It is difficult enough just getting someone through the door and onto the construction site. Once you do, the real HR work begins. You need to make sure that they are here to stay, otherwise all of your hard work will be for naught and you’ll find yourself starting the process all over again.

Having a good retention strategy in place can save you time and money. And while the following suggestions might sound easy or obvious, chances are there is still room for improvement.

Consider the full process

You might be thinking that the best course of action is to just work through recruitment as quickly as possible and then train on the job. However, the more time you spend finding the right people to start with, the less likely you will have to go through the process frequently. Spend a little extra time looking for people who not only have the required skills, but who will be a good fit on your construction team. These are the ones who are likely to stay for the long haul.

After hiring, you need to make sure that your new team members have a good onboarding experience. This includes integrating the new hires into their team and ensuring that they have all of the tools and resources that they need to succeed. For the first few months of their employment, make sure that you are checking in regularly so that you can proactively address any concerns.

Offer opportunities for growth

One of the main reasons employees leave for a new position is because they do not feel they can progress in their current role. Steady communication is the first step to making sure your team members feel they are getting what they need.

In these conversations, ask about how they would like to grow and challenge themselves on the job – after all, hiring from within can also be a great cost savings. Beyond that, you could consider enacting a mentor system, which benefits both your new and your veteran team members. Depending on the position, you may want to offer seminars, off or onsite training, and classes to your team, so that they can further develop their skills.

Focus on culture

At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that you should look to hire people who will be a good fit on your team. Company culture is extremely important and has a big effect on things like retention and turnover; you should always be looking for ways to strengthen your workplace environment.

One good way to do this is by regularly asking your team for feedback – for example, what sort of improvements they would like to see. Keep in mind that you also have to act on or at least address this feedback for it to have a positive effect. Many people cite that work-life balance and social responsibility are important to them, so these are a couple good areas to start.

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