May the Workforce Be With You

Strong, they are on the jobsite — your crew of productive men and women who do the heavy lifting (or digging) for the greater good. It’s the backbone of your construction operation. Without a dedicated workforce to run the equipment, dig the trenches and install the utility lines, your business is as useful as a half-constructed Death Star. Though times are tough and projects are few and far between, it’s important to keep your workforce strong to ensure that your company is fully operational.

“In the current economy, it is even more important to hire the right employees and keep them on the job as long as they are needed,” says Tom Kruglinski, senior consultant for Retensa, an employee retention services firm based in New York City. “The construction industry is changing and utility company owners face rising costs, increasing competition and less work due to the slow recovery. Aside from the obvious problem of staying in business, owners face issues like maintaining workforce capacity for what jobs there are out there and for when business gets better in the future. Business owners also may be tempted to cut corners on workplace essentials such as safety or training, which is penny-wise and pound-foolish.”

An Unbalanced Force

While the workforce focus has been on cutting and maintaining a tight ship in the past couple of years, there’s still the looming threat of a workforce shortage on the horizon. It’s estimated that 1 million new construction workers will be needed as soon as 2012, and there will be 2.4 million skilled production jobs available — machinists, machine assemblers, operators and technicians — according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The problem is that older, baby boomer workers will, in their view hopefully, be retiring and those coming of age in Generation Y have career expectations and goals that do not involve the construction industry. The construction industry is facing a paradigm shift, both in terms of the nature of the market and the workforce. The workforce in the next few years will be younger, as the baby boom generation retires. Employers must prepare to offer the younger workers personal growth, career advancement opportunities and challenges, to name a few things.

“This is a real and serious problem as there are no replacements waiting in the wings or the hiring halls, even though some efforts have been made to get young people interested in programs that will train them for construction work,” says Kruglinski. “Generation Y workers want to advance quickly and have plenty of time outside of work, so they can nurture their interests. The utility industry will greatly benefit from ensuring that there is room for growth and career advancement for new hires. Talented workers with the right skills should be delegated more responsibility and more autonomous work. This can improve the industry’s image in coming generations of workers, as well as improve productivity.”

For the construction industry to transition to a younger generation, Generation Y has to unlearn what they have learned about the construction industry.

“Construction careers have a poor perception among young people,” says David Bannister, workforce development manager for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). “Our research has shown that by age 13, young people know what they don’t want to do for a living and construction is one of those things.

Young people are savvy enough to understand the current job challenges, but as they participate in our programs, such as our teen-oriented Construction Challenge competition, they begin to understand the long-term value of careers in construction. They have such a strong urge to build our world in a bold new direction, and we try to show how that enthusiasm can be channeled into construction careers.”

The AEM Construction Challenge is a hands-on competition in which teams solve infrastructure problems with construction solutions. Since 2008, over 255,000 students have been exposed to the program and over 10,000 have participated. The best part is that after completing the program, 84 percent have said they have a positive perception about the industry and 68 percent have said they are now considering careers in construction.

A New Hope

The workforce is what gives a contracting business its power. It binds the jobsite together to achieve a single goal — getting the job done. In the construction industry’s most desperate employment hour, the battle of the workforce will be fought on two fronts — new hires and employee retention.

Hiring managers need to make sure that they use clear communication when interviewing potential employees, so that the candidate knows the terms and expectations of the nature and length of the employment. Make sure he or she understands that employment is dependent on the flow of work that comes to your company.

“Low productivity and engagement, high turnover — especially losing high performers — or a new hire that proves to be the wrong fit can be very costly,” says Kruglinski. “It is crucial that those candidates less likely to add value be weeded out early in the recruiting process, and it is also important that managers hire the workers with the skills most needed. Following industry best practices in hiring, such as behavioral interviewing, performing background and reference checks and other careful screening procedures, is also critical.”

It’s also important that you take the time to update your entire workforce on the health of the company honestly and openly. This will build trust. If employees are treated with fairness and honesty, chances are that they will accept the fact that the company cannot keep them in times of scarce work. These workers will happily return to you again when business picks up.

You might be tempted to pick up an extra machine or two instead of a pair of helping human hands. While machines are necessary and can sometimes replace people effectively, they can never replace people entirely in an industry that requires adaptability and skills. After all, machines cannot think, they cannot
solve problems and they cannot deal with customers. People are required to operate machines.

People can also be put to work in other areas when one area is down. They can adapt when machines cannot, change their work hours and work on internal tasks during shorter periods of slow business. Machines are often designed for one or a few specific tasks, and machine payments are due even if the machine is idle. If business is down for a longer period, people can be laid off if needed, which is an easier process than to try and sell your used equipment to reduce costs.

“One of the greatest job trends today is the growing need for green workers and many of those jobs will be in utilities,” says Kruglinski. “Adding to that fact is the reality that about half of the workforce will be retired in the next eight to 10 years, starting now, and there will be an enormous demand for skilled and educated utility workers. The upcoming turn in the global economy will boost this demand even further.”

Retention of the Force

If your workforce is strong, working in symphonic harmony to complete seemingly impossible jobsite tasks — be it installing an extremely long sewer main or toppling a galaxy-spanning Empire — you’re going to want to keep them happy. And a safe worker is a happy worker, free from the fear of injury. When crews are working with safety as first priority, employees, the company’s most valuable asset, are protected and the company will stay productive.

“Companies should also look to their leadership’s skills. Ask yourself, ‘Am I able to respond to a fast-changing and dynamic marketplace?’” Kruglinski recommends. “To effectively lead employees in new directions, utility owners need to show leadership at every level. Honestly ask yourself how much time you spend on influencing and coaching others for performance rather than just setting standards and measuring their work.”

Many contractors have found that helping workers with the costs of training and career development pay back handsomely on an initial investment. While some of these programs have had to be scaled back in these lean times, business owners would be wise to not stray too far from this important form of investment in employees. When the economy is as tight as it is now, all contractors ought to maximize the productivity they get out of each and every employee. To get that, employees must want to give you their maximum.
Rewards and recognition practices are a great and often inexpensive way to encourage your employees. Rewards can be low cost. A simple certificate and official recognition for those that go out of their way to help others or serve customers are low-cost alternatives. Giving employees a paid half day off for their efforts or a meal on the company for finishing a job on time will be highly appreciated.

“Regularly providing recognition and praise should be part of any employer’s daily work,” Kruglinski advises. “Effective leaders give praise at least every week to individual employees. A good rule to follow is ‘When you see it — say it.’ A simple ‘thank you for a great job’ or ‘I appreciate your work’ will go a long way, and it doesn’t cost a thing.”

Offering new responsibilities and challenges to high performers will also reward them for their work and give employers the benefits of increased productivity and shared knowledge. For instance, let a seasoned worker become a mentor for new hires or let an experienced worker provide trainings in certain areas. This will acknowledge that the person is valuable to the company, while maximizing his or her expertise by sharing it with others.

As a manager and leader within the company, sculpting a crew that will wield their workforce power in the name of productivity and efficiency is the goal. But the influence of the dark side — infighting, low morale and general contrariness — is strong. By keeping the needs of your employees in the forefront of your operations, you can ensure that they will be there to help you overcome today’s hardships for a better tomorrow.

Jason Morgan associated editor to BMI sister publication Utility Contractor and is a contributing editor to Compact Equipment, both based in Peninsula, Ohio.