HR veteran shares insight into construction industry recruiting
Sept. 21, 2023
This paid piece is sponsored by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
Amy Tlam knows the heavy lifting involved in helping construction companies find the talent they need to succeed.
After two decades as the human resources manager as Muth Electric, Tlam just marked her first year as director of HR and safety at Howe Inc.
In addition to the daily operations of HR, Tlam has focused on building partnerships to educate others on the construction industry.
She’ll share her lessons learned at the upcoming WIN in Workforce Summit produced by the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
The event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, featuring speakers from a range of industries. Tlam will be part of the breakout session The Real Cost of Recruiting.
We caught up with her to learn more about how she approaches talent attraction and retention.
Within Howe Inc., what are some of the best practices you’ve found in recruiting talent?
Clear and swift communication with candidates in all stages of the application process. In today’s environment, anyone can walk down the street and find a position. Leveraging prompt communication with candidates has kept us at the forefront with candidate selections. Setting clear expectations for the interview process has also been beneficial for the candidate’s experience.
At Howe and throughout your career, you’ve had to assist with recruiting and retaining talent both in the trades and in support and leadership roles. Are there some unique considerations in recruiting depending on which sort of role you’re looking for, as well as some universals that seem to be effective consistently?
I think universally, everyone wants to have good communication no matter the position or role they are applying for or are working in. And open communication means different things to different people, so it is hard. Having managers that understand how influential they can be in their employee relationships and how that can really drive retention of employees is important. Uniquely, it is working your process to the position you are recruiting and finding that fit in your organization. There is no cookie-cutter approach, so being adaptive is important as applicant and employee needs change.
As you work with younger talent — millennials and Gen Z — are there some key characteristics that stand out that are helpful to know in terms of recruiting them?
Millennials and Gen Z challenge the status quo and are very pragmatic. Anymore, instant gratification is becoming the standard; therefore, looking at how we can engage with them about traditional training opportunities, like apprenticeships, is challenging.
You’ve participated extensively in workforce development-related talent programming in partnership with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation. What have you found the advantages of that to be?
Over my career, it has been an evolving conversation to educate people about the construction trades. The highly technical nature of the work that is being performed is unbelievable. Being able to show individuals how buildings and infrastructures are developed using software and technology, then considering how important coordinating that effort with all trades — think structural, concrete, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, etc. — has become to continue to meet the project deadlines. Employees at all levels are using these technologies, from apprentice to executive leadership, thereby breaking down barriers and the stigma of what construction is today compared to our yesteryears.
Also, it is about educating others that there is more to the construction business. We absolutely need skilled tradespeople, but we also need other positions to successfully run a construction business. We need quality accountants, engineers and designers, project managers, support staff, marketing and others to support the business and critically think how we can produce a quality product safely and efficiently.
You’ll be speaking at the WIN Summit on The Real Cost of Recruiting. What do you hope attendees take away from that conversation?
We all struggle with finding qualified individuals to join our team. It’s expensive; however, putting in the effort with selecting the right candidate and developing a structured onboarding system can make a difference. It has always been valuable to me to take small nuggets of information from multiple industries that we can bring back to our organizations and implement.
Have you attended WIN in the past? What has your experience been like?
Yes, it has been a fantastic networking opportunity to hear from all different industries.
About the WIN in Workforce Summit
Sessions at the WIN in Workforce Summit are eligible for nine SHRM and HRCI recertification credits. The Sioux Falls Development Foundation is recognized by SHRM to offer professional development credits for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.
Space is limited for this transformative event, so register soon here to reserve your seat.
To learn more about the WIN in Workforce Summit, click below:
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