“TalentTest- Pressure builds to put people assets higher in the strategic decision chain.”- Big Builder Magazine

“TalentTest- Pressure builds to put people assets higher in the strategic decision chain.”

Big Builder Magazine, Hanley-Wood Publishers/Bridget Mintz Testa
November 2005

Deepening the Bench

Seating human resources at the executive table and having employees define the corporation are just two ways that big builders are responding to the newly strategic role of human capital. Builder CEOs are also acting to maintain executive stability by deepening their management benches. They want to both hire and keep the right talent.

“CEOs are getting more involved in recruitment and retention,” says Frederick Hornberger, president of Wilmington, Delaware based Hornberger Management Company, an executive search firm specializing in senior management-level building industry personnel. “They are spending as much as 30 percent of their time on this and are personally involved in a lot of hires.”

How can builders get high-quality personnel? Hornberger makes two recommendations: “Hire the very best talent you can afford, and become an expert on retention.”