All civil contractors are feeling the pain right now, probably more than ever before. The order books are full along with a massive skill shortage.
As of August 2022, there are currently 3,973 Civil Project Engineer roles advertised on seek.com.au which gets to show how desperate the current situation is. The question arises of what can contractors do to mitigate against severe staff shortage in the industry?
First of all, retaining existing staff should be the number one priority as a low effort and low cost option. In my view, creating motivated and satisfied staff that always goes the extra mile is all depending on the environment.
THE ENVIRONMENT
The working environment becomes the number one criteria in particular for younger people. The millennial generation would choose a good working environment over a pay rise. Of course, pay levels should always match or slightly exceed industry standards but enjoying your work becomes more important than any financial gain.
A collaborative, innovative and purposeful team environment where people can perform at their natural best is key. This is an area particularly challenging for growing contractors who are transitioning from a small family business into a large national operation. They often struggle to keep their original just-cause alive and their people inspired. This can quickly result in projects and business units operating in silos as the company grows.
Here is my hitlist of what it takes to create a great environment where people love to come to work too:
1. CLEAR COURSE AND INFINITE MINDSET
Have a clear purpose that stipulates why the business exists in the first place. This should be an infinite target, an aim that has nothing to do with profits. Slogans such as being the best, the largest or the most professional are results, not just-causes. If you are in charge of a construction business, I highly recommend reading the book “The Infinite Game” by Simon Sinek, available in our online shop. It explains the ultimate business mindset that will frustrate your competition in the long run. There are some great examples within the tier 1 contractor world. Send me message if you like me to tell you who these contractors are.
2. BRANDING THAT INSPIRES
Have your branding efforts reflect your just cause so that staff and customers can visually recognise at all times what your business is about. In particular younger employees are attracted to great brands. It says something about themselves and provides a feel of belonging.
3. VISIBLE LEADERSHIP FROM THE TOP DOWN
Leaders need to be always visible and this does not need to be in person. Good contractors have directors or higher-level managers issuing weekly email updates, newsletters, intranet articles, social media posts and the like. Staff needs to know who their leaders are and what they stand for. This will allow every staff member to feel connected to the senior leadership team even if they may never have met yet in person due to the size of the business. Adding on to this are general company updates.
4. BEST PRACTICE RESOURCES
Provide best practice resources including sufficient project staff, IT, systems and processes. Ensure that your company systems are continuously improving and are more than just part of a tender submission.
5. COLLABORATION
Collaboration across projects and business units is key. Ensure that project leaders have open communication channels to other projects and feel comfortable to ask each other for advice. There are many ways to collaborate at this level for example via regular project conferences via video call, sharing the top 3 issues, innovations and wins from every project. Another great way is to have Project Managers spend 1 day on each-others projects.
6. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Did you know that 94% of employees would stay longer in a role if their employer would provide them with appropriate professional development opportunities? Millennials say learning is the number one thing that makes them happy at work and the number one reason they’d leave their job is because they did not have the opportunity to learn and grow. Investing in your staff’s professional development provides a business with extraordinary returns. Not only, is staff retention boosted to record levels, but so is the quality of work, efficiencies and subsequent customer satisfaction and profits.
An employer who cares about the professional development of their people tremendously encourages an innovative team spirit where excellence and continuous improvement are at the forefront of everything they do.
At AM Project Partners, we have developed an easy to implement and industry leading professional development program for engineers, project managers, supervisors and related roles in the civil construction industry. It is the most cost-effective, flexible and scalable solution in the market starting at as little as $25 per staff member per month.
