From Hire to Retire

Building a brand to help recruit and retain life-long employees

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALL TECH

The construction industry is the backbone of infrastructure development and economic growth. As populations grow and cities expand, the demand for construction projects continues to rise. However, hiring the right talent in this dynamic and demanding sector is often a challenging task. Just ask Kelly Smith, CEO of All Tech, a TEXO member and second-generation firm that performs project and maintenance electrical work on commercial, industrial and healthcare construction.

Smith’s father started All Tech – headquartered in Dallas with an office in Cleveland – when she was young and contemplating her own career, pursuing electrical and computer engineering. When her father’s business partner decided to exit the company, Smith found herself with a decision to make: forge straight ahead in her current career or join the family business. Wanting no regrets, she left her engineering life behind and became a majority owner of All Tech. 

With that decision, her career path took a 180 degree turn, and Smith found herself working side by side with her father and managing the firm. He eventually retired, which prompted Smith to evaluate the company’s marketing plan to ensure the success and longevity of her dad’s lifelong work. This resulted in All Tech engaging Bold Entity, a business-to-business (B2B) marketing agency based in Dallas, to help capture the company culture that Smith’s father created and to build upon it. Smith believes it’s important for new and existing hires to know the company story.

“Throughout my youth, I would go to the office and help my dad,” Smith said. “Some of those people are still with us today, which is an amazing thing from a culture standpoint. We want people to know, as we attract new employees, that the job is from hire to retire.”

Company culture has always been important to Smith. Early in her career, she jumped jobs solely to find the culture she was seeking.

“That's really important to me, as I build this business,” she said. “I also recognize how difficult it is now  to create and maintain that culture.”

Bold Entity’s mission is to help construction owners understand the reality of today's business world.

“We start with a brand discovery process,” said Valerie Jimenez, founder and CEO of Bold Entity, “a two-fold process where we lead off with a brand strategy session with the firm’s executive team to hear from them on what they think their company stands for.” 

After that,  the agency interviews company employees - from those in the field to management level - and includes team members on different tenure tracks.

“We want to have a good mix of people who can tell us different types of stories,” Jimenez said.  “We also talk to subcontractors or vendors to see if the story leadership is telling us aligns with what we're hearing from these groups.” 

Bold Entity then focuses on developing a messaging platform and determining with intention what needs to be communicated. 

”We go to jobsites,” said Jimenez, “to confirm if  all the things that we've created in words and pictures really resonate in the field.” A photo shoot including both still and video images helps to communicate the client’s message. 

“If the message we crafted is talking about mentorship, we want to see those examples in action and document them for the company website.”

In this digital age, having a strong online presence is essential. Smith recognized that All Tech’s website needed work. 

“We had a very old, stale website with none of our staff featured on it,” she said. ”It was important to me to highlight the people in our organization who work so hard. It helps a culture when an employee can see him or herself on the website and be proud of the work that has been built.”

Employees enjoyed the exercise too. 

“I wasn’t sure how our field labor and electricians were going to react to a photo and video shoot while they're working,” Smith said. “So it was very heartwarming to see how much they embraced it, and how proud they were. That exercise alone was a neat experience for everybody involved.”

A refresh of the company website created a new image for the business, from an employee retention standpoint as well as a talent acquisition perspective.

Building a positive reputation as an employer can attract top talent, but companies shouldn’t stop with just a new website. 

It’s important to create “ongoing narratives of the things that happen in the company, not just one time, but continuously,” said Jimenez. Many industry professionals believe that a website is a static element or that a post on social media is one and done. 

“It's actually about ensuring those things are consistently lived,” Jimenez said, “and making sure you craft cool taglines and new initiatives and keep the employee base energized and focused on whatever the messaging was.”

Smith agrees.

“Some of the things that young professionals are very interested in is company culture, core values and vision statements,” she said. “We’ve always had those things, but we weren't very intentional in talking about or displaying them. This initiative made us become intentional with the objective of attracting new talent. Employees want to know, before they get on board, what the company is all about.”

According to Jimenez, All Tech is unique because of the employee makeup. Some employees have worked there since they were young adults. The company “was trying to really replicate this with new people that they were trying to bring in,” she said.

“I don't think construction people often take pictures of themselves in a powerful, successful way,” Jimenez continued. “This helps them understand how incredible their job is. It's a way to really recognize those people that are also doing the hard work.”

Take large tech firms like Apple and Google, she said, that have done a great job at ensuring their brands are recognized and demonstrate their value, not only to consumers but also to their employee base. 

“That’s something I believe construction owners should take into account: The bigger your growth goals, the more you have to invest in these techniques because people have to feel proud of coming to work for you.”

Smith concurs, believing it’s critical to stay active and online.  “It's a constant investment.”