Concrete Steps to Success: The Top Three Considerations for Construction Talent Acquisition

The success of any construction project hinges on the quality of the team behind it.

A solid talent acquisition strategy is one of the most important parts of a contractor’s ability to deliver projects on time and within budget.

Despite this, the UK faces a skills shortage of up to 140,000 vacancies, especially in specialist roles.

Within this situation, building a solid construction talent acquisition strategy – especially for specialist roles – has never been more crucial.

Here are three things to consider as we head into 2024.

Off-Market Talent and Proactivity:

Being proactive is key to getting hold of the right people, especially amidst the shortage of skilled professionals in the UK.

Many suitable candidates may not actively seek new opportunities in the general job market – even though 55% of the UK is open to switching jobs.

Therefore, it’s not as simple as posting a job on a board and waiting for applications. This limits your pool of potential talent and shuts out candidates who might otherwise be well-suited.

Instead, you should actively search for talent and reach out to individuals who might be open to shifting roles.

However, this is time-consuming; roughly 75% of hiring managers spend over 13 hours a week sourcing candidates for a single role.

This doesn’t include the time spent negotiating with the candidate on salary, talking them through their application, giving them feedback or advising them on future steps.

While in-house recruitment teams can often manage some of this, it may be wise to consider outsourcing, especially when scaling up recruitment efforts in growth periods.

Discretion and Confidentiality:

Professional relationships and networks are often tightly intertwined within the UK construction sector.

In this context, candidates may be reluctant to openly discuss new job opportunities out of concern about compromising their professional relationships.

Likewise, construction companies may be reluctant to give the impression of “nicking talent”.

Discretion and confidentiality are, therefore, key to successfully sourcing the right people within this landscape.

In such cases, it might be wise to outsource recruitment efforts to maintain confidentiality.

By discreetly approaching potential candidates through a third party, companies can facilitate open conversations about career moves without anyone risking current relationships.

Not only does this build trust, but it also expands the talent pool to people who may otherwise have not engaged in discussions about moving roles.

Respect to Candidates:

Recognising the long-term value of relationships with potential candidates is crucial.

56% of people say that a positive experience in the candidate process makes them more likely to reapply to future roles and recommend the company to their peers – even if they didn’t make the final cut.

So, even if a candidate isn’t an immediate fit for a specific role, providing constructive feedback is a valuable practice.

Keeping candidates fully informed about their applications’ status and providing positive or constructive feedback helps foster a positive relationship and opens doors to future opportunities.

Suppose a more suitable position arises down the line. In that case, a well-maintained relationship increases the likelihood of reconnection, contributing to a stronger and more dynamic talent pool network and improving your business’ reputation.

However, keeping a candidate in the loop, being communicative, and providing feedback is often time-consuming and hard work. Many in-house teams are already overstretched.

Therefore, finding a reputable third party to manage applications and ensure a positive candidate experience may be helpful.

Moving forward

To build a robust team, construction companies need a proactive, discreet, and respectful approach towards talent acquisition.

By actively seeking off-market talent, ensuring confidentiality in recruitment processes, and maintaining respectful communication with candidates, companies can overcome the skills shortage and build a team capable of delivering successful projects.

It may require the expertise of a third-party recruitment firm to manage the time-consuming tasks of sourcing candidates, providing feedback, and ensuring a positive candidate experience.

Nonetheless, investing in these strategies will pay off in the long run, improving the company’s reputation and increasing the likelihood of building a stronger and more dynamic talent pool network.

Pinnacle provides a straightforward, effective bridge for companies looking to recruit specialist talent.

We prioritise proactivity, confidentiality, and respect for our candidates – not just because it’s good business, but as a matter of principle.

Furthermore, our strong connections in the industry open doors to hidden talent, and we focus on building lasting relationships to ensure your talent strategy is continuously improving.

If you’re looking to source off-market and specialist talent in the construction sector and build a solid recruitment strategy in 2024, please reach out to [email protected]