Power Construction

Increasing employee engagement to improve decision making

The Opportunity

Founded in 1926, Power Construction Company has 700 employees and is focused primarily on the greater Chicago metro area with projects nationwide. The company is committed to creating pathways for its employees to build long-term careers as well as building opportunities for people from all backgrounds who want to join and grow in the construction industry. Power, like other companies in the sector, recognizes that construction employment needs to grow and diversify to meet industry demand. While unemployment in the sector is low, an aging workforce and too few young people entering the trades is contributing to a shortage of workers.

Amidst this landscape and as part of its efforts to retain and grow its employees, Power Construction continuously looks for ways to improve the overall employee experience. In early 2024 the team identified an opportunity to engage a broader group of employees in developing policies, procedures, and initiatives that impact employees across the company. The established decision-making process had limited opportunities to engage employees across levels and what leadership found was that there was a pattern of introducing policies that management had to then go back and change based on feedback they received post-launch. The team developed the idea of an employee engagement group (EEG) that would give leadership an opportunity to engage employee voice from the outset and enable them to build policies, procedures, and initiatives based on recommendations from a representative group of employees. Over the course of Power’s participation in the Talent Rewire Employer Action Lab, the team continued to refine the program informed by other cohort participants and frontline advisors.

The Approach

After presenting the employee engagement group proposal to leadership, the team sought input on the proposed group through a “Voice of the Employee” survey that is distributed to all employees. The survey results helped the team further develop and define the goals, desired outcomes, and structure of the group.

Goals

• Seek out and gather employee voice on policies, practices, and procedures that impact the company and its employees at scale
• Create direct connection between frontline employees and leadership instead of relying solely on middle managers to share information
• Develop employee ambassadors who can keep their teams and networks aware of the EEG’s activities, discussions, and recommendations
• Shift company-wide mindsets about who is able to actively participate in and contribute to decision-making processes

Desired Outcomes

• The EEG will develop 4 recommendations for policies, practices, and/or procedures and bring them forward to the leadership team for consideration
• Leadership will engage in constructive and collaborative dialogue with the EEG and work alongside them to implement the group’s recommendations
• Increased decision-making transparency and communication with the EEG formally reporting on their activities to the company twice a year

Structure

Group composition

• 4 executive mentors
• 10-12 employees from varied levels of seniority, roles and departments and levels of tenure selected from an application process

Time commitment

• Minimum 1-year term
• 4 full-day meetings annually

Next Steps

After an application period in fall 2024, Power selected 12 employees that represent the “heart of Power”; the group is comprised of a mix of employees who are new to the company and those who have been at the company for 10+ years with representation from the construction team, shared services, and operations. The EEG is kicking off its work in 2025 and will meet quarterly to advance the goals of the group.

This innovation story was made possible through funding from Walmart.