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BSCI 7100

Executive Issues In Construction

Steve Williams

Employment Process Evaluation

Harlan Price

Employee Recruitment is an important process in the proper functioning of a company.  A quality employee will spend a minimum of one half of his waking life either at work or performing work related functions.  He is in effect spending more time with his work family than he is with his own family.   As such the marriage of the employee and employer is critical.  Each has certain needs and expectations the other must fulfill for a good productive relationship to result.

The employer has a certain set of criteria he looks for in a prospective employee, based on the company’s culture and current situation. The current situation determines the specific skill set needed related to experience with specific construction types, such as hospitals, manufacturing plants, etc. It also dictates the level of experience such as number of years as a superintendent or project manager. These are typically short term, immediate need, considerations that make the employee immediately productive.

There are also more intangible qualities the employer will look for that make the employee more desirable for long-term retention. These include things like initiative, intelligence, and integrity and are determined by the company culture. They are harder to identify and quantify in a potential new employee, but much more critical to a proper employer/employee marriage.

Below are outlines of the credentials an employer will typically be looking for. They are divided into short term and long term criteria outlines.  Each lists the criteria along with potential sources of information and the type of information gained from each source.

Skill Set – The skills, such as estimating, scheduling, and people management, the prospective employee has developed to date during his career.

           Resume – Will have a listing of his abilities as he sees them.

           College Transcript (New and Recent Graduates) – Will have a listing of the courses he has taken relevant to the function he is expected to perform along with a grade that is indicative of his mastery of the material.

           Professional References – Will be able to give former employers and fellow employees perspectives on the individual’s skill levels.

            Interview Process – Will give the employer a one-on-one perspective of the employee’s perceived capabilities through oral interviews, testing of his skills, and profile testing.

Experience Level – the amount and degree of time the employee has spent at his current and previous levels.

           Resume – Will give a listing of positions held at other companies with duration served in these positions.

           Professional References – Will give former employers and fellow employees perspectives on the individual’s performance levels in these positions.

           Interview Process – Will give the employer his own perspective on the accuracy of the employee’s experience through the asking of appropriate interview questions.

Experience Type – Both the type of experience the employee has gained and the building types he was worked on. Whether the employee has specialized in estimating so far in his career or whether he has had a diverse range of experience will determine if and where he fits into current staffing needs. The types of buildings he has worked on may or may not be the building types the company pursues or intends to pursue.

           Resume – Will give a listing of the projects the employee has worked on at other companies.

           Professional References – Will give the employer the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to the level of involvement in the projects listed on the resume.

           Interview Process – Will give the employer a personal perspective through interviews and testing as to the employees actual experience with these projects

Salary Expectation – The potential employee has a certain expectation, indicated by the salary he asks for, that must mesh with company’s salary structure.

           Interview Process – Will allow the employer to gauge the employee perception of his value versus his immediate and potential value to the company.

Fringe Benefit Expectation – The potential employee has certain goals beyond his employment goals, such as family plans and financial security. For him to become a potential long term employee, he will expect the fringe benefits to provide him with assistance in attaining these goals.

           Interview Process – Will allow the employer to see if the employee’s needs in this area mesh with what the company is willing to provide.

Initiative – Ability to work with out supervision or spoon-feeding of information. Sees that things need to be done and either just does them or sees that they get done.

           Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to how aggressive the employee was in getting things done.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s aggressiveness based on interview answers.

           Probationary Period – A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how much initiative a new employee will take.

Intelligence – Ability to figure things out on his own, intuitive and logical thought process.

            Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to how quickly the employee picks up on new concepts and ideas.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s intelligence through the thoughtfulness and completeness of interview answers

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how much initiative a new employee will take through an analysis of his first few months job performance.

Integrity – Honesty and fairness when dealing with owners, architects, fellow employees, and sub-contractors. Has a good professional work ethic.

        Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to how he handled himself professionally.

           Interview Process – Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s integrity through sense of how honest the employee’s interview answers appear.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how honestly a new employee deals with others.

Loyalty – Has the company and project interests foremost in his mind in his dealings with others. Thinks of the company first with the assumption the company will reciprocate in kind.

           Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to the employee’s attitude toward the companies he has worked for previously.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s experience through the asking of appropriate interview questions and study of the orientation of his answers.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how loyal a new employee will be to the company.

Commitment – Willing to put in whatever time it takes to get the job done. Able to achieve a good balance of work time and personal time, to keep himself alert and satisfied while accomplishing the tasks at hand.

           Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to the employee’s commitment toward completing projects on time and on budget.

             Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s commitment through the asking of appropriate interview questions.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how much commitment to the company a new employee will make.

Personality – The individual personalities in the company have to mesh. Two people can both be quality employees, but not be able to work well together. The company should not have to worry about personality clashes when assigning project teams.

        Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to how likeable and flexible the new employee was.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s personality through the asking of appropriate interview questions and noting the ease with which the answers are given.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure well the new employee’s personality will fit in with those of his new co-workers.

Cultural Fit – Every company has a certain culture, whether that be traditional, laid-back, or a firm full of workaholics. New employees need to complement the company culture for them and those around them to be productive and content.

           Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to how well the new employee’s lifestyle fit into their company culture.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s potential to fit into the company culture.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how well a new employee will fit into the company culture.

The prospective employee also has a set of criteria he looks for in an employer, based on the individual’s values and skill set.  Prospective employees can use many of the same tools that interviewers use to acquire information.  In the interview for example, the individual should ask as many questions as the interviewer to see if the firm fits the person.

The criteria by which an individual evaluates the various companies with whom he is interviewing, some are quantifiable and objective, like salary and benefits, and some are more intuitively measured like company values and loyalty to employees.  The following are explanations of objective and subjective employee expectations that correlate to those outlined above as employer expectations.  Following each category are descriptions of haw certain information can be acquired or portrayed to the interviewing firm.

Skill Set – The prospective employee will look to demonstrate competence in the areas in which he performs particularly well.  Also, especially in the case of recent graduates, prospective employees will be looking for growth in the jobs aspects in which he is not as well versed.

           Resume – Will attempt to outline abilities as interviewee sees them.  Often the résumé’s bulleted lists are not self-explanatory.  Employers should review resumes and ask about various parts in order to generate discussion.

           College Transcript (New and Recent Graduates) – Employers may choose to ask for transcripts, but in most cases it is a far less important communication tool than the resume.  If it is not volunteered by the interviewee, it probably should not be requested by the interviewing firm: it will probably damage an otherwise open feeling of communication, especially if the prospective employee is less than proud of his GPA.

           Professional References – Will give the interviewing firm a good idea of the employee’s strengths, but not weaknesses.  References are selected by the interviewee and as a result will probably not volunteer weaknesses of the prospective employee, but references will willingly disclose any strengths and positive character strengths.  Often young graduates have very little practical work experience.  Recent graduates may list former professors as references in which case the interviewers attitude toward education (rather than actual work experience), due to theoretical tendencies of academia, will need to be one of open-mindedness.

        Interview Process – Will give the prospective employee insight into exactly what is important to the employer.  This is a phase of first impressions, the interviewee will be on his “best behavior” and likely very nervous.  Interviewers must learn to look beyond the polished any façades and be sensitive to the apprehensions of interviewees.

Experience Level – Time and effort put into various tasks and practices associated with the job position in other settings.

           Resume – Will give a listing of responsibilities held at other companies.  Oral discussion of these in an interview setting will promote open discussion (and will loosen nervous shoulders).

           Professional References – Will give the new company an idea of the individual’s success in responsibilities in former positions.

           Interview Process – Will give interviewee opportunities to ask questions about the company and its values.  It will give the interviewer an opportunity to ask pertinent questions to identify strengths and weaknesses of the individual.  It is in interviews that interpersonal characteristics and personality (or the lack thereof) will shine relative to others interested in the position.

Experience Type – The type of experience the prospective employee has gained.  Whether the employee has specialized in specific tasks or has had a range of experience will determine where he fits within the needs of the hiring firm. The types of projects might not be in line with those the firm intends to pursue.

           Resume – Will give a listing of the types of projects the employee has worked on at other companies.

           Professional References – Will point to the level of involvement of the interviewee in projects at other firms.

           Interview Process – Will give the employee an opportunity to express what types of projects in which he is especially interested in participating.  

Salary Expectation – The potential employee has specific expectations, based on industry standards, personal experience, education and phenomenal charm.

           Interview Process – Will allow the employee to express his perceived value versus his actual and potential value to the company.

Fringe Benefit Expectation – The potential employee has certain goals beyond his employment goals, such as family plans and financial security. The company’s benefit package should be in keeping with other employers in the industry.

           Interview Process – Will allow the employer to outline the general benefits package and point out any areas of particular strength.

Initiative – Motivation and the ability to anticipate and act accordingly.

           Professional References - Will give a perspective into the individual’s former successes.

           Interview Process - Will give the employer a personal perspective into the employee’s motivation based on interview answers.

           Probationary Period – Actually seeing the individual in action.  It must be noted that this is a time of personal growth as well as productive work time.  Measure of the employee’s motivation should consider learning curves.  Compare apples with apples.  Does the new employee ask a lot of questions?  Does he have a suggested answer in mind when he does?  The latter question is important because it shows that the employee is thinking and anticipating.

Intelligence – Ability to figure things out on ones own, intuitive and logical thought process.  Extreme intelligence is not crucial to all jobs.

           Professional References – Will most likely immediately identify intellect if applicable.

           Interview Process - Will give the employee an opportunity to demonstrate (or try to hide) his relative intellect with interview answers.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period will show the new employee’s ability to think on his feet in variable settings.  This is an important time to shine for less-than-perfect interviewees.

Integrity – Honesty and fairness of the firm when dealing with owners, architects, fellow employees, and sub-contractors.  Is the company’s overall professional work ethic In keeping with that of the individual?

        Professional References - Will show employers how the individual has dealt with others in the past.

           Interview Process – Will give the employee an opportunity to explain his personal stance on various issues.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the best way for a new employee to accurately demonstrate honestly and fairness in dealing with others.

Loyalty – How important to the company the needs of its individuals are.  Are employees perceived as people or machines?

           Interview Process - Will give the employee his own perspective on the employer’s loyalty to its people through the asking of appropriate questions.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how loyal a new company is.

Commitment – Willing to put in whatever time it takes to get the job done. Able to achieve a good balance of work time and personal time, to keep himself alert and satisfied while accomplishing the tasks at hand.

           Professional References - Will give the employee the perspective of former employers and fellow employees as to the employee’s commitment toward completing projects on time and on budget.

             Interview Process - Will give the employer his own perspective on the employee’s commitment through the asking of appropriate interview questions.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how much commitment to the company a new employee will make.

Personality – The individual personalities in the company have to mesh. Two people can both be quality employees, but not be able to work well together. The company should not have to worry about personality clashes when assigning project teams.

        Interview Process - Will give the employee an opportunity to let his personality shine.  Interviewers must be aware that interviewees are many times at their best and most cunning in an interview.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way for the new employee to accurately measure how well his personality fits with those of his new co-workers.

Cultural Fit – Every company has a certain culture, whether that be traditional, laid-back, or a firm full of workaholics. New employees need to complement the company culture for them and those around them to be productive and content.

           Professional References - Will give employers insight into the individual’s prior success of fitting into various company cultures.

           Interview Process - Will give the employee his own perspective into the company culture with which his own personality and work ethic must mesh.  Interviewees should seek conversations with people other than those administering the interview.  Just as the interviewee is putting his best foot forward, the interviewer will often in effect be “selling” the company rather than portraying an accurate depiction of the true work environment.

           Probationary Period - A short term evaluation period is the only way to accurately measure how well a new employee will fit into the company culture.

The information the perspective employer and the perspective employee are trying to find out about each other is almost identical. The employer is looking for someone with the initiative and drive to grow and develop while being productive for the company.  The employee is looking for a company that will let him grow and prosper while becoming and important part of the company. The marriage of the agendas of the employee and employer is critical to the success of both parties.  

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