According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry lost 22,000 jobs during the month of June. Some might assume this means that recruiting an adequate workforce is no longer a burning issue, but we know that despite the current conditions, there will be a shortage of construction workers by 2018 especially in the mid-level jobs.
My company recently completed the team building exercise of describing our ideal workforce for 2015. It turns out that we have some work to do. We are a commercial subcontractor and live and die by the talents and efforts of our supervisors, foremen, lead men, and journeymen. In our exercise, we described each job title and how they would demonstrate leadership in every area of focus: productivity, safety, quality, company culture, and workforce development (training and developing future talent). We are currently working on step two: what actions do we take over the course of five years that will produce this ideal workforce?
I like this approach to strategic planning because it forces us to focus on improving our team at all levels.
We’ve been working on another exciting project to provide a benchmark and third party credentials for our journeymen. We are assessing our current journeymen utilizing the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) certification program. So far, we have had a great response from the individuals who have completed the process. They are very proud of their new credentials!
I am interested in how other companies are preparing for the future. Do you have something to share?
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