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Why telecom employees leave and how to understand why
Why field engineers, network operations and installation staff leave telecom jobs, and how to ask about on-call, travel, targets and growth at exit.
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Telecom · Fibre rollout and network contractors
HR for Fibre Rollout and Network Contractors: Gangs, Splicers and Project Sites
A fibre contractor builds networks in stretches, with crews that move from town to town as each project closes. Here is how to keep them organised, safe and paid on time.
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Share your requirementsA fibre rollout and network contractor lays optical fibre, builds ducts, pulls cable, splices and tests it for operators, broadband providers and infrastructure owners. Work is organised by project and route, with crews that dig trenches, run duct, pull and blow cable, splice fibre and test the link, sometimes alongside civil teams and permission staff. A project may need a large crew for a few months in one district and then close, so the workforce expands and contracts with order books. Many workers are sourced through gang leaders and sub-contractors, move with the project and live in rented rooms or camps. Payment from the client comes in stages, which affects how reliably the crew is paid. See also HR for telecom.
- Plan
- Hire
- Onboard
- Manage
- Develop
- Perform
- Engage
- Retain
- Exit
- Improve
When HR is weak in fibre rollout and network contractors, you may see
- Crews form and dissolve with projects
- Gang leaders hold the workers
- Skilled splicers are scarce
- Wages depend on client payments
- Roadside work is risky
- Records stay with the sub-contractor
- Accommodation and travel are improvised
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
Who does the work in fibre rollout and network contractors
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
- Trenching and civil crew members
- Cable pulling and blowing crews
- Fibre splicers
- Testing and commissioning engineers
- Gang leaders and site supervisors
- Project managers
- Permission and liaison staff
- Stores, vehicle and accounts staff
Where HR strains in fibre rollout and network contractors
Crews form and dissolve with projects
A large team is needed in week one and much less by week twelve, so hiring, release and movement happen constantly with little notice.
Gang leaders hold the workers
The leader knows the crew and the crew follows the leader, so if the leader moves to a rival, a whole team can go with them.
Skilled splicers are scarce
A good splicer is in demand across contractors, and quality problems from a poor splice only show when the link is tested.
Wages depend on client payments
Client billing is staged and sometimes late, but the crew's wages are due on time, and a missed week can empty a site.
Roadside work is risky
Trenching near traffic, utilities and open pits exposes people to injury, and records of what was said and checked are often thin.
Records stay with the sub-contractor
Who worked where, for how long and under whom is held by an intermediary, so the contractor cannot answer a client or an auditor quickly.
Accommodation and travel are improvised
Crews are moved between districts with little notice on where they stay or how they travel, which affects morale and who turns up.
HR topics for fibre rollout and network contractors
Start with the topics that matter most here: HR Strategy and Workforce Planning; Compensation, Payroll and Benefits; Health, Safety and Wellbeing. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for telecom, not in general.
HR Strategy and Workforce Planning
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Compensation, Payroll and Benefits
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Organisation Design
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
Onboarding and Probation
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Employee Administration
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Performance Management
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Learning and Development
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Career and Succession Management
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Employee Engagement and Experience
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Employee Relations
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies, Compliance and Governance
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Retention and Attrition Management
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Exit and Alumni Management
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
HR Technology and Automation
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
HR Analytics and Management Reporting
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
HR Operations and Governance
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
What a working HR set-up looks like
The pieces a fibre rollout and network contractors business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Plan the crew for each project
A headcount by role and week based on the project plan, with a release and redeployment plan for when a stretch ends.
What this coversHide
Plan the crew for each project
A headcount by role and week based on the project plan, with a release and redeployment plan for when a stretch ends.
What this coversHideA headcount by role and week based on the project plan, with a release and redeployment plan for when a stretch ends. The HR strategy and workforce planning work covers the method.
Know every person on site
A register of each worker with name, role, gang, daily attendance and who engaged them, kept by you whoever pays them.
What this coversHide
Know every person on site
A register of each worker with name, role, gang, daily attendance and who engaged them, kept by you whoever pays them.
What this coversHideA register of each worker with name, role, gang, daily attendance and who engaged them, kept by you whoever pays them. The employee information management work defines it.
Build a splicer and tester skills list
A simple record of who can splice and test, to what standard, with periodic checks and a reason for skilled people to stay with you.
What this coversHide
Build a splicer and tester skills list
A simple record of who can splice and test, to what standard, with periodic checks and a reason for skilled people to stay with you.
What this coversHideA simple record of who can splice and test, to what standard, with periodic checks and a reason for skilled people to stay with you. The competency and talent management work helps.
Pay on a fixed day
A wage day that holds regardless of client payment timing, supported by a reserve or a billing routine.
What this coversHide
Pay on a fixed day
A wage day that holds regardless of client payment timing, supported by a reserve or a billing routine.
What this coversHideA wage day that holds regardless of client payment timing, supported by a reserve or a billing routine. The payroll process management work organises the cycle.
Brief the crew daily on site hazards
A short start-of-day talk on the route, traffic, utilities and equipment, noted and signed.
What this coversHide
Brief the crew daily on site hazards
A short start-of-day talk on the route, traffic, utilities and equipment, noted and signed.
What this coversHideA short start-of-day talk on the route, traffic, utilities and equipment, noted and signed. The health, safety and wellbeing work provides a routine.
Start by checking where you stand
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirements- List every person working on your largest project today and who engaged each of them.
- Check how many splicers you can rely on for the next project and where they are.
- Compare the next client payment date with the next wage date for each crew.
- Ask a gang leader what would make their crew stay with you after the project ends.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
How GullyHR helps
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
- HR strategy and workforce planning
A crew plan that follows the order book, so hiring and release are planned rather than reactive.
- Employee information management
One record of every worker on every site, whoever engaged them.
- Payroll process management
A wage cycle that runs on its own date, whatever the client payment calendar says.
- Health, safety and wellbeing
A daily site briefing and a record that shows who was told what before the digging began.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Our HR transformation approach
- 1
Assess
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
- 2
Identify gaps
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
- 3
Design
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
- 4
Implement
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
- 5
Automate
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
- 6
Measure
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
- 7
Improve
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
Blogs worth reading first
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in telecom, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
HR Management
"We need two more people": the headcount plan nobody wrote
Hiring decisions made one request at a time, in the month the pain is worst. What a workforce plan contains and why a twelve-month view changes what you hire.
7 min readRead article
HR Management
Salary bands for SMEs: building grades when you have never had any
Most salary structures grew one negotiation at a time. How to build grades and bands from what you already pay, without repricing everybody at once.
8 min readRead article
HR Management
The safety poster nobody reads
A laminated notice, an annual drill, and an incident register with three entries in two years. What workplace health and safety looks like when it is real.
7 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Questions owners ask
Offer the next project early, with a rough start date, and keep wages and accommodation reliable. A leader who trusts that work and pay will continue is less likely to move the crew.
Direct payment gives you a record and reduces disputes, though leaders may prefer the old way. Whichever you choose, keep your own list of who worked, and confirm the legal position with a qualified professional.
Keep a list of the ones you trust, pay fairly for the skill and give them work between projects where you can. Their quality shows up in test results, so track it.
Plan for it. A reserve, a billing routine that raises invoices promptly and a clear wage day protect the crew. Missed wages are the fastest way to lose people mid-project.
Ask for a daily list of people on site, check it against what you see and keep it. You need the record for client queries, so do not leave it to the intermediary.
We would ask who is working on your largest project today and who engaged each person, how many splicers you can count on next time, and how client payment dates line up with wage dates. A useful first piece of work is a simple crew register with a fixed pay day. Scope is agreed in writing afterwards.
More on HR for telecom
All 10 business types in telecom · Find another business type
Telecom tower and infrastructure companiesTelecom equipment installers and field service teamsPaving and road construction companiesInternet and broadband providersTelecom retail and distribution outletsTelecom customer care and call centresHR Strategy and Workforce Planning in telecomCompensation, Payroll and Benefits in telecomHealth, Safety and Wellbeing in telecom