How to Find and Hire The Right People for Your Construction Team

Forming the perfect team is never easy. This is especially true in the potentially hazardous and labour intensive construction industry. On top of having the skills applicable to the construction industry, team members need to be dependable, able to follow set working hours and instructions, as well work well with others. While it may seem impossible to find employees who can deliver all of the above, there are ways to make your search a little easier.

Create and develop an employee referral program

The people who already work for you know what you’re looking for, are well aware of the company standards, and will gladly help if your company has a solid employee referral program. Whatever you spend rewarding those who refer quality candidates is a small price to pay for the possibility of finding employees that you can rely on for the long term. This is especially true in the construction industry where, despite Brexit-related uncertainties, both the demand for skilled workers and the number of workers looking to fill skilled positions remain high. In particular, skilled wood-tradesmen have been in very high demand, with 2,380 jobs advertised annually for experts on “wood trades and interior fit-out,” while 45,240 annual searches were made by workers looking for vacancies in that position. Apart from skilled wood-tradesmen, the Construction Industry Training Board reveals that building envelope specialists, roofers, bricklayers, and scaffolders have also been in-demand by tradesmen looking to fill vacancies. In short, the right people for your construction team are out there, and if you have a worthwhile employee referral program, they might just find their way to you.

Provide positive candidate experiences

The way you treat potential hires influences your company’s image more than you think. Word gets around quickly, especially today with websites like Glassdoor allowing professionals to review nearly anything about the companies that they’ve either worked or interviewed for. This is why Comeet advises companies to carefully develop their hiring process towards providing a positive experience for each and every candidate that walks through your door. Design an interview process that respects the time of everyone involved require an aptitude test beforehand, like the EU EPSO tests, to filter out candidates. Be upfront with your candidates and talk to them as you would with your own CEO. Whether or not they’re right for the job, they should leave the interview with a sense of satisfaction, as well as a positive attitude about recommending your company to other potential hires. One way or another, your candidates’ experiences are bound to reach the ears of the construction industry’s top talents, which will greatly factor into whether or not they decide to work for you.

Approach schools and consider fresh graduates

While they come with the handicap of having very little to no actual experience in the industry, students and fresh graduates could be the perfect candidates for your team. First and foremost, they’re very eager to learn and contribute to the industry. Whether it’s construction, design, or engineering, fresh grads are looking for not just employment, but also apprenticeship opportunities where they can grow and develop. Wilmot Dixons’ experiences while engaging with Level 3 construction students from Cambridge Regional College (CRC) is a testament to this go-getter attitude. Expressing very clear ideas about the roles they want to pursue in construction, surveying, design, and site management, the CRC students actually impressed Wilmot Dixons’ officers so much that they were each offered a slot in the company’s work experience programme. You might similarly find success if you get involved in engagements with promising construction and design schools to find the ideal team members.

Prospect Magazine reports that the UK’s construction industry is experiencing a big shortfall in personnel. If you can’t find the best candidates right away, be patient. As long as you have an employee referral program in place, a fulfilling and positive hiring process, and an open attitude towards hiring inexperienced but eager workers, you’re well on your way to forming the perfect team.