Retention and Attrition Management for Construction and Real Estate
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
What this looks like in construction and real estate
The parts of retention and attrition management that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Retention Between Projects
Where the job ends and the employee decides.
What this coversHide
Retention Between Projects
Where the job ends and the employee decides.
What this coversHideProject businesses lose people at phase boundaries, and the loss is usually avoidable. Workers who do not know there is a next site assume there is not.
- Redeployment pipeline communicated before demobilisation
- Key site staff retained between projects, deliberately funded
- Attrition measured by site, trade and supervisor
- Wage and advance reliability as the primary lever
- Accommodation and facility standards compared between sites
- Contractor labour retention tracked separately
- Exit reasons captured at demobilisation
- Rehire lists maintained by trade
Funding a short gap for site engineers and supervisors you want to keep is cheaper than rehiring and re-inducting, and it is the decision most often deferred to the site's cost line.
The general method — what retention and attrition management covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the employee retention and attrition management page. What is above is the part that differs for construction and real estate.
Other HR topics for construction and real estate
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.
See all HR topics for construction and real estate, or another industry.