerous:

• Learning and advancement opportunities improve employee engagement.
• Advancing your employees within the company reduces the cost of hiring a new employee. At the same time, you retain the skills and experience already acquired in your organization.
• Ongoing training consolidates certification management and allows you to avoid delays and mishaps.

As your current employees retire, a new generation of workers is just entering the workforce. New recruits = new challenges! Employees have recently developed new expectations and are much more likely to change jobs if they are not satisfied.

If you want to meet the demands of new generations of workers, it is essential to create a healthy workplace. There are several effective strategies you can put in place:

• Be more responsive to employees and their expectations in day-to-day management;
• Organize team-building activities to strengthen team bonds;
• Optimize the onboarding process to create a sense of belonging from the very first days;
• Make the workplace a safe space where workers can express themselves;
• Establish a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy toward harassment.

A healthy work environment will increase employee productivity and engagement!

Besides, who doesn’t like working with happier employees?

Mental health issues, work-life balance and flexibility are at the heart of young workers’ concerns. Furthermore, unconventional schedules and lack of development opportunities are factors that can scare off candidates.

However, it is possible to attract these new talented employees by offering additional benefits, PTO, and more frequent breaks during the workday. Using time off and absence management software simplifies the implementation of  these positive changes.

Above all, it is important to think about opening up the dialogue. Ask your employees what improvements they would like to see implemented. Then, the ball will be in your court!

Renewing your HR practices is always a good idea to be more attractive to new talent. It is essential to be informed on the evolution of the world of work, especially on the growing role of technology in all professional sectors.

Did you know? Investing in HR software is a big step in your digital transformation! HR technology gives your employees more flexibility and saves them time daily. 

By successfully addressing these previous HR challenges, you will have already taken a big step towards improving employee motivation and retention.

Our final and perhaps most important tip: Don’t be afraid of change! 

Whether it’s promoting diversity in the workplace, using new technologies to benefit people, work-life balance, or a healthy organizational culture for all… You have everything to gain from reinventing your HR practices, including long-term employee retention.

By working on all these HR challenges with relevant strategies and effective tools, you will ensure top-notch daily HR management. The result? Better recruiting practices, fewer workplace accidents, a safe workplace, and motivated workers who will stay with you longer. 

The construction industry must prioritize HR to meet future challenges. To support you along the way, trust a human resources management software designed for construction companies!