How Tech-Enabled Contractors are Better Positioned to Recruit Smarter and Onboard Faster

Human resources in construction is tough work. Managing employees, onboarding new staff, sorting paperwork, making sure all compliance requirements are up to date, the list goes on. And thanks to the decades-long construction labor shortage, coupled with the Great Resignation across all industries that occurred at the beginning of 2022, competition for skilled construction professionals is fierce.

Without the right tools in place to help manage recruiting and onboarding processes, construction HR tasks are further complicated. As companies struggle to find individuals to fill the open positions in their construction workforces, changes are being made in recruiting strategies and new onboarding challenges are being faced.

These topics were addressed in two our recent construction HR webinars, including Recruit Better, Hire Faster, Onboard Quickly with Viewpoint HR Management and Finding Talent in the Construction Industry. Here’s a glimpse into some of the tips and tricks provided by our Trimble Viewpoint HR professionals: Terri Gresham, HR product specialist, and Marissa Baker, HR field specialist.

As the demands of the workforce changes, so do the methods companies use to recruit new employees. Here are a few things organizations should keep in mind throughout their recruiting process:

• Flexible or remote jobs are highly desired
• People are quickly moving between jobs based on pay and benefits
• Companies need to offer benefits that are competitive with unemployment
• Creativity is needed to grab people's attention

Each of these recruiting changes and challenges adds time to the daily tasks of HR departments. Luckily, with the help of technologies like Trimble’s Viewpoint HR Management solution, these challenges can be minimized. As part of the connected, cloud-based Trimble Construction One suite, contractors’ HR departments can find all the tools they need to streamline their employee onboarding and training processes.

With digitized onboarding and document management, construction human resources professionals can choose which documents are dispersed to which employees, easily manage recruiting and onboarding forms, tasks, and checklists, collect electronic signatures and require employees to acknowledge documentation or specific requests. This minimizes the amount of time employees would spend sorting through paper forms and documents—as well as the amount of time HR departments spend inputting new hire information into their back-office systems.

Viewpoint HR Management also works to keep track of employee training. Managers are able to easily oversee and track their team’s training status and certifications. Employees can easily access and complete training within Viewpoint HR Management and upload all necessary paperwork straight to the online portal. As certifications, licenses or other documents come close to expiring, managers and employees alike will receive automatic notifications through the software. This simplified, automated tracking minimizes the amount of time construction management has to spend ensuring their teams are up to date on all the necessary training and compliance measures.

Viewpoint HR Management also provides web-based portals and mobile apps that extend HR Management beyond the back office ERP. This allows employees to self-serve many of their HR needs, saving valuable time for burdened HR teams.