Editor's Comment: The Best Places advantage

If you’re a good construction or project manager with plenty of experience and a good reputation, chances are you’re being besieged by head hunters. It’s proof that the skills crisis in construction is really beginning to bite across the industry - and especially at management level.

If you are the one being head hunted, it’s a great position to be in. But if you’re trying to recruit and retain the best staff, standing out above the competition in a competitive - and sometimes desperate - marketplace is a tough call.

You can offer a better salary than everyone else, and chances are it might attract plenty of potential recruits. But if the workforce is unhappy, you might not hang on to people for long, no matter how much you pay them.

At first glance, the ingredients for a great workplace seem simple. According to the employees of companies which won at this year’s Contract Journal Best Places to Work in Construction Awards, they are a friendly atmosphere, supportive colleagues and management that listens and acts on suggestions.

Sounds simple. But it’s clearly more difficult in practice. The companies that made the shortlist for the Awards worked hard to get there, but in every case employees made suggestions which could further improve the business. While it can be hard to read some of the negative comments, asking for feedback and listening to staff is the easy bit.

The difficult part is acting on it. There is no point in raising issues and asking for feedback from staff unless you do something about it. Taking issues on board and tackling them - no matter how tricky they are - is what really makes a difference to people.

Making your company one of the Best Places to Work in Construction is not easy. But being able to recruit the best staff and hang on to them certainly pays dividends in such a cut-throat job market.

Emma Penny, editor, Contract Journal, p2