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RT-436 Pathways to Craft Workforce Success

RT-436 Pathways to Craft Workforce Success

Completed: 2026 (Launched 2025)

What This Team Created

RT-436 produced two deliverables, available on the CII website:

  • FR-436 — Identifying and Documenting Case Studies of Craft Workforce Success (Final Research Report). The academic report: research approach, six cross-case themes, findings, recommendations, and limitations. View on the CII Website

  • IR-436 — Pathways to Craft Workforce Success (Implementation Resource). The practitioner-facing deliverable: a compendium of 10 detailed case studies (with an “At a Glance” summary table for each), plus a supplement on owner opportunities in craft development. View on the CII Website

How Members Can Use This Research

  • Benchmark your own practices against the 10 profiled organizations (EPC firms, general contractors, a specialty electrical contractor, a major utility owner/operator, and a labor union — collectively over $50B in annual construction volume and 30,000+ craft professionals).

  • Find a case study close to your context. Each case in IR-436 includes an “At a Glance” table (union vs. open shop, experience level and headcount targeted, internal decision-maker, funding source, implementation cost) and a “Problem Statement” — compare these against your own organization to gauge fit and feasibility before adapting a strategy (see Chapter 4 of FR-436 for worked examples of this comparison).

  • Owners: see the Owner Opportunities in Craft Development supplement in IR-436 for procurement- and contract-level levers (e.g., requiring workforce development plans in bids, valuing apprenticeship participation in contractor selection, measuring workforce outcomes alongside cost/schedule).

  • Contractors/EPCs: the six themes below (Chapter 3 of FR-436) map directly to recruitment, training, and retention program design.

Key Findings — Six Themes

  1. Care for Craft — Proactive, structural investment in craft well-being (physical and psychological safety) supports retention.

  2. Workforce Development as an Operating System — Embedding development into standard operations (not ad hoc programs) creates scalability and consistency.

  3. Decentralized, Modern Training — Field-based and technology-enabled training (mobile units, VR/mixed reality) improves relevance and access.

  4. Leadership Development for Craft Professionals — Frontline leadership training drives retention as much as technical training does.

  5. Standardized Craft Assessments — Regular, structured evaluations support mobility, wage-setting, and continuity across projects and employers.

  6. Human Infrastructure Behind Technology — Digital workforce tools only work when paired with dedicated people (coordinators, champions) driving adoption.

Recommendations

  • Foster a “retention-first” culture — treat retention, not just recruitment, as the critical success metric.

  • Offer competitive, career-oriented benefits (PTO, relocation, EAP access), not just wages.

  • Provide continuity of work through formal redeployment/transfer programs between projects.

  • Standardize advancement pathways with transparent, competency-based leveling tied to pay and promotion.

Background

The capital projects industry urgently requires effective strategies for workforce identification, recruitment, training, and retention. Failure to address these workforce challenges directly threatens project success, profitability, and the overall competitiveness and sustainability of the construction sector.

Research Questions

What successful strategies and specific practices for the identification, recruitment, training, and retention of craft workers can be learned from exemplar programs and projects implemented by companies to inform broader industry best practices?

Limitations

  • Small sample, limited generalizability — 10 purposively selected cases; findings are exemplar practices, not a statistically representative industry benchmark.

  • Firm-size skew — Sample skews toward large ($1B+ revenue) organizations; strategies may not scale directly to small/medium enterprises without adaptation.

  • Self-reported data — Cost, ROI, and outcome metrics were self-reported by participating organizations, with no standardized industry methodology for calculating workforce development ROI; introduces potential reporting bias, and some profiled initiatives are recent pilots without long-term validation.

Academic Publications

TBD

Roster

Chair: Jake Speck, Kiewit Corporation

Vice Chair: Dan Wannamaker, Bruce Power

Members

  • Anthony Baldwin, Bechtel Group, Inc.

  • Michelle Campbell, Pathfinder, LLC

  • Brendon Davis, Bechtel Group, Inc.

  • Mike Fipps, The Dow Chemical Company

  • Drew Jackson, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

  • Tiffany McMillan, Black & Veatch

  • Gerry Murray, Wood

  • Robert Persch, Kiewit Corporation

  • Laurie Rolfe, Day & Zimmermann

  • Paul Smith, Baker Construction Enterprises

  • Todd Sutton, Zachry Corporation

Academic

  • Timothy Becker, Arizona State University

  • Kristen Parrish, Arizona State University

  • Sanjana Mohan, Arizona State University (Student)