Hiring the Right People

As a construction company, your business is powered by the people that you entrust to get the job done. As a risk mitigation company, it is our job to make sure that every part of your business is maximized to avoid risk and save you money. We have noticed that many of our customers do not have comprehensive hiring policies before we start working with them, which is why hiring is one of the first areas that we cover whenever we take on a new customer.

Care About Background Checks

The worst time to find out that a new employee has a problem with drinking on the job is after you put a jackhammer in their hands and ask them to represent your company. You can do a good background check for free, or you can pay for a credit report from prospective employees and get a more comprehensive look at their background. But you should note that arrest records and calling up former employers or references is free to your company, and that information can often give you what you need to make a hiring decision.

If you do decide to run credit reports, you should consult your attorney for the best way to ask for the necessary information and alert the candidate to the fact that their credit report will be pulled on your applications. You should also keep in mind that your company will accrue the costs of pulling a credit report, and you should not attempt to pass those costs onto the candidate.

Qualifications

We have found that our most successful clients understand that even laborers require certain sets of qualifications to be competent on the job. You should have a comprehensive job description written out for every position, and then hire based on those qualifications. If a candidate has entry-level qualifications, then you should never attempt to put them in a position that requires more experience.

Promote From Within

Construction is one of those industries where the workers get to know and rely on each other’s skill sets. When a crew becomes a team, it can be extremely detrimental to production to either break up that team, or try to add a new element at a managerial position. When you look to add supervisors and managers to your staff, you should always attempt to hire from within.

A growing company may have managerial needs that currently do not exist on their staff, and that is understandable. But if the right person is already on the payroll, then that person should be highly considered for the job.

Do Regular Reviews

One of the best ways to develop strong hiring habits is to understand how your job positions evolve over time by doing regular reviews of current employees. You can use reviews to determine what employees deserve promotions, but you can also use reviews to update job descriptions and refine your hiring process.

We are experienced business professionals who understand how important employees are to any of our construction clients. We get intimately involved in the hiring process with every client, and we spend a great deal of time explaining just how important it is to hire the right people. One of the best ways to lower your company’s exposure to risk is to make sure that you have competent and qualified people working for you.