Employee Productivity in Construction

The construction industry is extremely competitive and has many inherent risks. These will impact the overall profitability of a project, and thus, a company. One of the greatest factors to impact the bottom line, the one that an owner or project manager has the most direct control over, is employee productivity. 

Clearly, some of the reasons for a decrease in worker productivity can be traced back to a lack of motivation. However, it’s also fair to say that both owners and managers have areas to improve upon to ensure that employees can be as productive as possible. 

Here are some productivity tips that the management team at Siteworks rely on. We utilize them to hold both our employees and company accountable for our success. 

Hiring Dependable People

The single, best approach is to ask our existing employees to recommend people for us to hire. We also complete thorough background checks on prospective employees whom we feel would be the right fit with our team. 

Create and Review Detailed Work-flow Plans to Increase Employee Productivity

Review project plans on a regular (weekly and daily) basis to increase employee productivity. This helps to refocus efforts and take advantage of job site efficiencies as they are presented.

Create a Project Specific Material and Equipment Management Strategy

Nothing impedes worker and job-site productivity faster than not having the right materials and/or equipment available when required. Maintain comprehensive understanding of the plans so that everyone remains well-prepared in advance for the scope of work at hand.  

Turn the Company into a “Learning” Organization

Spend time at the conclusion of all projects to reflect. Review ways that everyone in the company could have performed more efficiently. Train employees in the basics of time-management.

Utilize Technology for Employee Productivity

Examine how technology can be utilized to help employees perform more productively. 

Consider reporting both time and production. This process allows office, field management and on-site workers to communicate and report to each other regularly. It includes details of all aspects of job-site progress in real-time.  

While there will never be a project without productivity challenges, such efforts may contribute tremendously to process efficiency. They may also eliminate costly mistakes that may arise.