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Building Your Construction Talent Pool for Future Growth

Published on by Jay Rammes in Construction

Building Your Construction Talent Pool for Future Growth

With approximately 22 percent of employees planning to leave the workforce in the next five years, and 44 percent in the next ten years, it’s no surprise that effective recruiting and retention strategies are continually at the top of contractors’ greatest concerns.  Barnes Dennig recently hosted Stephen Boughton of FMI to discuss their insight on human capital trends with in the construction industry.

We have all heard some variation of “You cannot do great work without great employees”.   The baby boomers are retiring and fewer young people are being drawn into the trades.  While this declining workforce will present difficult challenges, it also will provide opportunities to those who embrace human capital engagement. The competitive advantage will belong to the companies that are the most effective at attracting, developing and retaining the best employees.

Construction Talent Management

Among the highlights of Stephen’s presentation, several key ideas stood out:

  1. Future organizations will be leaner/flatter with fewer middle managers.
  2. There will be fewer rungs on the career ladder – people will need to develop laterally (not vertically).
  3. Lack of upward mobility is the number one reason for leaving a company
  4. There is no silver bullet for being a true “employer of choice.” A comprehensive, workforce strategy is needed – requiring discipline and a mindset shift.
  5. Senior leadership needs to be invested, and must provide focus and direction to implement the workforce strategy.
  6. Boomers, Gen X and Millennials all agree that “a fun place to work” is the number one driver of engagement.
  7. Reverse mentoring is a trend to watch (pairing older executives with younger employees for mentoring on tech, social media and current trends). This helps build generational bridges and an opportunity for all to contribute.
  8. Competency-based (observable and measurable knowledge, skills, abilities and personal attributes) development is another key trend to watch.
  9. Consistent, transparent, and contemporaneous performance feedback is critical to developing an engaged workforce.

With more than 50 premier construction and engineering firms in the Barnes Dennig family, as well as 150 employees spread across three offices in three states, we are in a unique position to help you develop stong human capital practices.  If you would like further information regarding Stephen’s presentation or questions about developing effective employee practices, please contact Jay Rammes at 513-241-8313 or let us know to contact you here.


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