7 Effective Tips To Improve Construction Workforce Engagement

According to a 2018 Construction Industry Training Board study, UK's construction is facing a skills shortage:

For one, 20% of work vacancies in the sector are hard to fill because employers cannot recruit the right skilled workers. That's because 22% of construction employees are over 50 years old. This means that they are likely to retire within the next decade.

On the other hand, younger employees leave for a more stable job and competitive pay.

If you own a construction company, you know how low employee retention can impact your bottom line. Hence, we are sure you are looking for ways to keep your employees.

The secret is construction employee engagement.

7 Actionable Tips to Engage Your Construction Employees

Employee engagement is a management method designed to improve your employees' well-being. This is in hopes of making them attached to your company.

That said, here are seven actionable better employee engagement tips that you can use in your construction company:

Get A Buy-in

Whether it is in the startup or construction sector, introducing an initiative requires support from the executives. As such, you need to get support from the entire management team first.

That's because part of employee engagement is to make themselves (you included) visible. This means visiting the construction sites, talking with clients, and catching up with your workers.

In addition, you have to champion working arrangements that support employee well-being. This includes competitive pay, a personal development plan, and employee benefits.

Keep Your Employees Informed

Now that your management team is on the same page, the next step is to inform your construction employees about employee engagement. Mind you, one of the reasons employees leave a company is because of disengagement.

According to a Tribe Inc. study, 84% of employees believe that there is not enough information from the management. This can lead to employees feeling disconnected.

One way to prevent this is to keep your employees informed. You can conduct regular staff meetings and team huddles. That way, you can ensure that everyone is connected with your construction company's vision and direction.

Provide Clear Objectives And Results

As mentioned earlier, you must ensure that everyone is connected with your construction company's vision and direction. Thus, you need to provide clear objects and results to your employees.

This is where succession planning and delegation can be helpful.

First, you need to identify your corporate goals. Second, let your employees know how their job can help achieve those goals. Third, figure out what key performance indicators you should be measuring. Fourth and last, do not be afraid to let go of some tasks and decision-making to your employees.

When you do this, your construction workers can have a clear picture of how they contribute to the company's growth.

Use Digital Communication Channels

One way to keep your employees in the loop is to use digital communication channels. This can come in handy for your construction company since most of your employees are often on-site.

First, you can make the most out of SMS. Another is to use instant messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber.

You can develop your mobile news feed if you have the budget and resources. That way, your office, and on-site employees can have equal opportunities to read and respond to corporate messages.

Foster Transparency And Openness

Having a communication channel is one thing. Knowing how and what to communicate is another.

Here's the thing: The foundation of employee engagement is trust. If your construction workers do not feel that they can trust your company, you cannot expect loyalty from them.

As such, you need to foster a culture of transparency and openness. You can do this by having an open-door policy. This means that your employees are free to approach the management and executives to voice out their concerns. It is also important that they won't be judged for doing so.

Another thing you can do is involve your employees in decision-making. After all, they are the ones who are on-site and know its ins and outs.

Conduct Regular Feedback Meeting

If you want to make your construction employee stay loyal to your company, you must ensure that employee engagement strategies are working. And what better way to engage your employees than to have a regular feedback meeting?

These meetings should be two-pronged: One among the management and executives and another with the employees.

The rationale here is to hear straight from your workers whether they are engaged or not. You can also leverage this opportunity to negotiate other initiatives. After all, you cannot give in to everything your employees ask.

Another purpose of this regular feedback meeting is to reassure the executives. That's because they want to see whether your initiatives are generating ROI.

Improve Workplace Safety

Surprisingly, workplace safety is often overlooked in the construction sector.

In 2019 alone, about 20% of worker fatalities are in the construction sector. This is equivalent to more than 1,000 employees in the United States. It is also because of this risk that skilled workers would choose to leave the construction sector.

If you want to retain as many employees as you can, make sure that you improve your workplace safety. Here are five ways to do that:

1. Train your employees properly.

2. Put together a safety committee that involves employees from different levels.

3. Hold everyone accountable.

4. Incentivize employees who adhere to workplace safety protocols.

5. Inspect your sites regularly.

The Cost of Low Employee Retention in the Construction Sector

The market for skilled employees will continue to be competitive. As such, construction companies will need to recruit, train, and develop talent if they want to thrive.

Mind you, losing an employee can be expensive. That's because the turnover cost can be as high as 33% of an employee's annual salary.

For one, you need to pay your employee what they are due. Second, recruiting a replacement also costs money. And as mentioned previously, the construction sector has persistent and hard-to-fill job vacancies.

Hence, it would be better to invest that money in employee engagement. Doing so enables you to keep your employees and save money from overhead costs in the long run.

Are you interested in learning more about how Ving can help you improve safety and compliance in your workplace?

Schedule a discovery call with us today, and we'll answer all of your questions.

During our call, we'll discuss:

• Your specific safety and compliance challenges
• How Ving can help you overcome those challenges
• The benefits of using Ving

We'll also answer any questions you have about Ving.

So what are you waiting for? Schedule a discovery call today!