In the midst of the Great Resignation, construction companies must be competitive for talent. Over the last few months, candidates have become increasingly mobile, especially at companies requiring leaders to return to the office. Here are three ways to increase your chances of competing for and winning the best talent during the great resignation. 

Talent Waits For No One.

Create an efficient hiring process. The faster an organization can onboard a new hire, the sooner they can begin adding value to the team and drive performance. The longer an organization takes to find, interview, and make an offer to a candidate, the more opportunity is at stake across the board. To remain competitive in your recruitment process look at where talent drops out of the process and examine bottlenecks internally and externally. Combine steps to reduce the amount of time in between recruitment stages, prioritize feedback and respect a candidate’s time. In today’s talent market, a candidate may be interviewing for several different companies including your competitors and having a seamless candidate experience is critical to keeping a candidate engaged throughout this process.

Establish Who Really Needs Buy-In.

Limit the number of stakeholders only to those who deeply understand the goals, and responsibilities of the role and who will be interacting with a candidate on a day-to-day basis. Strategically identify those stakeholders that need “buy-in” for a candidate and prioritize these interviews over others. Hosting multiple interviews with stakeholders at various levels within the organization can slow the hiring process down, and frustrate a candidate. Consider a panel interview for those that will be tangential to the role within the organization and allow them a certain allotment of time to speak or questions to ask. Keep one-to-one interviews with the immediate managers and colleagues that will be working with this candidate on a regular basis. 

Be Prepared To Pay Market Value.

In today’s market, competition for talent is fierce and supply for highly qualified, skilled talent is at an all time low. If an organization attempts to lowball a candidate with an offer – he/she/they will likely withdraw from the process, share their frustrations with their colleagues in the industry and accept an offer at a competing firm. Offering a competitive salary that matches market rate and the value the candidate can bring to the table is critical. Conduct market research to uncover what other organizations may be offering for salary, equity, benefits, rewards, etc., and align your expectations with these. That being said, in this tight candidate market – some candidates may demand a salary that is much higher than the value they will actually bring to an organization. Consider publishing a reasonable salary range within the initial job description to filter out those candidates that have unreasonable expectations. Publishing a reasonable salary range within the initial job description can also attract diversity candidates that may be looking for an opportunity that will compensate them for the value they bring to a role and the organization.

To learn more about hiring and recruiting for construction, get in touch with us. 

About The Author.

Jeff Raymond (jeff@raymondsearchgroup.com), President and Founder of Raymond Search Group (RaymondSearchGroup.com), is an industry-leading recruiter specializing in Construction and Real Estate, Engineering, Architecture, HVACR/R, Building Automation Systems, MEPF, and Manufacturing. Jeff is known for delivering the top 5% of industry talent to his clients with unrivaled efficiency and network. Clients and candidates alike rely on Jeff as a trusted advisor through his recruiting expertise and industry insight.

Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Management, and Operations from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is experienced in the construction industry and is Procore certified in multiple areas. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, ASHRAE, the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), and The OSHA Education Center Association.