Construction CEOs provided us excellent insights such as :
- The majority of executives believe their relationship with their immediate supervisor is one of the primary keys to their job satisfaction and decision to stay or leave the firm. This supports the theory that executives don’t leave bad contractors, they leave bad managers.
- Most executives claimed they want to be proud of what they do, proud of how they do it, and proud of whom they work for.
- Most executives would rather be highly admired than highly paid.
- 41% of executives said they secured their current or most recent job through their personal or business network, compared to 26% who were recruited by a search firm, and 8% came from responding to Internet job postings.
- Only 23% of executives rated their loyalty to their current organization as very loyal. 81% of executives don’t expect to remain with their current employers through the remainder of their career.
- 61% of executives say they would give up some of their pay for more time with their family.
- 48% of the executives felt that their company promoted based on merit. 41% felt that favoritism and posturing played a major role in the promotion process.
- 56% of the executives said they worked for strong, capable leaders.
- 73% of executives ranked medical insurance, work life benefits, paid time off and retirement plans as the most valuable benefits.
- 33% of executives currently have employment contracts; average term for an employment contract is 12.4 months.
- Executive tenure continues to average just less than five years.
- 78% executives believe their CEO’s do not provide adequate recognition rewards for good performance.
- Most executives find educational and lifestyle incentives a more effective long term, retention strategy than pay.
- Executives believe if performance based bonuses are to be motivational, they must exceed 15% of base pay.
- Executive bonuses averaged from 25% to 50% of base pay. Middle managers received between 15% to 25%, and professionals averaged between 10% to 15%.
- Only 22% of executives accepted counteroffers. Of those who accepted counteroffers, 39% remained after 12 months.
“Each year we look forward to your executive retention survey. It’s the only survey of its kind for construction executives, and it helps us better to manage our executive retention efforts”
– CFO, General Contractor, Austin, TX