Recruitment is only half the battle
Retaining a cohort of workers who are entrepreneurial and happy to switch employers, or even careers, more frequently than previous generations is another challenge altogether.
Today’s aging workforce means more people are retiring than entering the workforce, meaning the industry can ill afford to lose workers to other industries.
Our research shows that the majority of Gen Z respondents think they will stay in a role for just 18 months to three years (26%) or three to five years (24%); confirming that this age group is more likely to engage in job-hopping than previous workforces.
Ambition for career development appears a key driver: 66% of our respondents said they wanted to get to the top of their career, suggesting that rapid development opportunities are a strong pull factor for young professionals.
Gen Z-ers do appear to recognise construction as a good area for career development.
A higher focus on transferrable skills, such as tech and digital literacy, creates challenges for employee retention as it can be easier for workers to move between industries.
This is reflected in our research with the number of respondents who would consider working in the built environment highest among those who were also considering careers in other industrial sectors such as energy, transport, and manufacturing.
Previous analysis of Gen Z indicates that this is a generation hungry for diverse experiences and to understand as much as possible about the world they live and work in.
It is therefore not surprising that of the four retention concepts put forward to the external Gen Z panel, the most positive feedback pertained to the work rotation programme.
The initiative would give employees three months working for three separate companies within the built environment.
Our Gen Z working groups felt strong that the chance to experience work for main contractor, developer and consultant would give them a well-rounded understanding of different aspects of the built environment and learn more about the many varied career paths available
More than half (53%) of the survey respondents said the work rotation would make construction and property more appealing.
These results suggest that, if implemented, a work rotation scheme could encourage Gen Z to consider multiples different career paths within the built environment.
This could drive up retention by increasing awareness of different progression routes.
Another benefit to the work rotation concept is that it allows Gen Z to shape their career path around their own interests.
It allows for a degree of job sculpting; where 80 per cent of an employee’s time is spent on their core role, with the balance spent pursuing other areas of interest within the business.
This can foster innovation and creativity within both employees.
This was also reflected in the feedback to another work concept; the My Path App.
The idea centres on an app, or digital platform, which employees can download to track the status of their development targets by introducing elements such as colleague feedback; training modules; and a salary gauge.
One concerning finding in the data was the belief that built environment was not a good industry for developing digital skills.
Fewer than a third saw this is a benefit of working in the built environment. Given their label as digital natives, and construction’s increasing reliance on technological innovation, this is a worrying misconception which needs to be addressed.
As previous sections of this report have discussed, the industry still also fails to appeal to women and girls.
One way to address this is to communicate the flexible working patterns and initiatives which exist within the industry. These were introduced to welcome older workers back after caring for children or relatives; an undertaking which still predominantly falls to women.
Flexible or agile working was highlighted as a key factor when considering a career by more than one in three (38%) of respondents, which may better allow workers to balance family commitments with a career.
When drilling into the breakdown between sexes, it is clear that women place a much greater priority on flexible and agile working.
