Employee retention and turnover within the facades industry

Employee retention, and its counterpart employee turnover, are two sides of the same whole that every business has to consider and invest time into understanding and balancing. Within the last few months of writing this article, there has been a period of great change not only in the UK but the world, and this has been reflected in employee retention. There are of course dozens of factors that play a part in this topic so boiling it down to just one or two would be a disservice. However, especially within the context of construction and facades, there are several key areas for analysis.

External envelopes as a sub-sector of construction is a relatively niche skillset, though a highly desirable one, especially in recent years. Because of this, the individuals within it are highly sought after. Retention of those individuals is a key aspect in long-term success as there is no guarantee somebody with the right qualifications and experience would be available to plug the gap that somebody leaving might create, especially in less densely populated areas. This would lead most to believe that a facades contractor would guard their employees and do anything they can to keep them.

And yet some contractors in the industry are known for having a higher than standard level of turnover, despite the potential inability to recover after the loss of a valuable employee. This is in stark contrast to the contractors who never seem to lose employees. This raises the question of what the difference between the two is and what can be learned from either.

The first area to analyse is the perceived volatility of the contractors in the sector. Recently there have been a significant number of companies in construction, many of which have been facades specialists, who have had to cease trading, many of which with no prior warning signs. This has led people to seek positions within organisations that are seen as safer, either due to their sustained growth, the size of the company, or even just due to their strong brand. This panic has a knock-on effect as the companies that they are leaving, which may have been doing fine, suddenly have to deal with this loss.

Another reason may be disagreement between upper management and those below them about how things are being handled or a particular decision. If someone external to the organisation is selected for a role over a qualified and loyal team member getting promoted it can cause dissatisfaction within the team, especially if the choice does not work out.

Salaries are always a topic that comes up when it comes to retention and turnover, and for good reason. This factor is almost always one of the leading causes for someone looking to leave and can make a huge difference initially with retention. Facades’ salaries have seen a significant increase across the board, and not all contractors have been willing or able to meet the new expectations, be it for their existing staff or the ones they may be looking to bring in. Underpaid workers often look for greener pastures, while those with regular and fair salary reviews develop a level of loyalty and appreciation that is hard to shake. Short-term this may lead to lower profit for the organisation, but it could mean that you avoid recruitment costs finding a replacement long-term, as well as not experiencing a temporary drop in productivity.

Efficient and strategic recruitment is a key area in which many contractors who are known for retention and satisfaction outshine their competitors. Having a group of employees who feel appreciated, work well together, and have bought into the system can lead to a synergy that increases output. There are many similarities that can be drawn between football teams and a group of employees. While this is a simple comparison to make it highlights that a cohesive team can achieve great things, especially since they usually want to stay together as a result. It should be appreciated that it isn’t always easy to be as selective in a niche industry as candidates may be scarce and overall fit may come across as less of an immediate issue than increasing output and performance.

An interesting phenomenon within facades that recruiters may notice is that several individuals from multiple different organisations at the same role, for example, a designer or site manager, will leave at very similar times. This can be observed pretty evenly across the country and would indicate that trends are being set and followed based on industry news and movement. Being aware of this can help prevent it from happening to your business and keep valuable employees from leaving.

While retention should not be the burden of the employee a great deal of the above issues could be navigated with clear communication at both ends of the spectrum. Issues with salary, culture, or stability can all be dealt with in the early stages if communication was clear and encouraged. This would by no means handle 100% of the problems as sometimes people just want to leave or a situation cannot be salvaged, but it can improve a situation when implemented properly.

In many ways the facades industry can be seen as quite incestuous, meaning that the higher the amount of turnover within the industry the higher the crossover between contractors. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it can become limiting and set expectations for the industry that may not apply to your business.

Overall, what does this mean?

It means that as an industry retention is something that every contractor should set a high standard for due to its short and long-term benefits. There are some simple ways to increase this, as well as more complex and intensive ways of increasing this. The main point is to try as that carries significant weight in a niche sector. Some people will always leave, that is inevitable, but when their experience is not so easily replaceable more should be done to keep them there.