Construction companies looking to compete need to maintain a strong workforce. With 51% of US employees actively seeking new jobs and replacement costs ranging from 40% to 200% of salary depending on the role according to Gallup, reducing turnover is paramount.
Performance management software can provide construction companies with the tools to transform simple evaluation methods into strategic retention engines. Unlike paper or manual 51% of US employees actively seeking new jobs and replacement costs ranging from 40% performance processes, HR software built for performance provides invaluable data that companies can use to make decisions that can help propel its growth.
Here are five data-driven approaches to keeping your best people.
Identify Flight Risks Before They Walk Out the Door
Fighting turnover is made even more difficult when you only realize someone is leaving when they hand in their notice. This leaves companies off guard and scrambling to quickly replace them, possibly hiring an unqualified candidate.
Performance management data on the other hand, can reveal warning signs. The data gathered during annual or more frequent evaluations can quickly show:
- Declining performance scores over time
- Decreased engagement in evaluations
- Patterns in goal completion rates
- Feedback sentiment shifts
Having this data allows HR teams to recognize which employees might be on the verge of leaving and have meaningful conversations with them to address the issues before they start job hunting. And it works. According to Gallup, 42% of employees who voluntarily left their organization report that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.
2. Spot High-Potential Employees Worth Investing In
Investing in your best workers can influence them to stay at your company. Gallup reports that 30% of employees would stay for increased compensation and career advancement and 11% say they’d stay if they feel valued and are progressing at an organization.
Performance management software can help identify those employees who are high performers but just as important, those with high potential. Managers can evaluate employee skills for different construction roles with assessment tools that identify strengths and development needs. For example, not every high performer should be in a leadership role. A master carpenter with exceptional technical skills may not want or need supervisory responsibilities.
Having the right information can help both managers and employees create development plans that align with their goals and skill sets. Like:
- Leadership training for future supervisors
- Technical skill development for specialists
- Cross-training opportunities for versatile team members
3. Recognize Patterns in Turnover That Tell a Bigger Story
Turnover hurts but high rates can identify bigger problems within your organization. Performance management software can provide data that offers a big picture look at your operations.
Critical patterns to watch include:
- High turnover among top performers. If top performers are leaving, it could point to compensation issues or a lack of advancement.
- Inexperience workers quickly leave. Struggling workers who depart soon after being hired can highlight training gaps, management issues or even bad position descriptions.
- Department-specific trends. High turnover in a specific department can highlight problematic managers and toxic team cultures.
- When employees leave. Data can highlight the most popular times of year when employees quit, like seasonal, after a project is complete or post their performance review.
Performance management software can provide construction-specific analytics that can identify:
- Performance trends by role, project type, or location
- Skill gap identification across crews
- Leadership potential assessment by department
These reports can help guide your retention strategy decisions.
4. Inform Succession Planning Decisions With Real Data
Succession planning is an essential part of maintaining a high-performing workforce, one that minimizes the risk of skills gaps. With 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring daily, often taking decades of construction expertise with them, developing a strategic succession plan is essential.
Performance management tools can help managers move beyond “who’s next in line” thinking and focus on who is actually best for the role.
- Identify truly critical roles in your organization. Will your best manager retire next year? Do certain teams need a more effective supervisor? These answers can help you focus your succession decisions.
- Choose multiple succession candidates. You want to identify several employees for leadership or managerial positions. Choosing only one employee to move into a specific leading role can quickly backfire if that employee decides to leave.
- Assessing readiness levels and development timelines. Will your high potential employee be ready to move up in six months, a year? Crafting a development plan with succession in mind and provides direction as to which roles need to be filled today and tomorrow.
Using data that offers leadership competency tracking, technical skill documentation and cross-functional experience gaps makes succession decisions much more powerful.
5. Build Targeted Retention Programs That Actually Work
A customized retention program will excel while generic approaches can fall flat. Performance management data can personalize retention efforts with:
- Career pathway mapping based on individual strengths and goals
- Compensation adjustments tied to performance and market data
- Recognition programs that reward what matters to different employee segments
- Development opportunities aligned with performance trends
When you visibly invest in your team with transparent advancement criteria, regular career discussions and celebrating internal promotions and growth, your employees see a company that values them and their work. With employee disengagement and attrition potentially costing median S&P 500 companies $228 million and $355 million a year in lost productivity, keeping them engaged directly impacts your bottom line.
Plus, data-driven programs allow you to track what really works, giving leadership teams real-world ROI examples.
Put Your Performance Data to Work
Performance management software transforms retention from reactive firefighting into proactive strategy. By leveraging evaluation data to identify flight risks early, invest in high-potential employees and build targeted retention programs, construction companies can protect their workforce investments and reduce costly turnover.
The data is already there in your performance reviews, the question is whether you’re using it strategically. Companies that do will find themselves with stronger teams, smoother succession planning and a competitive advantage in attracting and keeping the skilled workers that construction projects demand.
Wondering if your performance management software is up to the task of providing essential retention data? Contact our experts for a free HR assessment.
