Construction companies are familiar with the challenges of finding and hiring great talent. Unfortunately, the challenges don’t end after a new employee is hired.
Onboarding is a critical process that sets the stage for employees to feel engaged, productive, and compliant with a company. In construction, onboarding helps employees feel comfortable working with their new team members on job sites. Successful onboarding can make new employees feel valued from their first day.
Onboarding always requires strategic direction, but the construction industry faces unique onboarding needs. 2025 brings new challenges, including technology expectations and compliance changes.
Onboarding is simply too important not to prioritize. When done correctly, it can reduce turnover and improve a company’s culture and productivity. But just because it's challenging doesn't mean construction companies can't succeed. Construction companies can find solutions to create a great onboarding process and keep their new hires engaged and informed.
In this article, we’ll cover four common challenges with onboarding new employees in 2025 and highlight the tools to overcome these issues.
Construction companies often have many projects happening simultaneously, often at various job sites. Onboarding employees without a central location can be challenging. Instead of having one place where all employees work daily, construction companies have to manage remote and on-site onboarding logistics.
Onboarding is a process, not an event. It happens over an employee’s first weeks and months. However, in construction, it’s unpredictable where an employee will be working during that time. They may be in the main office for part of the time, working on a job site for another period, and then moving to a new job site. With project needs changing, planning ahead and creating a comprehensive onboarding schedule can be difficult.
Onboarding also isn’t a solo activity. A new employee may need to meet with supervisors, HR employees, and others who may or may not be in the office, working remotely, or at various job sites. Coordinating onboarding can be a logistical nightmare, especially with unpredictable schedules and on-site needs. Construction companies have to be flexible with their scheduling and locations to ensure all onboarding tasks are completed, regardless of location.
Safety training is crucial for construction companies, both for employee safety and to stay compliant with regulations. Construction can be a dangerous industry (the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than one in five workplace fatalities happen in construction), so regulations are continually being refined and updated. Staying on top of those changes and ensuring new hires are trained and feel comfortable with the processes and equipment can be a tall order. Construction companies must remain agile to ensure new employees are onboarded with the current rules.
New hires must be well-versed in safety protocols, especially because newer employees make up the majority of injuries in the construction industry. Safety training and regulations can be complex and can overwhelm new employees. Successful onboarding requires more than just checking a box where an employee participated in safety training — it means ensuring employees understand and follow the training.
Managing paperwork could be a full-time job on its own. Between certifications, tax forms, ID verification, and other requirements for each new employee, it can be challenging and time-consuming to manage all new-hire paperwork. Manually organizing the paperwork can lead to errors or misplaced or incorrect information.
Every error in new hire paperwork can cause a ripple effect. If one document is misplaced, it can lead to a lack of information on other forms. Similarly, if information like an employee’s birthdate or contact information is entered incorrectly, the wrong information can get copied and used in multiple places, making it incredibly difficult and time-consuming to correct later.
The best way to overcome this challenge is to centralize and automate paperwork with a digital document management system. Instead of manually sorting and storing paperwork, construction companies can store things digitally, making for easy organization and streamlined processing. A digital document management system reduces human error and allows for faster processing so new employees can be onboarded faster.
Employees in other industries often work in a central location and can collaborate and connect in person. Even those who work remotely are often connected via computers and can stay in contact throughout the day to collaborate and build camaraderie. But that isn’t true of most construction workers, who are often dispersed on various job sites. Not all employees may see each other frequently, but they have to feel comfortable with each other to jump into work together when a new project arises.
New hires need to connect quickly with teammates so they feel connected to the company and can do their best work. Onboarding is crucial to building that connection. One report found that employees who experienced solid onboarding are 30 times more likely to feel satisfied with their jobs than those who felt onboarding wasn’t as effective.
The unique challenge for construction companies is that co-workers often work at different job sites, and teams may be fluid. Thus, it can be difficult for new employees to feel connected to a team and like they have a place at the company. It often takes a more intentional effort to unify teams and help new employees feel comfortable and like they fit in.