How to handle ramp up of human resources

Michael, we usually have a histogram, resource calender and staffing management plan which includes all Human Resources (Numbers, Trades, Hiring Resource, Dates Required) so we don't get surprised by nit finding a certain trade when required. You can't train people from scratch on the job if they do not have the trade skill basics, as you said, it is an investment on time and time is of essence in projects besides that you have to consider Safety issues that might arise. What strategy did you use while you were working in construction ?

I was not in management. I was a crew lead. But on one project, which was apparently complex, I was assigned a crew of laborers, none of them even understood how to read the fractions on a tape measure. The project was to build six foot tall by three and a half inch thick concrete forms on specific radius. I knew how I would go about that task (with lots of math), but I couldn't imagine how to have my crew do it.

I got them all started cleaning and prepping the site, while I walked and thought the problem through. Ultimately, I created a template which allowed my crew to cut wales on the correct radius. We screwed the sheathing to the wales, and constructed the form. It was perfect.

While I had crew members cutting wales, I took one with me (on an alternating basis) and taught them how to read a tape measure, how to cut on the correct side of a line they drew to ensure their measured length was correct, how to hold and swing a hammer. At the end of the project all of my crew were promoted from laborers to entry level carpenters, and it paid off a month later, when we needed carpenters to gang up on a major form that was sixteen feet high, by forty feet long and on a 120 foot radius.

I guess, from my perspective, we ought always be developing our crew, so that they can take our positions when we are promoted.

I guess if I had to do this on a large scale for a major portion of work that would require dozens of skilled laborers, I'd increase the labor pool early, and team all the laborers up with carpenters whose job would be to train them in preparation for the big push.

That's Great work Michael - I totally agree with your statement: We have to train people so they take over when we get promoted but on large scale projects, and I've been there, you will end up with delays if all your crew are unskilled. There has to be a fair mix between skilled and unskilled.

Absolutely! A mix is essential. What I've seen, however, over and over again, is that the big push of work happens during prime construction season, meaning that there is a lot of competition for skilled labor. So finding a reason and way to pull them on earlier and developing your own talent pool is essential when it is an employers market. People will see your organization as a reliable source of income and be loyal vs. other companies which lay thousands off, rather than finding a way to keep them busy. If I have a reliable employer, I'll take a lower wage and stick with them. If I feel that I'll be laid off in the next year, or as soon as the weather cools, then I want to get paid, so I have savings for the period of unemployment.

I agree with you but this applies to North American maybe. Overseas, especially in the gulf region where major developments are, things are different. You can't do this all the time, unless it was a small project but again, yes, for North America it might work .

I haven't worked there and don't know what sorts of resource constraints exist in terms of skilled labor, so I can't speak to that at all.

I do know that where I live, competition for skilled labor can get fevered during build season, so gaining loyalty is a challenge and requires high pay or year round employment.