Company culture, especially for the construction industry, has a significant impact on retention and recruitment. If you want the best in your field, even if it’s for a seasonal or temporary job, you have to offer something the competition does not.
That’s where jobsite culture comes into play. Culture is all about the value, mission and beliefs that are core to your company. It’s about the way you treat people and projects and the expectations you have about how your employees – contract, seasonal and permanent – conduct themselves on a jobsite. If you want the most talented tradesmen, most reliable skilled laborers and the most dedicated workers, you need to implement a company culture that attracts the best of the best.
Figure out what your employees need for job satisfaction
This has to be genuine. You can’t just hand out a survey and expect your workers to fill it out, and the next day your company culture is golden. You have to go out to the sites and projects and talk to them, really focusing in on your star employees. Spend time getting to know who they are and what makes them tick. Ask them why they are still working for you, and what it is about your company that attracted them in the first place. Tell them to be honest – if they started with you because they needed a job, that’s not a bad thing. They stayed on for a reason. After you establish that line of communication, get them to open up, either as individuals or in a group, about improvements they’d like to see from management. Here are a few common changes that can be made to boost company culture:
- Flexible scheduling
- Cut down on the length of meetings
- Create an open-door policy
- Provide opportunities for training and development
- Add a benefit that reflects common traits and hobbies among your employees – For example, one construction firm found out that a lot of their employees regularly went mountain biking together on the weekends. So one of their added benefits included paying the entry fee for two bike races a year.
- Celebrate milestones
- Start an employee recognition program
- Form a team on community sports league and make sure it’s open to anyone
- Provide opportunities for community service projects
Create a plan of action
You won’t change company culture overnight. It takes more than a memo and an annual employee picnic. Decide which new policies and procedures you want to put in place and then create a plan for implementation. Don’t forget to delegate. You, the owner, don’t need to do all this yourself. Bring in your contractors, foremen and team leads to help implement these new initiatives. Also, be sure to provide adequate documentation, so your employees, both current and new, have a reference for moments when they forget new protocol.
Need help overhauling your company culture? CCS Construction Staffing has insight into the qualities that make a jobsite most successful. Partner with us to get staffing solutions that boost productivity, retention and profits.