Skilled workers are vital for construction and oil and gas projects. For example, this could be a large infrastructure project, industrial plant, or pipeline installation.
Many companies hire workers quickly rather than hiring based on their skills and experience. While this may seem like a short-term solution, poor hiring decisions can lead to serious challenges later.
Employers do not always consider that hiring the wrong employee could be costlier to them than originally anticipated. The detrimental effects also impact productivity, safety, project timelines, and profitability.
Project owners, contractors and human resources teams must take the time to understand these hidden costs in order for their project to be successful.
Common Hiring Mistakes
Many hiring problems start during the recruitment process.
Hiring Based Only on Availability
Some companies will hire workers strictly due to availability when projects are running behind. If there are deficiencies in the skill assessment, workers may not have the necessary skills for the project.
Skipping Skill Verification
Employers make many assumptions that listing experience on a resume equals experience. If candidates do not undergo practical assessments, it can be difficult to determine if they have the necessary skills for that job.
Poor Workforce Planning
The lack of preparedness to hire workers last minute often results in rushed decisions. By making rushed decisions, it is more likely that unsuitable candidates are hired for the job.
Choosing Cost Over Quality
Choosing to hire the cheapest worker will reduce recruitment costs in the short term, but the mistakes, delays, and rework that arise from using low-quality people will increase costs in the long run.
Inadequate Screening
Companies should verify a candidate's background, documents and references as part of the screening process. If proper screenings are not conducted, it is possible for the company to hire a candidate who does not have the necessary skills for the job.
Financial & Operational Impact
The financial and operational impact of poorly made hiring decisions affects how a project performs.
More Rework Costs
A worker without the skill set necessary to perform their job will make mistakes, resulting in needing to correct these mistakes. The rework consumes extra material, labour hours, and project resources.
Project Delays
Workers without adequate supervision, training, or experience typically require more time for supervision, which slows down progress and delays the completion of the project.
Increased Recruitment Cost
When an employee does not perform well, the company has to hire a new employee. Therefore, this increases the costs of recruiting and onboarding.
Decreased Productivity
A competent workforce will be productive and will be able to complete tasks. When individuals who should not be hired are hired, productivity will decline, as will the amount of work completed.
Loss of Client Relationships
Failure to meet project timelines or produce poor-quality work can have a negative impact on the client relationship as well as future opportunities for work.
Safety Risks
Safety is a paramount factor in both the construction and oil & gas industries.
Hiring employees with insufficient training exposes the industry to a wide variety of safety hazards.
Workplace Injuries
Employees who do not have adequate training will likely not properly apply safety procedures.
Therefore, this will increase both the frequency and probability of workplace injuries and accidents.
Damage to Equipment
Employees need a high level of skill and experience in order to operate heavy machinery correctly.
Failure to operate heavy equipment can lead to broken pieces of machinery or expensive equipment and ultimately cause delays in productivity.
Administrative Issues
Investigating accidents may lead to administrative fines and compliance regulatory issues.
Effects on Team Morale
A history of frequent accidents or unsafe job practices may lead to a complete lack of confidence among the workforce.
Creating a safe working environment begins with hiring only qualified employees who understand job safety standards and procedures.
Importance of Skill Verification
Employers can minimise their risk in hiring by using skill verification techniques.
Practical Trade Testing
Employers use trade testing to assess the real-life skills of workers before placing them into jobs.
This can be extremely beneficial to:
- Welders
- Electricians
- Pipe Fitters
- Fabricators
- Equipment Operators
- Mechanical Technicians
- Work History Verification
Verifying work histories of applicants helps to ensure that they possess relevant experience on projects.
Document Verification
When conducting verification of documents, such as certifications, licences, and qualifications, it helps to ensure that the worker is compliant with all requirements and that the overall quality of the workforce has increased.
Improved Performance of Workforce
Workers who have been tested and assessed for their skills prior to being hired are much more likely to perform well during their first day of work, thus increasing both production levels and the overall outcomes of the project.
How Dynamic Staffing Services Minimises Risks
Dynamic Staffing Services is a strategic partner for multinational organisations, not just in recruitment. Dynamic Staffing Services has been providing full-service international ethical recruitment services to employers across all types of industries since 1977 (Founded by Maj. S. P. Khosla).
Dynamic Staffing Services recognises the problems hiring managers encounter when needing to fill construction and oil and gas positions.
We have developed a method based on three priorities: quality, compliance, and reliability in the workforce.
Talent Sourcing
We will combine your specific job requirements with our extensive sources of skilled workers to identify and provide you with qualified candidates who meet your timeframes.
Trade Testing and Skill Assessment
We conduct tests to verify candidates’ skills before they start working on a project. This way, you can minimise hiring risk and ensure you have a quality workforce.
Candidate Screening
While there are many methods for performing candidate screenings, we believe that checking the following will provide you with reliable candidates for employment:
- Experience verification
- Reference checks
- Background checks
- Document verification
Compliance Support
When deploying a global workforce, you must have strict compliance with the various labour laws in the locations you are deploying to, including:
- Work permits & Visas
- Employment contracts
- Wage regulations
- Health and safety standards
Bulk Hiring Expertise
If you are completing a large project, you may have an increased need for workers. At DSS, we can help you with bulk hiring while ensuring that you always maintain quality standards.
Workforce Deployment Planning
Dynamic Staffing Service will work with you to ensure that your workforce shows up on time and meets all requirements at the beginning of your project. This will minimise delays and ensure that your workforce is ready to work.
By utilising DSS’s recruitment methodology and building a well-structured workforce plan, your organisation will benefit from avoiding the hidden costs of poor hiring decisions.
Build Safer and More Reliable Project Teams
Mistakes and errors in hiring can have serious consequences in the construction and oil & gas industries. What appears to be a minor error when hiring may create delays, higher costs, lower productivity, and unsafe working environments.
Planning, verifying skills, and hiring professionals to help with recruiting is the best way to avoid these challenges.
To help create reliable project teams, Dynamic Staffing Services provides employers with services that include screening, testing, ensuring compliance and expertise in placing people in their workforce.
Create stronger project teams with assurance. Do not allow hiring mistakes to affect your success in moving forward with your project. Contact us today at clientservices@dss-hr.com.
FAQs
What are the costs in construction of making incorrect hiring decisions?
Mistakes made when hiring an employee can cause delays, additional expenses due to rework and recruitment, lower productivity due to lack of training or skill, workplace accidents, and lower project performance due to poor productivity of employees.
How does skill testing assist the employer?
Employers use skill testing to validate that employees have the necessary practical experience and ability to successfully perform the duties of an employee.
Which industries receive the greatest benefit from trade testing?
Industries such as construction, oil and gas, manufacturing, engineering, and industrial manufacturing projects receive the greatest benefit from trade testing.
What steps does Dynamic Staffing Services take to reduce the risk of making bad recruitment decisions?
Dynamic Staffing Services follows several methods to provide a comprehensive solution to employers when making hiring decisions. Sourcing, Screening, Skill Testing, Verification of Documentation, and Workforce Deployment are all performed in order to provide the best quality employees to the employer.
What is the importance of workforce planning?
Workforce planning allows employers to avoid rushing through the hiring process and provides them with a pool of quality employees available at the time they want them.
Can Dynamic Staffing Services assist with bulk hiring?
Yes. Dynamic Staffing Services has experience with bulk hiring support on large projects for multiple industries.
