By Bill Humbert,  RecruiterGuy.com 

When your company is lucky, employee retention simply happens. However, there is never really a “simply happens.” Obviously, your company is operating in a manner that retains your best employees. Congratulations!

Over the past few weeks, I have spoken with several of the CFA member companies. A couple of company executives told me that they are focusing on the retention of their employees currently and seeing some positive results. 

Why Is Employee Retention Important?

Many of you, when you were new to concrete construction, were driven to learn and succeed. When I was 18, I worked at a Triangle Pacific Truss plant in the yard during the summer between college semesters. My job was to ensure that the saw man received the correct lumber on his rollers to cut at the correct angles depending on the truss design. We planned the day on three priorities: 

• Rush orders 
• Large orders 
• Small orders

We knew what orders needed to be processed during that day. I would plan the use of a tow motor to bring the lifts of lumber so the rollers would be filled as required. 

As I learned the process, I was able to plan my day in such a way that enabled my supervisors to use me for creating house packages between cuts. In short, I was motivated to succeed for my manager and my team. This motivation helped me anticipate the company’s needs ahead of time, before they were expressed.

Since you are a founder or leader of a concrete construction firm, I believe that you were motivated to learn and anticipate needs ahead of time, too.

Isn’t a motivated laborer a person you want to retain?

Retention is important because every person you retain is one you will not have to recruit and train in the future. More importantly, they may grow to be one of your leaders, possibly a talented estimator. How long does it take for your organization to bring a new, raw laborer up to speed on your concrete team? This training is a cost of doing business, and it can be minimized by retaining more employees.

Would You Like to Know a Secret About Job Seekers?

Since I coach people in their career searches during slow recruiting periods, they tell me their secrets. One important secret is that they HATE looking for a good job with a great company. They hope that they land with a company where they can work for the balance of their career—much like many of their fathers.

How important is this secret? If your company has a program in place where deserving employees can grow in responsibility and income, you are taking the first big step in the retention of top performers.

What Is the Secret Behind Great Retention Programs?

Consistency.

Well, that is simple—except when it is not. Dealing with human beings can be difficult because we all have personal lives with differing needs. This includes your foremen. Build a retention program that incorporates consistency so everyone knows what they need to accomplish to reach the next level. Some workers will grow quickly. Other workers will find their level of comfort and stay there, like a worker who is content to be great at finishing slabs (almost like it is their art). They may not be interested in learning new skills because they are proud of their work on slabs.

Have you ever had a laborer who was great until you gave them just a little more responsibility than they were comfortable with? When I was a construction superintendent on the Pinnacle Garden Apartment and Townhouse project in NE Washington, D.C., one of my laborers was JW (not his real name). It was an unusual project because all six of my laborers came from within four blocks of our project. The surrounding apartment buildings and row houses were old. Many of the surrounding buildings needed repair, but the landlords were not willing to improve them. Most of my laborers did not finish school. However, most laborers took pride in their work. 

This was Section 8 housing in DC, so we were required to pay Davis-Bacon wages. In 1978, we paid our laborers $10.78 per hour. JW was my most skilled and dependable laborer—until I gave him too much responsibility. Then he went on a binge for a week. People need to be treated differently according to their abilities and their mental capacity. Today, the term that describes hiring people with differing mental limits is neurodiversity. JW is a great example of someone who excels at their job while being limited in their ability to grow. As a superintendent, I quickly learned JW’s limits—and accepted them. I have fond memories of JW and his work ethic.

Some of the executives with whom I spoke discussed how they created training for new laborers. Initially, the laborers learned important functional and safety skills. Once they achieved those goals, they were given recognition and a raise. Some people are driven more by positive recognition than money. I recommend that you read Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink. After you read this book, you may decide that it is required reading for all your leaders. Understanding the difference between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation is key to managing and retaining employees.

Create a growth program with specific, achievable goals for each level. Initially, the goals for new laborers should be simple, and once achieved, they should earn a small raise. As the training grows in difficulty, it will take longer to achieve the next level with appropriate recognition and wage increase. Some laborers will join your company at higher levels of experience. In this case, practice consistency by testing them through your process and determining where they belong in your training program. Most quality concrete construction companies are proud of how their processes differentiate them from other concrete companies.

Having a growth program conditions your employees to set and achieve goals from their first day on the job. By definition, a goal-setting and goal-achieving employee is an engaged employee. Engaged employees become retained employees.

Talent Retention Requires Foreman and Manager Training

It is one thing to know the technical aspects of a job (proper concrete reinforcement, pouring, finishing, curing, and workplace safety, for example), but coaching a team member is another important and very different thing. 

How well have your foremen and superintendents been trained in proper management skills? As a leading talent attraction consultant, I agree with the following statement: “Workers leave managers, not their companies.”

Do you have a leader whose staff turns over often? They may be knowledgeable about the concrete business and yet costing your company by losing top talent. Of course, they will blame everything else—the location of the jobsite, the work, the weather, other subcontractors, etc.

The converse is true. Many times, I attempted to recruit a person from a company, and they informed me that they would not leave their manager. In one case, my client would have paid them 20% higher wages. 

A foreman or project manager with good people skills will create a crew who is loyal to them—and to each other. As a concrete construction company leader, you will find that these leaders will retain their (your) employees. Retained teams are more efficient teams and more profitable teams.