It’s not easy running a construction company. There are always challenges that need to be overcome. There are some things that make everything easier, however — for example, having a great team of employees. If you have a solid group of workers on your side, then you’ll find that finding success is much more straightforward.
Alas, getting this team can be a challenge in itself. Sometimes, companies don’t make it easy on themselves, however. If a company has low employee retention, then it’ll always struggle. In this blog, we’re going to run through some useful ways that construction companies can nudge this side of their operations in the right direction.
Hire Well From The Start
It’d be more likely that an employee stays with you if they were the right person to hire in the first place. If the recruit wasn’t a good seed, then it won’t matter how much you water it — it’ll be unlikely that they grow into anything overly positive. During the recruitment process, be sure to look at all elements of what they’ll bring to the table. Do they have experience? Are they committed to being successful in this field? If the answer to both is no, then they’re probably not the right fit!
Create a Sense of Teamwork
Studies have shown that people are more likely to enjoy going to work — and more likely to stay with a company — if they have friends and a sense of teamwork at the company. But this won’t just happen. You’ll need to make an effort to ensure that there’s a possibility that people will form relationships. Are you creating a positive and welcoming environment at work? Are you giving people time and space to get to know each other away from the job?
Listen to Feedback
Your employees aren’t going to be perfect. But equally, you’re not going to be the perfect employer, either. Rather than letting micro problems develop into big issues, make sure they become non-issues as soon as possible. How can you do this? By inviting your employees to give you feedback. They might not like one simple element of how you run your business. But if you never know what that thing is, then there’s nothing that you can do about it. Encourage your staff to speak up if anything’s on their mind. It might just save you an employee.
Beyond the Salary
How much they earn will, of course, be hugely important to your employees. However, it’s not the only thing that they’ll look for. If you want to boost your employee retention rate, then look at ways to give more than just a salary to your employees. There’s no shortage of things you can do. You could give a bonus upon the completion of a big job. You could buy a holiday ham for employees. You could offer extended time off. Workers are increasingly looking for perks, and while you don’t have to give them, you should if you want to keep your team on your side.
Invest in their Skills
An employee won’t look elsewhere if they feel like their career is going places with the company. As such, it’s a good idea to look at investing in their skills, such as sending them on courses, giving them chances to develop with the company, and so on. When the path leads to where they want to go, they won’t look elsewhere.
Don’t Overlook Safety
Finally, let’s talk about safety. It’s not the most exciting of topics, sure, but it is important. A boss can not reasonably say that they value their employees if they’re not taking care of the safety basics. This isn’t just something that you should do once. It should be an ongoing activity. If you’re not looking up the latest safety protocols or periodically reviewing your existing practices and infrastructure, then it’ll be time to make a change. It’s important to take care of the safety side of things for its own sake; you do, after all, have a duty of care. But it’s key from an employee retention point of view too. Even just one incident can lead to an exodus from which you might not recover.
Conclusion
Teams that stay together can do brilliant things. If you’re continually having to hire and train new staff, then you’ll be unlikely to find the momentum you need to deliver your best work. So don’t give your employees a chance to think about leaving. Create a working environment that they love.
