Best Practice Strategies for Workforce Development and Sustainability in Construction

Abstract

Due to the dynamic and recurring nature of construction operations, employee turnover rates remain relatively high. This high employee turnover rate presents challenges to the industry, the economy, and society as a whole. In addition, this high turnover rate leads to a significant shortage of skilled laborers given the reduced interest of new generations in construction. To overcome these challenges, it is paramount to initiate a systematic process, based on research and feedback from industry experts, to attract and develop skilled employees and then implement strategies to nurture and retain the attracted employees. A systematic process would increase workforce sustainability, a measure of the extent to which a workforce is nurtured and retained. The goal of this study was twofold: (1) to identify potential strategies to assess and improve workforce development and sustainability in construction, and (2) to statistically validate the identified strategies using feedback from field personnel in the construction industry. A survey process that collected data from a panel of expert and field personnel was carried out to achieve the goals of the study. The research findings led to the identification of multiple strategies contributing to workforce development and sustainability in construction; the identified strategies fell into seven workforce sustainability attributes, namely: nurturing, diversity, equity, health and well-being, connectivity, value, and maturity. This study makes a significant contribution to construction practice by providing a list of strategies that construction organizations can utilize to develop and sustain a skilled, motivated, and productive workforce.