How are Young Guns Shaping the Roofing Industry?
It has been decades now that roofing contractors have faced labor shortage challenges. After the housing industry burst in the mid-2000s, the availability of a qualified labor force took an acute decline, and things have been challenging throughout the home improvement space ever since. Recently, a survey was released on roofing contractors’ workforce difficulties, and contractors agreed that they're frustrated about finding the right talent.
Among all this chaos, the cost of maintaining labor is the biggest concern for roofers. Many roofers find that hiring labor is a costly affair, and some believe that hiring qualified labor is the biggest task.
However, till date, businesses across the roofing industry are striving hard to meet their goals with fewer quality workers on site.
Undoubtedly, increasing the number of qualified roofing workers at your disposal would be the perfect solution to this problem. However, there are other, more rapid ways to cope with this challenging climate. If you’re feeling the young gun shortage in your business, here are a few ways to manage it.
1. Hire more young people from better places
Most roofing contractors agreed that they recruited more often through employee referrals, with the second most typical method being asking family and friends.
While you might trust your existing employees and (hopefully) your family and friends, neither is an endurable channel for real growth. And— you might have already experienced—it can cause problems since referred employees might show up hoping for some exclusive treatment. Suppose you’re having difficulty finding enough applicants or perhaps want to enhance the quality of the ones you get. In that case, the first thing you should do is broaden your recruitment radius.
2. Consider candidates with diverse backgrounds
If you reach out to applicants from further afield, you will possibly find qualified and appropriate people for the job. This approach isn’t essential and is meant for unique needs that require specialized knowledge. But odds are you could manage current labor for that and bring in others to handle more prevalent tasks.
The best way to improve your chances of hiring more high caliber employees is by encouraging and embracing a diverse workforce. You should already be taking applications from people of all experiences to boost diversity. Ensure your job postings make it obvious to people for better consideration. This way, young guns will be the most attractive and high applicants.
3. Get a hiring team onboard
Like anyone in the roofing industry, you're probably doing multiple people's work simultaneously. It's unrealistic for contractors to do everything their business needs to do as it aims to grow.
One way to ensure you will not boil out and that your skills, experience, and talents are put to the most excellent use possible is to assign appropriately. An adequate recruitment process in place is a vital part of any business and is especially helpful for specialists in the residential roofing industry who deal with worker shortages.
4. Provide employees with on-the-job training
Today, young guns seek a solid career track in this industry. Unfortunately, it is not as enticing to young people as it used to be. And that's alright. Like in other industries, you must show up and offer value to candidates above and beyond their salary.
There are many recruitment opportunities, from work fairs organized in high schools to those for the general public and events for laborers on your site.
Show up at these affairs with a training program in mind. Young guns may be more attracted to giving you a summer or even their first few years out of the academy if they feel you'll encourage them and guide them through the roofing industry.
Experience still plays a significant role in enhancing workers’ skills, and young people get it. On top of a salary, nourishing them with specialized training—as they could get in an internship—could be valuable.
5. Embrace new technologies
When it comes to young guns, they often establish their trust in a company based on its online presence and have embraced the latest digital technologies. Keep things secure and up-to-date, from your website to social media platforms, to entice more quality prospects.
Use social media to promote your job postings. It costs far less than employing an HR specialist since most social media platforms are free. Moreover, if you adopt technological software like ProjectPro, it will also help you attract young guns. This is because they will show an interest in learning new methods and technologies.
Conclusion
In the end, optimizing your hiring process isn't a one night show. Gradually, you can make changes that will have a genuine effect on your future growth.
