Six Tips for Career Survival in Today’s Construction Industry

As a construction executive, you have probably seen your share of folks getting laid off. With the latest news of economic recovery and rising demand for construction services, you may be thinking your position is more secure — you’ve survived the worst of the storm, and maybe now you can breathe a little easier, right?

Maybe so, but a word of caution: Executives may actually be at a higher risk of being let go today than during mid-recession. Why?

Construction hiring authorities say that as they evaluate the available pool of talent to meet increased business needs, they’re also looking for opportunities to replace under-performers from their core group—the folks who held onto their jobs during the recession.

In this environment, what can construction employees do to strengthen their value and thrive during the recovery?

1. Get Real

Today’s construction leaders are retaining (and hiring) people who can adapt and overcome. They need people who have a positive attitude, are paying attention during performance reviews and are proactively implementing suggestions for improvement.

2. Stay Current

Invest in your career and keep your technology skills sharp. Many companies offer training in areas that benefit certain areas of expertise. If the company does not offer this type of benefit, leaders should find other ways to keep their technological skills up to date through online courses or a local community college or university.

3. Be Collaborative

The saying goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” While the phrase “team player” may seem trite, it’s more important to be one than ever before. In the past, companies thrived on a vertical, title-driven model. Now, executives of successful companies see each department as a “capability center” for accomplishing the company’s goals collaboratively for project pursuits and deliveries.

Team players not only work within their own department (e.g., field, operations, estimating or business development), but they also proactively consult with company experts in other departments (e.g., cost control, design, BIM, QA/QC, technical training, scheduling, MEP, energy and interiors) to produce the best job for their clients.

Think of the company as a family; it’s not about you beating your older brother or sister (i.e., your coworkers in other departments) anymore. It’s about the whole family thriving by working to each others' strengths.

4. Have a Long View

Anyone who has a compartmentalized view of his or her responsibilities (the “this-is-not-my-job” mentality) is a non-starter in today’s business environment.

For a project manager, the minimum performance standards are to complete the project on time, on budget and at the level of quality the client desires. But, having a long view and going the extra mile means doing what it takes to make a company the contractor of choice for the client's future building needs.

Remember: It takes 90 percent more energy and expense to capture a new client than it does to keep an existing client.

5. Study Skilled Leadership

When a client says it had to let someone go, generally it’s for one of two reasons: either the employee was moving too fast and was too hard on subordinates, or the employee was not quite the change agent he or she was hired to be. Normally it’s the latter, not the former.

Managing people effectively requires real skill. Learn and adopt the qualities of successful leaders. Observe the qualities of admired superiors; sometimes the best teachers are the folks who demonstrate how not to accomplish something.

6. Be a Seller-Doer

When hiring, construction executives should be looking for leaders, not just managers. A manager is a maintainer of momentum; a leader is a creator of momentum.

Pre-recession, volume was such that being a good operations manager was good enough. Today, leaders in construction need to be “seller-doers,” someone who both brings in and executes business.

Truth be told, many people who work in construction are not natural salespeople—but everyone eats lunch, right? Use lunch hours to build relationships with architects, engineers, subcontractors, owners, developers—the people right in the community who can and will send business if they have a good feeling about the executive and the company.

To contractors that have not already adopted the seller-doer mindset: Overcome resistance and put yourself out there—out of your comfort zone. It will take time and effort, but it sure beats unemployment.