How To Retain Young Talent
Today's Highlights:
The Goal: Help you retain young talent.
There are 3 practices firm leaders and executives take to ensure they have positive relationships with their young, high-performing employees. I share them below to help you do the same.
I'm a millennial, and have a strong sense of what you need to be doing to make sure your young people want to stay with your firm.
As a construction firm leader, it can be challenging to retain young talent.
Millennials and Gen Z are a different breed from Baby Boomers and retaining them can be tricky. I’m a Millennial myself and although I think a lot people in my generation lack work ethic, I also know their are tons of great people who want to work hard and create change in the industry. Your job as a business leader is to identify those people and do whatever you can to retain them— because they’re far and few between in the construction industry.
If you’re wondering “well how do we keep them around once we find them?” then you’re not the only one. All firms are struggling with this— especially Subs and Vendors. The good news is with the right practices, you can increase your chances significantly.
In this newsletter, I’ll share 3 simple but effective practices Founders and Executives can use for retaining young talent in their construction organizations.
From start to finish, it’s a clear way to prove you’re committed to their lives and careers before they go looking somewhere else.
It will transform your attitude from “These young kids just don’t get it” to “Keeping them around actually isn’t so hard!”
So, if you’re ready to retain young talent, read on for the 3 simple practices.
Practice #1: Communicate
Despite the interconnectedness of today’s world — between social media, cell phones, and email — young people are as lonely as they’ve ever been.
You can either look at this as an annoyance (”these kids are crazy and want everything!”) or as an opportunity (”if we can make them feel connected, we can make a real impact on their lives!”).
So whether in-person or remote, show young talent they belong. Give them community. Give them managers who really care about and understand them. How?
Set aside time daily to connect on a 1-1 level.
I have a boss that makes a point to stop by my office every morning for 5 minutes or less, but it’s genuinely meaningful every time.
Usually it goes something like:
“Hey just checking in. How is everything going today? What do you have going on? I’m around if you need me.”
If you’re remote, schedule a 10 minute daily Zoom or Teams call.
If you’re in person, set a reminder every day at at 7 am or noon to spend 10 minutes connecting.
It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to show your young people that you care about them and creating a space to get to know each other.
This is an important first step in retaining young talent.
Practice #2: Gratitude
You work hard. Your people work hard. Construction is hard.
Say thanks a lot.
“Thank you for getting in early all week and grinding through submittals. You make us better. You’re a great team player.”
It’s shocking to me how little this happens in most organizations!
And for the people thinking, “well I’m not going to say thanks for every little thing- that’s their job!”, I get that. You’re right. But I also want you to think about yourself.. how do you feel when you do something extra good and your boss recognizes it with a ‘thank you’ or ‘great work’? I’d bet you feel better good! Because of course you do! It feels good to make a difference.
So you don’t need to go crazy, but make sure anytime they go above and beyond their job description that you are the first one to recognize it.
It may seem like a lot, but the more you say thanks, the more young people will realize, “ohhhh going above and beyond my job is a good thing. I get a lot of gratitude every time I do it.”
Not only will it help retain them, but it will help them develop and grow into key people in the organization. It will encourage them to keep going above and beyond.
An attitude of gratitude transforms culture.
Practice #3: Vision
Recent Harvard studies have confirmed:
Millennials and Gen Z are attracted to companies with a deeper vision than “making money”.
We — reminder I am a 29 year-old Millennial — are growing up in a world where the environment, mental health, and helping the community are extremely important! We see big money-making machines and get turned off by them. Then we see companies that help people and want to be a part of it.
So paint the vision.
“We want to make the construction industry a better place for all people— no matter the gender, race, or creed.”
Not only will this get them excited, but it will also make your job as a leader easier! Because when they understand the vision, they can do their jobs with less oversight. They know they can make decisions without you as long as they are consistent with the vision.
This leads to a feeling of independence and trust.
Hard work, excitement, and results will follow.
Why do this?
I am squarely in the Millennial generation and know that we can be a bit of a pain in the ass.
But I also know that I hear a lot of Baby Boomers complaining about us without really trying to understand us.
Your top talent will understand both sides, but they will also yearn for a deeper connection to their bosses and their organization.
Why?
Because top-down leadership is out.
Bottom-up leadership is in.
Whether you agree or not- it’s the truth.
You can fight it, or you can get with the times:
Communicate
Show gratitude
Paint the vision
There’s a massive ROI on retaining good young talent.
So give these practices a try, and let me know how you do.
Spark Notes:
Conflict is a huge part of construction.
Most of it stems from one side or another using the Contract as a weapon.
You can use the Contract more effectively if you do these 4 things:
Read the Contract
Know the key terms
Set boundaries with your partner
Stay objective
You’ll be running better projects with less conflict in no time.
Go give it a try tomorrow, and let me know how you do.
