Put aside the heavy equipment, powerful tools, steel beams and other tangible images associated with the construction industry. Hiring and retaining talented employees requires companies to focus on intangibles, such as a potential hire's individual goals and values.

Different dynamics are at work in the construction industry now, said Suzanne Breistol, a co-founder of ConstructionConnection.com, an Austin, Texas-based networking and information resource for construction industry professionals.

During the recession that began in 2008, midsize and smaller construction companies were forced to take different types of projects, shifting, for example, from high-rises to government buildings, Ms. Breistol said. Employers learned that different projects require different types of skills and talents in order to be completed cost-effectively and to meet clients' expectations.

Construction companies must strategize about their hiring decisions, continually assessing their workforces and aligning them with future business plans, industry experts said. Construction industry employers also must periodically examine what they have to offer workers.

Tamika Carter, director of construction human resources for The Associated General Contractors of America in Alexandria, Va., said companies “are trying to promote construction as a career choice, not as a job option.”

To that end, employers are implementing measures such as continuing health benefits beyond construction season, and offering paid vacations, sick leave and retirement plans, Ms. Carter said.

Potential employees also are looking for things that will enrich their careers and enhance the quality of their work lives, such as continuing education and excellent safety programs, said Ms. Breistol, who specializes in construction industry employment consulting and recruitment.

“Everybody's going to have to have a tighter ship going forward,” said Ms. Breistol. “It's not about hiring people, it's about hiring the right people,” she said.

Holly Webster, human resources manager for KWA Construction L.P., an Dallas-based general contractor with 36 employees, said the biggest challenge is to balance the cost of hiring and retaining employees with the need to have employees trained and ready when projects begin.

Ms. Webster is “actively looking to get ahead in hiring field staff,” for example, the superintendents who oversee job sites, to prepare for 2013's projects. The company has modified its hiring process to identify and encompass “a mix of skill sets and values” to recruit people looking for a career path, she said. The company aims to determine “what (potential employees) need to be happy.”

“If you go out and hire a bunch of people, and you don't take the time to evaluate what those people need, then you are not going to be able to retain them,” Ms. Breistol said.

If retaining people requires that they be offered excellent training opportunities and a top-notch safety program, those items must be factored into the “human capital cost,” she said.

Training is valued by young people coming out of trade schools or vocational programs, Ms. Breistol said. Those programs can be outsourced, as long as they are available and the tuition is paid, she said. An approachable mentor is equally important.

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Ms. Webster of KWA agrees. “Personal development is huge,” she said. KWA pays for a variety of programs, ranging from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification and Occupational Health and Safety Administration-related training to management training, computer classes and other industry-related continuing education, Ms. Webster said.

The emphasis on safety also is being accommodated in new ways, said the Associated General Contractors' Ms. Carter. Employers “take safety training right to the job site with mobile training facilities” and sometimes conduct “safety stand-downs” where the day is spent on safety education rather than work, she said.

“The ideal safety program,” Ms. Breistol said, is consistent and monitored, and features leadership, rewards and penalties. “Safety must be a line item in the operations budget,” she said.

Another factor that potential employees are looking for as job opportunities increase is technology.

“Employees want a company that's up-to-date on technology, that makes their lives easier,” Ms. Breistol said. They want the capability of handling administrative tasks from the field in a paperless environment.

With midsize and smaller construction companies competing for skilled workers, Ms. Breistol has this advice: “A smart employer is evaluating the team on a regular basis.”