Employment in the US has dipped below pre-pandemic levels, primarily due to what people call “the great resignation”. According to Wikipedia, this is “an ongoing economic trend in which employees have voluntarily resigned from their jobs en masse, beginning in early 2021.”
Part of the cause of “the great resignation” has been mass disenchantment with working conditions, brought into sharp focus by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Many large outdoor venues, such as sports stadiums, are forced to operate using substantially decreased staffing levels. Recruitment has become much more difficult in many sectors, and staff retention is critical. The construction industry is not immune to the pressures on staffing levels that this unique global event has caused. Many businesses struggle to make up full crews to do the vital infrastructure and safety work necessary to keep our country running. We have outlined the problem facing the industry but don’t despair, there are also things that you can do to ensure that you can maintain adequate staffing levels. By following the guidance in this article, you may develop a stronger team than you had at the beginning. Offer Incentives to Your Current Workforce Incentivizing current staff is something that we overlook too often. In a rush to find new workers, it is easy not to give enough praise to those who have stuck with your company during this challenging economic time. Unfortunately, focusing on finding new people can too easily distract management from acknowledging loyalty from existing staff. Consider increasing pay for current staff if this is something that you can manage. If not, other forms of incentive will also work. For example, give the crews happy hours or lunches and show them they are valued. It doesn’t have to break the bank, but gestures like this can make all the difference in team morale. The absolute bottom line is that people who feel valued will stay, which has never been more important to businesses all over the country. Workers are a scarce commodity now and are, therefore, valuable resources. So if you have them, you should do all that you can to encourage them to stay. There is also upward pressure on wages due to supply and demand free-market economics. Failure to raise salaries or incentivize in any way may backfire badly and result in losing experienced staff to your competitors. Look for Internal Upskilling Opportunities Suppose you lack someone trained in a specific area. Still, you have identified someone in your company with skills broadly adjacent to that area. In that case, it may be worth approaching them and asking whether they would be willing to retrain. The advantage is that it is already someone familiar with your organization and doesn’t need to go through the usual onboarding process once their training has finished. Approaching someone and asking them to allow you to train them for a more advanced role will make them feel special and that you have seen their true potential. This feeling of importance also feeds into loyalty and employee retention. Employ Temporary Agency Staff Retraining and upskilling existing employees is good but may leave a gap in your current workforce. Here at Cruitfly, we allow you to plug skills gaps in your company with a suitably qualified individual. Recruiting this way means finding the skillset you are looking for at the opportune moment. Recruiting outside staffing support from specialized recruitment agencies like ours can help take some pressure off your current crew. They will have been working flat out for some time now, most likely with reduced numbers. Tired and run-down workers lead to drops in morale and productivity as well as potential resignations further down the line if you don’t address the issue. Outside staffing support will almost certainly save you money in the longer term. Hire Temporary Workers Temporary or seasonal workers can often be recent high school graduates and college students on their summer break. They will be looking to make some extra money to help to fund their studies and can act as a stop-gap in terms of worker numbers. They are unlikely to be able to match the skills of agency workers. Still, they can at least take on some of the more straightforward tasks you have under careful leadership and supervision. Recruiting temporary labor will allow your existing crew members a slight reprieve. But, at the same time, you should continue to recruit for the longer term. Comments are closed.
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