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Hiring for lean construction management – what to understand
Without a shadow of a doubt, the construction industry is indeed more than just a lucrative trillion-dollar industry. It is an industry that despite its glitzy image, suffers from labor and skill shortages at multiple levels, and other multiple issues across various domains (including but not limited to construction claims, outstanding payments and the like).
Regardless of whether the professional involved us a general contractor, a subcontractor, a civil engineer or an architect, or another construction professional; no one today is immune to any kind of issue in the industry.
Also, there is not just the shortage of trained workers required to fill gaps in field offices or back offices. The number of trained managers as well as companies in need of adopting technology is also rising.
In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, and the days after that, there have been challenges in hiring subcontractors. Such a crisis reached levels which were hard to mitigate.
As a consequence, wages in the industry have been rising. The Bureau of Labor Statistics explains that employees in production and non-supervisory levels and occupations experienced a rise of 6.3 percent in wages in May 2022 in comparison to the previous year. This is the highest in 40 years and puts a much tighter noose on shrinking profits.
An expert witness Dubai UAE explains that labor is not the only thing that has hit subcontractors hard this year. Supply chain shortages and inflation plus the Russian invasion of Ukraine are all factors in the current turbulent situation across the world.
The industry is expected to observe costs rising by almost 15 percent this year. This is something that is worrying most businesses in the construction and real estate sectors.
Rising costs make it more crucial to help maintain a lean construction management team and operation. Companies should hire the right kind of labor in both skilled and unskilled categories. Yet, getting the needed help for back-office support and logistics are equally important.
Hiring and retaining the right people in the right teams
For subcontractors, it is tough to find the right kind of people. Who are the people required to fill the roster? Let’s find out by examining key roles in such teams:
Field Team
This team consists of the foreman and trade workers. The work they do is hard, strenuous and back breaking. Today’s era requires balance between work and life, and the team should be shown that their roles are valued, which can help attract and keep talent.
If construction companies can prove and demonstrate that they have invested in the right tools and technologies, then they can make their jobs easier. The hiring process also becomes streamlined. This is where technology can play a vital role by helping simplify the field processes, reducing the paperwork by large margins and removing redundancy. This does have a positive impact.
The Office Teams
Keeping each thing in proper running order is among the main jobs of the office team (along with keeping the accounting and office staff members engaged). The office manager is the real binding force holding all the office teams together. This role cannot be overlooked at any cost.
Also, office managers need the right skills and tools to multitask, cooperate and help connect on an effective footing, other team members and teams as well.
The Construction Site Management Team
Project managers and superintendents are key members of the construction site management team. The owner might need to however jump into certain things depending on the size and scope of the business. An on-staff estimator and an outsourced third-party team might be needed or may be present on the construction site.
Construction project owners and company owners need to be connected to the ongoing projects and ask the site management teams to keep them in the loop.
The partners and extended teams
Things do not get built in a vacuum by themselves. Similarly, when creating a lean construction management team, partners to work with should be carefully considered. They are the people the construction company works with to amplify both the team, and its performance, plus covering the present gaps.
Project advisory experts explain that no construction project owner or a top executive should overlook the chance for making suppliers real time partners. They can help the company operate on a leaner footing and expand the network too.
