Best Practices and Compliance Take Center Stage at AGC’s Annual HR & Training Conference

AGC’s 2014 Construction HR & Training Professionals Conference wrapped up Oct. 17 after two days of education, sharing of best practices and networking in Phoenix, AZ.  The conference continues to be a must-attend event for HR and training professionals in the construction industry. The opening day of the Conference was kicked off with a presentation by Hilari Weinstein of High Impact Communications.  Weinstein shared techniques for Optimizing Your Personal Demeanor & Delivery for High Impact Presentations.   Following the opening session, AGC’s chief economist, Ken Simonson, and construction industry compensation expert and owner of PAS Inc., Jeff Robinson, educated HR professionals on the current state of the U.S. economy and its impact on construction work and wages.  Based on information provided in the session, attendees learned what areas of the country are seeing an increase in demand for construction and best practices for compensating workers in those areas for the purpose of recruitment and retention.   Simultaneously, Louyse Poirier, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Balfour Beatty Construction educated training professionals on the best practices for aligning HR management with HR development in order to build a sustainable talent pipeline.  During the presentation, Poirier demonstrated how Balfour Beatty created and implemented a competency-based model that aligns recruitment, training and development, performance management.  At the conclusion of the presentation, each attendee received a toolkit with practical materials and guides to use to customize a competency-based approach in their own respective organization.  Additional sessions throughout the day included How to Make Online Delivery an Essential Part of Your Training Curriculum, An Employment Law Update for Construction Employers, and small group round table discussions that covered more than fifteen of the top issues currently facing construction HR and training professionals. On day two, Robin Renschen, director of learning and development for McCarthy Building Companies, and Matthew Hunt, director of organizational effectiveness for McCarthy led a session entitled “So, Your Initiative Didn’t Stick… Try Change Management.” The two shared how their company implemented a more strategic approach to initiative rollout and based on its success, was awarded a 2014 Top 125 Best Practice Award from Training Magazine. Other topics presented throughout the day included The Role of Effective Incentive Compensation in Construction, Strategies for Dramatically Reducing Healthcare Costs, Using Scenario Based Training Stick and Linking Training To Business Performance.  The conference concluded with an interactive panel discussion on the current construction industry workforce shortage led by members of AGC’s Industry Recruiting Task Force. This year’s conference was preceded by a pre-conference Federal Construction HR Workshop. During the opening session of the workshop, AGC’s director of construction HR, Tamika Carter, educated attendees on the many executive orders recently announced by President Obama as well as pending regulations that directly impact federal contractors.  The remainder of the workshop included sessions on ethics, Davis-Bacon and affirmative action compliance for federal contractors. The conference was sponsored by the National Center for Construction Education & Research, BirdDog, PAS, Inc., eMars, Workplace HR, ClickSafety, and The AGC Alternative. Planning for the 2015 conference is underway, so stay tuned for details.