Managing Talent in Construction During COVID
By: Jlm Strategic Talent Partners
Tags: Recruitment, Talent, Construction, Best Practices

We are now eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic and while many companies weathered the immediate crisis that faced the market back in April 2020, according to a recent article published by CNN the recent COVID-19 spike could change all of that. Overall, 25% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household was laid off or lost their job due to COVID-19 and of those who say they personally lost a job, half say they are still unemployed. In addition, those who are still working are facing their own struggles — many having had to reduce their hours or take pay cuts. To top it all off, both supervisors and employees are battling the mental health of themselves and those around them. Some studies have shown that mental health and well-being has dropped 33% since the pandemic began. As such, it is more important than ever for employers and hiring decision makers to think about talent within their organization, both in terms of retaining the top talent they already have and best practices to secure new talent moving forward.

Why might you ask? Many executives assume that their firm’s power in the labor market correlates with the unemployment rate and general state of the economy but according to Harvard Business Review, a compounding list of factors demonstrate that ultimately job openings have remained at unprecedented high levels. Therefore, employers are better off thinking about how to make their employees and candidates feel wanted than assuming they are desperate for work.

Here are some strategies compiled by JLM to help you keep the great talent you already have, continue to secure new talent for the benefit of your organization, and help yourself or anyone you know find work during these challenging times.

Retaining Existing Talent

Encourage Employee Safety. Where possible, allow or continue remote work and double down on your network security efforts. For those who have to come into work: stagger shifts where possible, mandate safe distances between workers, and ban visitors.

Support Employee Mental Health. Provide and communicate openly and frequently about resources that are available (like Employee Assistance Programs). Companies like PG&E have upped the ante in terms of their company wide communications through newsletters, webinars, and podcasts to remove the stigma and share the importance of discussing anxiety, balancing work and life, homeschooling and more. In the end, don’t assume your employees don’t want to talk about it. Lastly, recognize the efforts of your employees. Appreciation and acknowledgment will go far during these times.

Securing New Talent

Now more than ever, the needs of both you as the employer and your candidates as employees are evolving. Before initiating the hiring process, consider the following:

Do I have a need within my company/department for different skills? For example, do you need to better assess your candidates technical skills to be able to work remotely or to work more autonomously?

Am I proactively addressing the concerns candidates have over physical contact? Now more than ever candidates want to know what their day-to-day work schedule will look like.

How flexible are you able to be with an individual’s at home needs?

What will employee training and day-to-day work hours look like? Will your employee be expected to come on site? If so, how often — daily, bi-weekly, etc. What are their expected Work Hours? What will their environment look like — are masks required, is social distancing required?

Be transparent and share this information early on in your recruitment process. Consider inputting this information in the job description or sharing during the initial interview process.

If your interview process is remote, you can still give the employee a good sense of your company’s culture by giving them a virtual tour or including more participants in the interview process so that candidates can see who they will consistently engage with.

Yourself & the Job Market

If you find yourself out of a job now or in the future during this pandemic, most importantly don’t panic.

Remain positive! The Mayo Clinic has several tips on how to cope and strategies for how to bounce back.

Stay focused on the hunt — remember that several companies are still hiring!

Improve your resume

Brush up on your video interviewing skills.

In the end, these times are teaching us all in small or big ways to grow and be better personally and professionally so remember to be kind to yourself, to your team, and to your neighbors.

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