NewCrew sat down with Annslee Hillyer, Recruiting Operations Manager at Brasfield & Gorrie, to discuss all things recruiting – company culture, the importance of investing in your people, and recent diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
You've been at Brasfield & Gorrie for a long time! Tell us about your background with the company – how you got started and what your responsibilities are now.
I had just gotten married and moved to Orlando as a new graduate when I was connected to someone at Brasfield & Gorrie. Immediately, I was like, “Okay, these are my people. I can totally see myself here.” I was hired as a college-focused HR generalist, where I did recruiting, training, and benefits. I stayed in Orlando for three years and then moved to our Atlanta office doing the same type of work. As our company grew, our need to hire experienced talent also grew, providing me the opportunity to change my focus from campus recruiting to industry, or experienced, recruiting.
This past year, I moved into a Recruiting Operations Manager role, working across all of our recruiting teams, aiming to improve our processes and help scale our capabilities.
There’s a saying that goes, “What got us here won't get us there.” We can't keep doing the exact same thing to take us into the future.
Figuring out how to help our recruiting team work smarter, not harder is what I'm doing right now, and it's a lot of fun. I love it!
How many people are directly involved in recruiting?
Our team has grown so much over the years. I remember there being 4 recruiters which seems like yesterday. Today we’re made up of a team of 20. Which includes campus recruiters, industry recruiters, recruiting leadership, and administrative support.
Brasfield & Gorrie has been ranked by the Atlanta Business Chronicle and many other publications as one of the best places to work. Why do you think that Brasfield & Gorrie has earned that title and reputation, and how does the company culture influence the workplace environment as a whole?
If you ask anybody at Brasfield & Gorrie why they love it here, they give you the exact same answer. I remember one time trying to poll our people and say, “Okay, what's so great about working here?” And I was like, “Yall, I need a different answer, a little variety!” Every single person said (and still says) the people.
Our careers and career paths are individualized to the strengths of each person. For example, there was never a position titled “Recruiting Operations Manager” prior to my role. But it lined up with what I love and what I'’m good at, so the company made a role that could capitalize on those strengths, and we do that all the time.
How do you know if a candidate is the right fit for your culture? And how do you concretely determine your culture?
We have a set of core competencies. As a company, our performance reviews are based on those core competencies plus individualized role competencies. Those characteristics are what we are looking for in every person that works for Brasfield & Gorrie.
For example, no matter what your role is, you must have integrity, positive spirit, be solution-driven, and team-focused. The lack of those 4 competencies are deal-breakers for us.
What are some examples of questions in an interview that you would ask to see if a candidate has those core competencies that you’re looking for?
We look at behavior statements for the competencies and then turn those behaviors into questions. So for ‘positive spirit’ we might ask, “Tell me about something in the past month that really got you down or was really discouraging to you, and how did you respond?”
For teamwork – “Tell me about a time when someone didn't pull their weight on a project, and how did you address that?”
We’re using behavioral-based interviews (BBI) to try to get specific examples from a candidate to get to the core of how a person has handled a situation in the past. BBI teaches that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
Historically, the construction industry has been behind on issues like benefits packages. What are your thoughts around benefits – not just the salary, but the total package, and how that plays into retaining your people?
I am a huge believer in the whole package. Living in America in 2023, work-life balance is more important than ever, and taking care of your family is why we do what we do. Brasfield & Gorrie just hired a new Director of Benefits and Compensation, and I'm super excited about the expertise she’s bringing. We just rolled out a new parental leave policy and improved vacation for our craft workers. These are definitely improvements, and I know we will continue to get even better.
Can you explain why it's important that, in this industry, companies invest in their employees and create positions like the one you just referenced?
I went to a great conference recently called “Leap TA.” One of the speakers said that construction gets a bad rap for not being innovative. But she went on to say that construction is one of the most innovative industries out there. I mean, when you look at how we are building these 50-story buildings today compared to 50 years ago, the innovation is incredible.
If we are going to push for the latest and greatest innovative techniques in building buildings, why would we not be just as innovative with how we develop and treat our employees, the people part?
We will not survive if we do not keep up with treating people well and having great benefits packages. That innovation in treating people well is equally as important as the innovation in building projects.
We need to reach more people in the construction industry to increase our talent pool. The Brasfield & Gorrie Diversity and Inclusion statement says that you're working to hire people that are “traditionally underrepresented” in the industry – women, minority talent, and, honestly, people who don’t have family in the industry.
How does your team approach increasing career opportunity awareness?
We just hired a new manager of D&I to work with our VP of Corporate Responsibility, who has led this effort for years, and I'm really excited about the team's growth. Last week, we hosted our first (of hopefully many) HBCU summits where we brought in faculty from the several HBCUs. The summit included panels, technology demonstrations, round-table discussions, even dinner where the mayor of Birmingham spoke. It was an incredible opportunity to continue building relationships with HBCU faculty.
The other thing to point out, is that as a large construction company, probably 30% of our company is made up of corporate employees – so IT, marketing, HR, legal, etc. But when we show up on campus, students aren't even thinking about those positions. They're just thinking about construction operations positions. And that's an opportunity to show people that you don't have to be a construction professional to work at Brasfield & Gorrie. There's a lot of other opportunities here as well.
How are partnerships with recruiting and staffing agencies (like NewCrew) relevant to your team and company's success?
We have an in-house recruiting team, so we are going to do the majority of our recruiting. But there are times that the jobs are unpredictable because you don't know when a big project is going to hit or when one's going to slide.
There are times our team can't do it all, and we need to reach out to someone. An agency can also be very helpful when a candidate isn’t on LinkedIn or if someone is relocating. So an agency with those relationships may happen to know details about candidates that we do not. Chances are that I'm never going to stumble across that person unless they're actively reaching out. Those are examples of when we have used an agency and found them very valuable.
Are you hiring?
YES! We recently launched a new long-range strategic plan that will guide us into the future. We’ve introduced new roles at all levels to support the needs and growth of the company. There are so many more unique positions that are popping up! I never thought I would have the opportunity to recruit for, say, a Director of Investments or a Director of Security, but those are the types of new positions that are coming across our desks every day.
Check out Brasfield & Gorrie's hiring page here!
Summary:
- Prioritize People and Culture: Creating a strong workplace culture starts with employees sharing “core” team values. Identifying shared core values that underscore your company culture can then shape your interview and hiring process.
- Comprehensive Benefits Package: Recognize the importance of a holistic benefits package beyond just salary. Include work-life balance offerings, parental leave policies, and health benefits to attract and retain top talent, especially in competitive industries.
- The Future: In order to retain employees, the construction industry must continue to evolve to meet the needs of their people. GCs can stay competitive by recognizing that investing in employees is just as important as investing in innovative construction technologies.
- Recruiting Partnerships: Agencies like NewCrew can be an asset for general contractors in many ways, from speeding up the search process, to tapping into existing relationships with candidates that GCs might not have identified, to placing candidates that are relocating. If hiring full-time employees, reach out here.
