This is the final installment of a 5-part series about specific strategies you can use in order to retain your best construction employees. You can find the first installment here, the second here, the third here, and the fourth here.
Pay them well
Dad explained to me, when I was quite young, that the wise person “knows which side his bread is buttered on.” Dad was referring to his relationship with his employer. He knew, that in order to keep his job he had to perform up to a certain standard or he would be on the job hunt. Now-a-days, the roles have shifted somewhat, and it is the construction business owner who must look at his employees when it comes to determining the matter of buttered bread.
At the very least, keep your pay scale in the ballpark of what your market is paying. And, don’t wait until someone leaves to learn what others in your industry are paying. One simple way to check, is to use the information you can find on the website of the recruitment business known as indeed. Go here, enter the job title in the open section of the first block, hit search, and receive a plethora of information. You can refine the search as you progress in order to gain more and more specific information.
Consider the whole cost
If you can’t afford to pay them well, how are you ever going to afford to replace them? When it comes to the cost of employee turnover, you’ll do well to consider the whole picture. This article from Jobsite takes a look at some tangible as well as intangible costs connected with employees walking off your jobsites.
Retain them – parts 1 through 5
Coming full circle, it is time to admit that pay for your employees matters. Yet, if the only thing you offer is a bigger pay package you’re not likely to retain your best employees long-term. In a Harvard Business Review article, titled What Matters More to Your Workforce than Money the author states, “One of the most striking results we’ve found is that, across all income levels, the top predictor of workplace satisfaction is not pay: It is the culture and values of the organization, followed closely by the quality of senior leadership and the career opportunities at the company.”
This same author goes on to state, “While pay can help get new talent in the door, our research shows it’s not likely to keep them there without real investments in workplace culture: making a commitment to positive culture and values, improving the quality of senior management, and creating career pathways that elevate workers through a career arc in the organization.”
Your turn
Be always on the lookout for ways you can improve the experience for your best employees. Make it a priority. Make it happen.