Here are five ways disconnected HR and ERP systems are draining your construction firm’s profits.
Manual Data Entry Across Multiple Systems Draining Your Staff’s Time
Every construction manager understands that time is money, whether it’s on the jobsite or in the office. When your team is manually entering the same employee data into multiple systems, not only is time wasted, but so is money.
Consider the amount of time it takes to enter employee demographics, tax information, direct deposit details, union status and certifications between HR and ERP systems. Now multiply that for every employee change, new hire or benefit update across multiple platforms. The cost can quickly add up. In fact, time wasted in HR-related tasks adds up to 40 million hours each month and more than $8 billion in lost productivity.
HR automation reduces and even eliminates manual processes, which in turn lowers staffing costs – essential when every dollar counts.
Incomplete Labor Data Crippling Project Profitability
There are several costs tied to construction profitability, with labor being the most significant. And with construction material costs being nearly 40% higher than pre-pandemic levels, accurate labor costing is critical. Without integrated ERP and HR systems, essential employee data, like union information, certifications, skill levels and prevailing wage classifications, never make it into the ERP. And when you have incomplete labor data, project estimates can lead to unprofitable contracts on current and future projects.
Compliance Gaps Exposing You to Legal and Financial Risk
Audit readiness requires having complete employee data. But if your compliance data lives separate from your ERP, you could be putting yourself at risk if faced with an audit. The amount of information the government is looking for is vast. It includes union status, certifications, EEOC information, worker classification, I-9s, prevailing wage and more. Without the right connection, this HR compliance data can’t flow into your ERP, creating gaps. And you can’t afford to wait for the right employee data. Not only are workplace inspections happening almost daily across the country, employee civil lawsuits over unpaid wages also come with fines ranging from $100,000 to $200,000.
Misallocation of Resources Due to Skills Data Gaps
Construction companies are wasting money on labor allocation because their ERP can’t see which employees are qualified for which tasks. This creates a huge headache for companies already challenged with finding skilled workers. According to the 2024 Workforce Survey from the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Arcoro, 62% of firms report available candidates lack necessary skills. Disconnected HR and ERP systems don’t allow project managers to see employee skill levels and certifications, needed for informed project resource allocation. The result is many firms end up overpaying for certain skills or underutilizing available talent.
Strategic HR Initiatives Taking a Backseat to Administrative Tasks
The construction industry is dealing with a huge labor shortage. While your competition focuses on the talent shortage, is your HR team stuck doing data entry? According to the 2024 Workforce Survey, 94% of construction firms report difficulties filling positions. And without connected systems, your HR team could be more focused on data entry than strategies for hiring more skilled workers. The construction industry needs an estimated 439,000 net workers in 2025 and construction HR teams need to be spending more time on talent acquisition and retention, like strong onboarding, to beat the competition for new workers.
These five silent profit drains stem from construction’s unique HR complexities that generic integrations can’t handle. Only software purpose-built for construction has the features to track union classifications, certifications, prevailing wage requirements and skills that essential for construction HR teams.
The Arcoro Advantage
Arcoro understands the complexity of construction HR. Our HR platform tracks union information, certifications and prevailing wage complexities that generic HR systems miss.
Arcoro also integrates with more construction ERPs than anyone else, solidifying our position as the industry’s number one HR software provider.
Stop letting disconnected systems drain your profits. Discover how Arcoro’s construction-focused HR platform eliminates these hidden costs by delivering the complete employee data your ERP system needs to excel.
