The demand for skilled construction workers has risen globally in recent decades. As a result, construction companies and industry project administrators compete to hire suitable candidates to fulfil their building activities and requirements.
If you need to recruit several new hires this year, it’s best to prepare to tackle the task beforehand. Here are some strategies that enable your recruitment department to source highly-skilled construction workers.
- Assess Candidates Effectively
Before conducting interviews, it’s helpful to screen applicants using psychometric assessments. Psychometric tests measure an individual’s specific characteristics using a wide range of assessments. Traditionally, these qualifications include cognitive abilities and behavioural traits, evaluated through aptitude and personality tests.
In addition to enabling employers to make more informed hiring decisions, psychometric tests streamline the recruitment process. The concepts and data driving psychometric tests are scientific, making them more dependable than personal judgments from the hiring staff.
Large multinational corporations are increasingly using psychometric testing in hiring new employees, suggesting its effectiveness. With that being said, the construction industry can also use this screening method.
- Pick The Most Effective Job Advertisement Platforms
Whether building sustainable homes, constructing manufacturing plants, or working on real estate projects, you must hire the best construction workers. Unfortunately, not all construction companies know how to effectively advertise work opportunities, leading to low applicant turnout.
One primary step in recruitment is knowing who and where your target audience is. Multiple candidates often visit various platforms to seek job advertisements. Therefore, construction companies must place job postings on sites where many potential applicants keep an account or actively use it.
Consider these two major platforms:
- Social Media
Many people rely on social media platforms to seek something important. These could include vintage and rare items, long-lost friends, and ideal jobs. They visit these social networking sites at least once a day. For instance, 72% of the American public today uses at least one type of social media platform, according to Pew Research Center. Therefore, it’s essential to know whom to target and decide which social media platforms are popular and widely used by them.
“LinkedIn is arguably the most popular way to find good recruits. Remember to also check out the industry groups (actively participating where possible),” comments James Durr of Birmingham auction house Property Solvers.
- Job Recruitment Websites
Besides social media platforms, job seekers often maintain accounts on job recruitment sites. These digital platforms are widely accessible to employers and employees.
Evaluate these sites and pick those that allow construction workers and staff to perform job searches effectively. A hiring manager can also check which websites have the most qualified candidates and devote more resources to these platforms.
Besides leaving it to the hiring specialist, there are options like online hiring platforms and free recruitment agency software, which complete the work of a manager by choosing skilled candidates. You don’t even have to be that involved in the hiring process. These tools are specifically made to filter and create shortlists of potential workers, so you won’t have to go through each one and collect. Besides, you can even send the whole list to your client with one click. You can forget about asking writers to create offers for your potential workers since these tools also do that. On top of it all, you can track the status of your proposals and be able to follow every stage of the hiring.
- Offer Appealing Work Conditions And Benefits
Companies may not be the only ones assessing in a highly competitive job market. Candidates also look at an employer’s working conditions and benefits before applying. As such, study how your organization can entice more skilled workers. Consider conducting a survey or placing yourself in a construction worker’s shoes and determine which work factors are essential.
Look beyond your salary and monetary offers, insurance and health benefits. Study the different motivations that drive an employee, including job security and career advancement. Simply put, provide an attractive package that allows them to choose to work for you rather than your competitors.
- Be Specific In Your Job Descriptions
After determining which positions in your construction company you need to fill, it’s time to write better and more effective job descriptions to guide your future candidates. When creating an outline for your job post, be concise in describing the job requirements so applicants can discern whether the construction job is a good fit for them.
Vacancy announcements should clearly state your company’s minimum requirements and avoid posting vague job descriptions.
A construction job description must be written clearly and include what skills are vital for the position. A job vacancy post must also indicate the required experience, education, or background requirements.
Additionally, clearly state whether the job is temporary, contractual, or permanent. Think of all the other details necessary for a candidate to know and add them to the posting.
- Emphasize Your Company’s Safety Aspects
Safety must be a primordial concern for a construction company, as workers in the sector are highly vulnerable to injuries. Advertising your company’s safety compliance accreditations or its record of solid safety practices can be used as leverage to attract more qualified candidates. This holds especially for those who consider this element a major deciding factor for their job application journey.
Recruiting new employees becomes easier when you use a safety culture that promotes worker protection. It also demonstrates that you’re concerned about your employees’ well-being and implement the appropriate critical measures to make their jobs as safe as possible.
Conclusion
Setting up recruitment strategies is essential for any construction company. Hiring qualified candidates will allow your construction business to operate smoothly, incur lesser risks and damages, decrease turnover, and improve productivity. The key is to generate the proper methods and ways to attract new and efficient employees.
To effectively hire the ideal candidates, know where to find them and be clear with what you want from them. Consider providing attractive compensation packages to help you become one of the most preferred construction industry employers.
