When it comes to recruiting efforts, the construction industry has changed dramatically. Companies don’t store applicant leads on diskettes or fill out Excel spreadsheets by hand anymore. But, creating the perfect pool of potential hires still takes time. No matter which tool is used, construction companies are still spending hours to input, organize and update the contacts.
On top of that, digging through all of the applications and potential candidates manually can be difficult and tedious, especially when the construction industry is already stressful enough. Time consuming and frustrating as it may be, there has to be a way that hiring managers can optimize their recruiting process and methods to build the perfect pipeline of potential employees without risking their sanity, right? The answer for hiring managers starts by improving their candidate sourcing.
Candidate Sourcing 101
The construction industry is constantly changing and evolving, so being proactive is key. Candidate sourcing is one way to achieve this proactivity because it requires hiring managers to pursue talent the company wants before they actually need it. Instead of posting a job online to a ton of different sites, or even on a bulletin board, try looking for and reaching out to the types of employees you would want to work for your company who may not be looking for a new job.
The key to this method is to have conversations with those ideal potential candidates in order to get to know them and let them get to know you and your company first. While you may not have a position that needs to be filled at the moment, when you do have something available, you won’t have to wait around for the perfect candidate to find you. Instead, you will already have a network of people built who are open to chatting and learning more.
While you may be stuck in your current recruiting practice, it is time to step outside of your comfort zone. Opening new avenues and channels for hiring gives you the opportunity to pull from a diverse pool of candidates. This ultimately will help your company build a perfect pipeline of candidates without losing time and resources while you build your perfect structures on the jobsite.
There are various ways to achieve a perfect candidate pipeline, but one way to optimize recruiting is through internal referrals. By using referrals, candidates already have established a connection inside the company which will likely aid them in talking about future opportunities. Knowing this information helps hiring teams initiate a conversation and find candidates who would be a good fit for their pipeline, keeping it full.
Candidate sourcing sounds great, but you may be wondering how you can keep track of everyone in the pipeline without missing something along the way, such as when they were last contacted or where they are in the hiring process. The proper applicant tracking system can optimize this information in the recruiting process and make life for hiring managers easier moving forward.
Optimizing Efforts
The recruiting process is similar to a game of Jenga: It requires multiple factors for a successful hire to fall into place, and if one of the building blocks is missing, the entire structure can fall to the ground. To optimize recruiting and carry out hiring methods, the pipeline should be in a proper position. Tools like applicant tracking systems are great to ensure that information is available and accessible when it is needed. Some factors to consider when looking to optimize the hiring process with tools include:
- Internal communication — Open communication within your company is necessary for construction hiring methods to be successful. To optimize and encourage a free flow of information, virtual scorecards or other forms of discussion can be used to ensure everyone is on the same page. When construction companies are collaborative in areas outside of the worksite, conversations remain open and clear about each candidate and can minimize confusion.
- External communication — While internal communication should remain a priority, external communication is just as important. Updating candidates along the way, and informing them about what they should expect to see in the future, is a necessity. However, just sending them updates is not enough; you should be communicating with these potential employees using their preferred channel of communication to show that you value their candidate experience. One way to share updates is through media that they are likely to check often, such as text messages.
- Streamlining the process — Whether you are inputting data from the jobsite or emailing current and future employees, it is refreshing to know that these mundane and repetitive tasks can be automated. Hiring managers can rely on software to streamline the process of moving candidates down the pipeline using less time and resources. Tasks like sending texts or initiating background checks can take a large chunk of hiring managers’ time, but with the automated processes, it can give back precious minutes, or even hours, to managers and allow them to focus on other important issues, like worker safety or having personalized conversations.
- Visuals aren’t just pretty — As your pipeline fills, it can be difficult to differentiate between who is where in the hiring process. Contrary to popular belief, visuals are not just for looks; they can actually help when it comes to seeing who is moving along in the pipeline, and why. It is beneficial for all hiring teams to implement a user-friendly candidate management system that can help not only build your pipeline, but also update it in real-time. With constant change occurring in the construction industry, real-time updates are significant in order to keep everything moving forward. Additionally, internal communication methods like the virtual scorecards can be attached to each candidate in the visual pipeline and ultimately help communicate reasons why someone is either moving ahead or why they are not, all in one simple, easy to find place.
- The job post — If you are practicing candidate sourcing correctly, you may feel like you don’t need a job post for an open position. However, in the construction industry, you never know who will surprise you, so a job posting never hurts. Normally, putting effort into writing the perfect job description, posting and managing it on each recruiting site takes an abundance of time, but there are tools to streamline the posting process, where hiring managers can post jobs on the best job sites with a single click. Again, giving back time that is already stretched thin.
Your candidate pipeline is essential, but it is only as good as your recruiting methods. Having a full pipeline is important, but staying productive and efficient through the process is what keeps your construction company competitive in the hiring process. Optimizing your recruiting method is essential in saving time and resources, and with a streamlined process, you can likely stay on top of potential future candidates while also rolling that time over to focus on perfecting your jobsite.
Nina Cofer is a product marketing manager at Breezy HR, an applicant tracking system based in Jacksonville, Fla.
