As 2024 advances, Oregon’s construction industry is dealing with a mixed bag of business prospects.New projectsare in the pipeline consider the transformational Lloyd Center redevelopment and the Broadway Corridor in Portland but uncertainties over interest rates and material costs pose a continuing drag.
And then there’s the ongoing problem finding and keeping construction professionals to ensure fluctuating demand for labor can be met. Nationally, the industry ended 2023 with
about459,000 job openings a 5.4 percent rate that’s the highest since 2000.
In Oregon, and elsewhere, construction firms are looking to build up the business pipeline. But they would be well-served to look at other concerns tied to the labor shortage.
Theturnover rate for construction, at 53 percent, is higher than for any other sector. And
FMI Corp. research pointed to a $40 billion to $50 billion loss in 2022 due to labor inefficiencies. Nearly half of survey respondents cited worsening worker productivity.
There’s no time like the present for the industry to take a hard look at how its workforce woes can be mended. One place to start is with the behaviors of construction managers and leaders, and whether they do the job of engaging employees in a way that supports long-term recruitment and retention as well as builds a beneficial culture.
Good bosses count People will quit their bosses more than they’ll quit their jobs. That was the case for
57 percent of unhappy employees who quit, according to one survey. In fact, poor leadership leads to employee disengagement, which lowers productivity. The cost,
according to Gallup ,is somewhere between $450 billion and $550 billion.
One way bosses can better engage employees is by being more “human.”
Gartner Inc.has found a 37 percent increase in workers who say they’re highly engaged, due to their “human” boss, and that can boost performance by 27 percent.
A more effective or more human boss should have requisite hardandsoft skills. Hard skills include project planning capabilities, and budget and time management experience. Soft skills include problem-solving and communication, along with conflict management experience.
But the foundational behaviors of human leaders shouldn’t be overlooked. They are empathetic showing genuine care, respect and concern for their workers. They are authentic real, genuine, sincere and true to themselves and their guiding principles. And they are adaptive in meeting their peoples’ individual needs.
This kind of boss can build trust through an attitude that mixes candor with caring. He or she holds people accountable (and is held accountable) on job actions and performance, without getting into a game of “what-about.” In a culture of accountability and caring, this manager cares enough about people to tell them positively how to improve without attacking them personally in the process.
How to develop better bosses There’s a process to becoming a more effective and human boss.
It takes an openness to understand people and their perspectives, the ability to motivate them, and the flexibility to adjust when necessary. Ultimately, managers must be invested inworking on this mindset. This is a challenge because a mindset can become ingrained, especially when people tend to be promoted because they are good workers not necessarily human ones.
It also takes real coaching not just advice or mentoring, and not consulting. This guidance is key for helping managers move past the inhibitors to change that usually hold people back. A coach doesn’t help a manager find an authentic leadership style by laying out a list of proposed behavior changes. Instead, the coach asks: “What is the highest potential you might have as a leader and what behaviors are keeping you from achieving that?”
It takes radical candor to get there and asking: “What am I getting wrong?” “How could I be better?” It’s hard, especially the further you rise through the ranks, to open yourself up this way. But businesses whose leaders do so are likely to experience 30 percent organic growth rates because their people, top to bottom, will mirror their behaviors.
What’s worth considering amid the process is that a mission statement, and thevision and values it expresses, are more than just words posted on the wall outside the executive suite. It aligns to real behaviors and skills that are how everyone in the organization should successfully navigate the business environment.
Jeff Cecchini is a licensed agent for global insurance brokerage HUB International. He specializes in contractor insurance programs. Contact him at 971-888-5394 orjeff.cecchini@hubinternational.com. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the DJC guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein. Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.
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