A topic that we feel strongly about and that we consistently try to highlight and communicate with our stakeholders is hiring and retaining experienced labor in the construction industry. Skilled workers are critical to efficient job sites and homes that your customers will value That’s why we focus so heavily on our hiring process, using effective recruiting techniques, focusing on workers and safety, offering industry competitive compensation, and providing opportunities for employees to train and advance; it’s how we’ve created such an amazing team! Here are a few things you can do as well to find and keep effective employees:

Recruit Effectively

This seems obvious, but we can’t stress enough the importance of strong recruiting techniques and activities. People aren’t flocking to construction, which means that you’ll have to proactively seek them out. Create a recruiting program that reaches out to the young people entering the job force in your area, targeting high schools, vocational schools, community colleges, and job training and certificate programs. Participating in job fairs, working with career counselors, and even creating internship and apprenticeship programs can help you find good talent.

Be Safety and Worker Focused

No one wants to work for a company that doesn’t care about its employees, so be sure that you promote the ways that you care about your workers, especially when it comes to safety. In an industry with many obvious safety risks, potential employees need to know that they will be safe when working for you, that you don’t take shortcuts on worker safety to save a few bucks, and that when injuries do happen, that you work to prevent that issue in the future and support the injured worker. When you care about your workers, they’ll care about working for you.

Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits

This seems like another obvious one, but when you’re in need of workers, you can’t expect them to work for less than what they could make elsewhere. But it’s not just about the money, either. If you want to recruit workers who will stay with the company long-term, benefits matter. Workers with families, homes, mortgages, and other obligations want stability, but they need benefits that will help them support their families, futures, and goals. Family leave, retirement benefits, sound and affordable insurance plans, and other such benefits are crucial to retaining workers for the long term.

Provide Training and Advancement Opportunities

People want to grow, improve, and develop in their careers, so they won’t stay in what feels like a dead end job, or with companies where they feel they can’t advance. Providing training opportunities and paths for people to advance and move up the ladder is important for employee retention. It shows workers that you care about their career development and that you’re willing to invest in them, which makes them willing to invest their time and energy back into your company.

Zeeland Lumber is committed to building strong teams in all of our areas for the future by hiring and retaining talent, to better serve our needs and our customers’ needs, and to serve the higher calling of attracting talent to the construction industry. Learn more about Zeeland Lumber and about joining our team!

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