GGooiinngg bbeeyyoonndd tthhee eexxppeecctteedd
With a global network of 60,000
engineers, scientists and project
managers spanning six continents,
Wood applies ingenuity and
innovative technologies to provide
balanced solutions that meet your
infrastructure needs.
woodplc.com
Better recruitment and lower turnover is a huge advan-tage
in construction as it addresses one of the industry’s big-gest
challenges going forward – the growing shortage of a
skilled workforce. Construction companies first started notic-ing
the labour shortage around 2012, a trend driven by many
factors including the financial crisis in 2008. Since then, the
labour shortage has become more noticeable.
With construction companies launching more new proj-ects,
the issue threatens to disrupt the industry’s growth.
Anything that helps construction companies recruit skilled
workers and retain them longer while boosting quality gives
them a competitive advantage. One way in which the con-struction
industry can retain their workers is to implement
safety training for all their contractors. Having trained con-tractors
will boost their productivity and influence the indus-try’s
growth.
Defining work-life balance is a challenge
Defining work-life balance is a challenge because it means
different things to different people. So, one challenge for
companies – construction or otherwise – is deciding what
work-life balance means and how to help all employees
achieve it through the right initiatives. Unfortunately, some
companies launch work-life initiatives focused strictly on
workers who are parents with small children, however this
approach doesn’t go far enough. Companies must consider
the needs of all employees – including people with different
family structures and demographics.
Regardless of what programs you initiate, one thing is cer-tain
about work-life balance for employees: it’s a balancing
act. How this act plays out depends on how workers manage
their responsibilities. That’s a major challenge for construc-tion
workers given the industry’s nature. Construction is a
demanding field – one where workers experience high lev-els
of job stress due to time constraints, full workloads and
numerous deadlines. That makes it especially hard for work-ers
to manage their situations which is a huge problem when
it comes to work-life balance issues.
B U S I N E S S
Anything that helps
construction companies
recruit skilled workers
and retain them
longer while boosting
quality gives them a
competitive advantage.
36 www.albertaheavy.ca
/woodplc.com
/www.albertaheavy.ca
/woodplc.com
/www.albertaheavy.ca
