As a business, employees are your greatest asset. I set out to build a company that everyone wants to work for, and have personally taken ownership of our hiring process to make it happen. A focus on keeping employees happy is not very common in the blue-collar construction industry, as many employers rely on the idea that simply having a job is good enough. But if you want to be the best in your space, you must have the best people working for you.
Unfortunately for my industry, with people increasingly drawn toward desk jobs comes a decline in those who are learning trades like carpentry. Therefore, we have a smaller and smaller talent pool and have to focus even harder on securing top talent. But this is relevant for any industry: You want those people who’re going to defend and fight for your company on a day-to-day basis.
Pay is definitely an important factor for attracting the best, but I’ve also ended up toe-to-toe with monster companies that had significantly more money to spend on hiring. I had to be creative. No idea was too crazy, and the following strategies are what worked best.
Testing Different Mediums for Job Postings
When tackling this challenge, I first had to find the job posting channel that yielded the most qualified applicants and the best return on investment (ROI). I put myself in a prospective carpenter’s shoes and went searching online for “carpentry jobs,†“construction jobs,†etc. I noticed that one website, in particular, showed up in both organic and paid results significantly more than others.
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Matt Doyle is the vice president and co-founder of Excel Builders, a revolutionary company in the construction industry that builds next-generation custom homes.
BusinessCollective, launched in partnership with Citi, is a virtual mentorship program powered by North America’s most ambitious young thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives and small business owners.
