How The Construction Industry Can Attract and Retain Top Talent

By Angie Licata, JobNimbus. 

Closing the skills gap is part of managing the productivity crisis and building better processes for businesses. 

In recent years, productivity growth has hovered around 1%, leading to what some are calling a productivity crisis. On top of a pandemic-induced demand and a shrinking workforce, productivity will be reliant on how construction companies can implement more efficient processes. Read on for insights on how the industry can build itself up to be better than ever in light of this information. 

Barriers preventing companies from meeting the rising demand for construction 

As employee demographics change, companies have to adapt to the evolving needs of a new generation of digitally native workers. In the construction industry, this evolution has been woefully insufficient. As a result, the average age of construction workers has steadily increased.  

The demand for digital work solutions is not limited to the construction site. Millennials and Gen Z workers are increasingly demanding that companies facilitate flexible work options and adopt the latest productivity software to increase operational efficiency. Approximately 74% of North American employees say they would leave their job if their company did not provide them with the technology they felt is needed to perform well. 

Companies are attached to outdated and inefficient operating procedures 

Construction projects can vary wildly in their components and this can cause some confusion for business leaders looking to standardize processes and procedures across their operation. Communication and planning may take place on separate email chains, WhatsApp chats, and spreadsheets. In fact, project managers routinely spend over 6 hours a week managing schedules for teams of workers across various projects. A reluctance to adopt integrated software solutions only increases construction companies’ reliance on ineffective and inefficient paper forms, communication platforms, and planning software. 

Project management software can help site foremen, supervisors and project managers to optimize work on processes ranging from scheduling, budgeting and even supply procurement. This frees team members from tedious and repetitive tasks to focus on more satisfying high-value work such as business transformation and development. 

Information silos prevent collaboration among various teams and stakeholders 

Even the most basic and routine construction project requires successful collaboration between a variety of stakeholders. Contractors, subcontractors, site workers, office staff and suppliers have to come together and share information to actualize their vision. However, as digital tools become more common, each stakeholder is likely to have some form of technology that they rely on for their operations. When these processes and technologies are incompatible with one another, they simply entrench the information silos that already exist in the construction industry.  

To combat this, business leaders must find a way to bring teams together and encourage collaboration between them. Software adoption and integration are key to helping business leaders bridge the gap between silos and maintain competitiveness in a market that is increasingly adopting a wide range of proprietary digital solutions. 

How modern technology can address the skills shortage in construction 

Construction businesses are constantly on the lookout for ways to increase operational efficiency. Being such a labor-intensive industry means that there is always scope for technology to fill in the gaps left by human workers. McKinsey & Company estimates that automation and artificial intelligence can help businesses reduce the number of hours spent on physical and manual tasks by 14% before 2030. Considering the repetitive nature of some tasks in construction projects and the extent of physicality inherent in construction work, this number is expected to be much higher in construction.  

Moreover, advanced analytics also allow business leaders to view their business as a whole and receive suggestions on the areas of the operation that could benefit from further automation or innovation. This helps construction businesses make full use of their resources and ensure that projects are operating at maximum efficiency. 

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Original article source: JobNimbus