Working in the HR department of a construction company is a different ball game, even for experts who have spent years in HR roles. As a construction manager, you know best the importance of equipping new team members with the information and skills they need to succeed — and onboarding new HR staff is no different. Here are a few construction-specific lessons new HR team members must learn when they join your team.
Working in the HR department of a construction company will never be boring. The industry has been growing for years, and acceleration is projected to continue as the country’s infrastructure is upgraded and demand grows in the renewable energy sector. Even with zero industry growth, new hires would be needed to fill the alarming number of positions left by retirees: by 2020, 26% of construction workers are expected to be over 55 and inching closer to retirement.
Your new HR team member will have to quickly adjust to an environment that is constantly recruiting and hiring. This is particularly true of young college graduates — construction employers raised their hiring expectations by 54% between 2015 and 2017. With a limited number of graduates and thousands of jobs available, new team members must be prepared to do the HR hustle, maintaining a talent bench and using cutting edge applicant tracking systems to target the right candidates. Once hired, retention becomes key.
As you know, compliance in the construction industry is key. This includes complying with the occupational health and safety standards set by the Department of Labor, ensuring you’re hiring a diverse workforce under the Affirmative Action Plan, and monitoring employee coverage — not to mention recent changes — as part of the Affordable Care Act. Compliance can be particularly challenging in the construction industry because of the many varied tasks taken on by different types of employees, from full-time to shift-based to seasonal. Using a software solution during the employee onboarding process will help new HR members ensure complete compliance.
If your new HR team member has worked primarily in office environments, it may take them a few weeks to get familiar with the nature of construction work. For one thing, communication with staff likely has to be done in-person or through a non-digital platform. Unlike office employees who make use of email and online chat systems, construction employees work on site all day and don’t have the time or opportunity to check these platforms. It’s worth debriefing your new team member on the best ways for HR to communicate with company employees — and perhaps even offer them a tour of construction sites so they can better understand other nuances of the industry.
HR takes an active role in ensuring health and safety in the construction industry. Depending on the size of your company, your new hire may or may not have a safety department to work with. In any case, a new team member will need to do some reading to get familiar with the special safety requirements that come hand-in-hand with the construction industry. This includes additional standards and regulations around areas such as communication towers, cranes and derricks, confined spaces, and other construction-specific environments. HR team members will also have to develop an expert sense of where health and safety responsibility is distributed, whether at a company, shift manager, or individual level.
Joining the HR team of a construction company presents an exciting new set of challenges for professionals. Your HR team is at the frontline of training, hiring, and recruitment, and it’s up to you as an employer to ensure they’re ready to take on that role. Consider using BirdDogHR’s construction solutions to make the transition easier and prepare your new hire for a rewarding career!