Human Side of Construction

The construction industry has been talking about the labour shortage for two decades. We know the numbers. We’ve seen the projections. And yet the gap keeps growing. In this solo episode, Angelo makes the case that we’ve been solving for the wrong problem — and that the real crisis isn’t about who we’re bringing in, it’s about who we’re losing and why.In this episode:→ Why 430,000 new workers per year still won’t close the gap — and what the numbers actually miss→ The hidden cost of turnover: $135K–$180K per employee, plus schedule hits, knowledge loss, and project disruption→ Why 40% of US construction apprentices never complete their programs→ The real reasons people leave construction — and why wages aren’t at the top of the list→ Why the toughness culture that built this industry is now driving talent out of it→ What younger workers actually want — and why calling them “less committed” misses the point→ Why retention is a leadership function, not an HR function→ The one question every construction leader should ask their team this weekThis episode is for anyone who’s tired of hearing about the labour shortage without hearing what to actually do about it.Want to be a guest? Reach out: angelo@hsoc.one This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

Geoff Smith spent 30 years leading EllisDon from a regional builder into one of the largest construction companies in North America. He's a lawyer by training who openly admits he can't build a card house — and that vulnerability became the foundation of a leadership philosophy that shaped an entire organization.In this episode, we get into:→ How Geoff's people-first leadership style was born out of necessity, not strategy — and why that matters more than you think → Why EllisDon has no mission statement and no vision statement, on purpose → The "moments of truth" that define real culture — including firing profitable people who violated it → Why standard EAP programs failed EllisDon's people and what they built instead → Geoff's personal admission about his own mental health struggles and the realization that everyone around him was fighting the same battle in silence → The generational shift in construction leadership: "I spent my career looking for work. Kieran's gonna spend his career recruiting and retaining good people." → The six-word question Geoff wishes he'd asked 30 years earlierThis conversation goes places most construction leaders won't go publicly. Whether you're a CEO, a project manager, or just starting to figure out what kind of leader you want to be — this one's for you. 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@humansideofconstruction🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2FShMu5dJbpLEQDAp88KT8?si=GzVtM5HgQNWNKTbZnrkzEw🎙️ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/human-side-of-construction/id1886591709Want to be a guest? Reach out: angelo@hsoc.one This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com

Every construction leader faces the same problem on every project and in every organization. It's not schedule. It's not budget. It's not scope. It's people. In this intro episode, I break down why the construction industry's biggest risk has nothing to do with technical competence — and everything to do with a leadership skills gap we've been ignoring for decades. I share the statistics nobody wants to put on a conference slide, the workforce collision that's already happening, and the question that's driven everything I've done for the past 20 years: how do we fix construction culture before construction culture fixes us? This is The Human Side of Construction Podcast. Episode 1 drops next featuring Geoff Smith, Executive Chair of EllisDon. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit humansideofconstruction.substack.com