Where I live in Wisconsin, there’s enough frost in the ground by now to bring most onsite work to a halt. When I call installers this month, the chances are pretty good I’ll reach them in the office rather than in the seat of a mini-excavator digging a trench.
But that wasn’t the case a few months ago. Here’s how many phone conversations with installers went right up through the early fall:
Me: How’s your summer going, Bill?
Bill: It’s been crazy around here. I’ve been pulling 14-hour days and I just can’t catch up. I have 30 jobs on a waiting list and I hope I can get all the work done before the snow flies. And the phone keeps ringing.
Me: Why haven’t you added another crew to address the growing demand?
Bill: That’s easier said than done. I’ve got to find people I can trust; workers with the skills to do the job right for my customers. And where am I going to find the time to look?
Me: Hmmm. Let me think about that. In the meantime, I better hang up the phone so you can get back on the excavator.
Bill: Thanks. Come up with some answers and give me a call in January. We’ll catch up before the WWETT Show.
I’ve been thinking about the hiring challenges faced by Bill and other installers. There is intense competition for young workers cut out to be installers. It’s physical – and sometimes dirty – work, it requires folks who can be motivated to work independently, and good candidates have to be willing to learn and adapt to new technologies all the time.
JOIN THE RECOVERY
Some installers feel like they can’t trust anyone else to do the job right, so they try to take on everything themselves. That’s a lot of pressure, and it only builds in a recovering economy where more customers are calling to repair or replace older systems or to work on new construction. You don’t want to turn down work orders, but you also feel trepidation about hiring new employees.
But maybe this full-throttle schedule during the busy season has gone on long enough. Perhaps you’re not spending enough time with your family during the summer. It could be that your current crew is experiencing the same problem and getting frustrated about working 60-plus hours a week.
It doesn’t seem like it was so long ago that you were cutting back on employees after the collapse of the real estate market. But that was seven years ago, and the construction industry dynamic is much different today. New development is on the rise, and homeowners have been nursing along older systems for many years. It’s time for an upgrade.
If you’re considering adding a new crew for 2016, here are a few ways to put your best foot forward:
Find a new crew leader
Review the skills and temperament of your current workers and identify a person you think could lead a new crew. Look for a responsible employee with potential leadership skills, someone who values your company and has a passion and excitement for onsite work. Ask that worker to take charge of a new crew and involve him or her in the employee recruitment process. That includes posting job ads, interviewing candidates and making hires. Share the burden and empower your new leader to train and supervise their helpers.
Reach out to educators
The onsite industry plays a critically important – but not widely understood – role in the construction and infrastructure trades. As such, student advisers at two-year technical colleges and high schools may not realize the great opportunities available to students who pursue careers in wastewater treatment. Installers can help raise awareness about these job opportunities and perhaps land a few qualified employees at the
same time.
How can you help? Approach schools and offer to talk to students studying construction trades and tell them about the growing demand for the work you do. Partner with your state onsite trade association to inform the public about the important environmental role onsite installers play in the community. Consider offering student internships or job shadowing experiences to anyone who takes an interest in onsite work.
Take a fresh look at pay and benefits
As you advertise jobs to bolster your crew, take a realistic look at what you pay for workers compared to similar construction-related positions in your region. Is your wage and benefits package commensurate with what other employers are paying in areas like HVAC, plumbing, excavating or construction? Given all the new technologies to learn and the environmental impact of onsite work, should you be paying workers more than many of the construction trades?
What can you offer a field of potential employees to stand apart from these other trades? Maybe it’s a clear path to professional training and advancement. Or bonuses based on successful job completions. Or liberal family-friendly perks such as paid paternity leave or offseason flex time. People entering the workforce today want to know you care about their life beyond the work site and will value these efforts.
Provide training now
Use the winter season to train your team on best safety practices, how to use new tools and how to employ new onsite technologies. Be sure to take care of all required continuing education credits in the next few months so you’re not forced to pull technicians off the job next summer to sit in a classroom. Take your employees to the WWETT Show Feb. 17-20 in Indianapolis. The Indiana Convention Center will be filled with exhibitors showing all the latest onsite technologies, and a slate of Education Day seminars and presentations throughout the week will help prepare your crews for the coming busy season. The more knowledge they gain now, the better they will be able to tackle onsite challenges come June.
START MAKING PLANS
This is the time to start looking forward to next spring and figure out how to address growing demand for your services. Customers will be calling sooner than you think to schedule work. If you have more hiring ideas to share with fellow installers, drop me a line at editor@onsiteinstaller.com or simply go online and start a conversation at the Onsite Installer forums. Together we can crack the code to finding more quality front-line workers.
