The construction industry is known to be one of the most dangerous industries out there. Handing personal protective equipment to a new contractor isn't nearly sufficient to get the ball rolling on your construction projects.
The onboarding process is one of the most important steps when working with a new team member. In this blog we will look into construction onboarding checklists and how to get your hands on a new hire checklist template.
Why is it important to onboard a new employee?
Typically, there's a steep learning curve while the new hire “gets up to speed”. This can take weeks, if not months, and can produce some very costly mistakes as despite the fact that some tasks will be the employee's responsibilities, not adhering to certain safety rules might get you in trouble with safety regulations. Employee awareness must be one of your main priorities. Builders can reduce the learning curve by using Quality Control Checklists in the on-boarding process of new employees.
New hire onboarding is, simply, a systematic and comprehensive approach to familiarize a new employee with the company’s resources & way of doing things, and get him or her “on board” as quickly and efficiently as possible. They should also get accustomed to the terminology and things they will need to know for the role. Whether it be a hazardous material register or safe work method statements, no knowledge is too much knowledge. A successful onboarding system will minimize the time it takes the new Superintendent to become a productive member of the team. Fortunately, that system is already an inherent component of a Quality Control System.
What should an Onboarding Checklist include?
Building a construction onboarding checklist is a great way to ensure that your new hires are properly trained and ready to hit the ground running.
There are a few key elements that should be included on your checklist:
- First, make sure that your new hire has all the necessary paperwork, like a driver's license and Social Security card.
- Next, provide them with a tour of the job site and introduce them to the crew.
- Then, go over safety procedures and make sure they understand the importance of safety on the job.
- Finally, give them a copy of the construction plans so they know what they're working on. By including these items on your construction onboarding checklist, you can be sure that your new hires are properly prepared to start their new job.
Quality Control Systems and Checklists for the construction industry
The Quality Control System can give new Superintendents a clear and concise way to learn exactly what is required to build the job. Quality Control Checklists spell out the builder’s expectations and standards of compliance . They have years of experience written into them, and document best practices and correct applications.
Plus, the Quality Control System is an organized representation of the schedule and construction process. On day one, a new Superintendent can look at the various Quality Control Checklists and understand exactly what must be done, and what must be avoided in the industry.
Quality Control Checklists provide consistency, which is critical if the builder wants to maintain its standard of quality during the upheaval of change. Whether the new hire has one mentoring Superintendent or multiple trainers across several projects, he is being instructed the same way. Quality checklists guarantee that process training is being done to the builder’s processes, every time.
Checklists also reduce training hours, for both the new hire and the mentoring Superintendent(s). Because checklists are organized and the information is consistently conveyed the same way, training omissions are eliminated in feedback. Adding pictures to your checklists that show correctly done work can also add to the learning onboarding experience.
There’s no room for the new hire to say, “no one told me that.” The new hire can reference the checklist as often as needed, reducing repeated calls to the mentoring Superintendent(s), and asking, “How do I do that again?”
Maintaining quality standards and responsibilities during onboarding is not easy. However, utilizing Quality Control Checklists and documents allow builders to get through transitions while ensuring a consistent product is being built, decreasing learning curves, downtime and rookie errors and, ultimately, delivering a quality-built project to the customer.
