Effective management is a critical requirement for delivering projects on time and within the stipulated budget in the construction industry. With over two-thirds of construction projects failing to reach the handover phase within the estimated budget, labor management in construction is mandatory.
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Why is labor management important?
In the construction industry, labor management is essential because it decides the company’s bottom line. The workforce is the most critical of all the resources utilized in a construction project. Laborers and skilled workers are required to keep units operation and projects on-site within budget and on schedule.
This makes labor management in construction critical and requires a strategic approach. Managers must engage with laborers and workers individually to listen to their requirements and prioritize their needs. The laborers are directly responsible for the success and growth of a company in the construction industry.
We share some helpful construction labor management techniques to help managers be better prepared to handle the workforce.
Tips for improving labor management in construction
1. Collaborate with the workers
Generally, a construction project involves several subcontractors who provide labor. Collaboration and good communication are necessary to ensure that all contractors are on the same page and there is an open line of communication with the workers.
Construction projects are usually large, and proper construction labor management is necessary for the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the project. If you can facilitate seamless collaboration between the different groups of workers, then you will successfully minimize the errors that arise due to miscommunication.
Also, any mistakes committed in construction work can be detected and corrected quickly and easily. It will prevent a domino effect that can cause project delays.
2. Prioritize the health and safety of laborers
The construction industry is often marked with mishaps and accidents unless proper safety measures are taken. Labor management in construction must prioritize the health and safety of laborers.
First, laborers must have reasonable working hours to ensure they are well-rested. A fatigued workforce will cause underperformance, and too much work will also reduce their cognitive abilities, which can lead to on-site accidents.
Construction works involved operating heavy machines, handling hazardous materials, and working at dangerous heights. All of these risks pose a substantial danger to workers’ lives. Therefore it is mandatory to provide safety in the workplace. Project managers must have proper safety measures implemented at all construction sites.
Furthermore, workers must cooperate by practicing safety measures. Laborers are more likely to stay with a company that emphasizes their safety.
3. Choose a good workforce management software
Construction work needs long and tedious administrative work that involves accurately logging laborers’ time on the site, over time, daily reports, and estimates, managing a large number of workers, ensuring workers are present on-site when logging into the system, and much more.
You will require reliable and efficient workforce management software to automate these tasks. Truein is a product of choice for many construction companies due to its robust, hardware-independent, and cloud-based time and attendance management application.
Project managers can control attendance, overtime, report creation, leave management, shift scheduling, and much more using Truein. Workers can download the Truein app on their phones and clock in on-site. The core technology utilizes geofencing and GPS-tracking to ensure that workers are present on the designated site when they record their attendance.
It is a highly efficient workforce management solution for the construction industry. It can save time and energy for project managers and HRs, reduce reporting and payroll errors, and decrease the overall construction labor management cost. Schedule a free demo today and try Truein in your organization.
4. Balance the skilled workers where required
Invariably, there will be gaps in the workers’ skills when you hire them and what the project requires. An essential part of labor management in construction is creating an ecosystem to foster the development of the workers into skilled labor.
This will require you to optimize the workforce utilization rate. Simply put, it means putting workers in roles that will develop their skills.
5. Identify the issues that workers are facing
Construction site disputes can cause laborers to lose motivation. It can also create a hostile environment for workers, which must be avoided at all costs. The construction staff is a valuable asset for any company, and project managers must identify workers’ issues.
With effective labor management techniques, it can be ensured that workers are not facing problems that are hindering their performance.
6. Give laborers all the tools and resource that is needed
Another aspect of construction labor management is providing workers with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs smoothly. When allocating a budget to acquire new construction equipment, ask project managers what tools and resources are required to speed up the progress of the projects.
Technology must be integrated with manual labor, which is why automated tools must be a priority. You must also think of the managers and provide them with tools to free them from repetitive paperwork and administrative tasks. Solutions like Truein free up management time for other responsibilities.
Conclusion
Labor management in construction is the stepping stone for a company. These labor management techniques in construction will take unpredictability out of the picture and improve your labor management approach.
