Leader Scout

Construction leaders know their businesses need to change.

The harder part is actually making it happen.

In this episode of Leader Scout, Tom sits down with Alastair Blenkin, Founder and CEO of ProcurePro, to unpack what he’s learned building a construction technology business from Australia to roughly 100 staff and expanding internationally.

They get into why construction businesses can be slow to adopt new systems, why previous technology failures create resistance, and why having more data or AI doesn’t automatically mean better commercial decisions.

Alastair also breaks down how ProcurePro approaches its own hiring as the business scales, including why every role starts with defining WGLL “what good looks like”, how founder videos are used to qualify candidates, and why the work done before the interview can matter more than the interview itself.

Connect with Alastair: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alastairblenkin/

Follow Leader Scout:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/leader-scout

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leaderscoutpod

If you're responsible for hiring, commercial performance or leading change inside a construction business, this conversation is worth your time.Break it. Build it. Share it.

Every conversation, every update, every delay, and every piece of feedback tells candidates what it's really like to work for your business.

In this episode, I revisit three hiring habits that continue to separate businesses that consistently attract great people from those that keep missing out.

• Why communication shapes the candidate experience

• The role honest feedback plays in protecting your reputation

• How speed can be the difference between securing great talent and losing it

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

We've convinced people there's only one way to have a successful career.

Get promoted. Manage people. Lead a team.

But what if that's exactly where we're getting it wrong?

In this episode, I explore why some of the industry's most important roles are becoming the hardest to fill, what I've learnt from speaking with engineers and employers across construction, and why career progression doesn't have to mean moving into management.

In this episode:

• Why estimating has become one of the hardest roles to recruit
• The story that changed how I think about career progression
• Why businesses need more than one definition of success
• One practical change every employer should consider

Because the people who win projects, solve problems, and master their craft are just as important as the people leading the team.Listen to the full episode on Spotify.

Follow Leader Scout for practical conversations on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

Every business wants to grow.

But growth becomes difficult the moment it asks us to change the way we've always done things.

In this episode, I unpack why businesses resist change, what it's really costing them, and how the best leaders know when to challenge the status quo before it becomes a competitive disadvantage.

• Why "We've always done it this way" might be the most expensive mindset in business
• The hidden fears behind resistance to new systems, technology, and better processes
• Practical ways to evaluate whether a new idea will improve your business or simply add complexity
• The leadership behaviours that help teams embrace change instead of resisting it

Because the biggest risk isn't trying something new.

It's staying comfortable while the industry moves forward.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses

I've shared my thoughts on hiring, leadership, retention, alignment, and building better businesses on previous episodes.

This week, I wanted to take a step back and explain where those ideas actually came from, and what building People8 has taught me about leading people, growing a business, and knowing when it's time to let go.

In this episode, I share some of the biggest leadership lessons I've learnt since starting People8.

• Why building a business forced me to think beyond recruitment and focus on long-term partnerships

• The quote that changed how I think about leadership, delegation, and growing a team

• Why great leaders don't try to carbon copy themselves, they build capability in the people around them

• How clarity, expectations, and trust create the foundation for teams that can grow without becoming dependent on one person

Because if you want to build a business that lasts, leadership isn't about doing more yourself.

It's about creating an environment where other people can succeed.

Listen to the full episode now.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

AI isn't coming. It's already here.

The question isn't whether you'll use it. The question is whether you'll learn to use it well while keeping people at the centre of your hiring decisions.

In this episode, I break down where AI adds real value to the hiring process, where it falls short, and why the best hiring managers will always stay in the pilot's seat.

• Why businesses that ignore AI risk being left behind
• How AI can remove repetitive admin and speed up your hiring process
• Where human judgement still matters most, from interviews to hiring decisions
• Three practical questions to help you decide where AI belongs in your business

Technology should improve the way you hire. It should never replace the people responsible for making the decision.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

Too many businesses try to assess capability, sell the role, discuss salary, and make a hiring decision all in one conversation. The result is two polished sales pitches instead of an honest discussion about whether both sides are actually the right fit.

In this episode, I explain why I've stopped calling the first meeting an interview and started calling it an alignment discussion.

• Why trying to achieve too much in the first interview increases hiring risk
• The three areas of alignment every hiring manager should explore before discussing salary or benefits
• Better questions that uncover expectations, motivation, and long-term fit
• A simple framework you can use to make better hiring decisions from the very first conversation

Alignment is what gives both the business and the candidate the best chance of succeeding.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

Most bad hires don't surprise you. The warning signs were there long before they started.

The challenge is spotting them before urgency takes over and a decision gets made.

In this episode, I break down five candidate red flags I've seen repeatedly throughout my career and the questions hiring managers should be asking before making an offer.

• Why repeated short tenures deserve investigation, not assumptions

• The difference between candidates who explain responsibilities and candidates who explain results

• What accountability sounds like in an interview and what blame sounds like

• How reference checks can confirm or completely contradict the story you've been told

Because the cost of a vacant role hurts today.

The cost of a bad hire often hurts for the next 12 months.

Listen to the "Why 'Good Culture' is a Terrible Interview Answer" here.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

Australia's construction and infrastructure market is heading into a serious workforce squeeze.

Infrastructure Australia is projecting a 300,000 worker shortfall by 2027, but that number will not hit every business evenly. It will affect project managers, engineers, site leaders, tradespeople, regional contractors, infrastructure delivery teams, and renewable energy projects in very different ways.

In this episode of Leader Scout, I break down what that shortage actually means for your next hire.

Because the issue is not just that talent is harder to find.

The bigger issue is that many businesses are still hiring like the market has not changed.

We cover:

• Why the worker shortage is already showing up in hiring cycles
• Why project managers, engineers, trades, and site leaders are becoming harder to secure
• Why regional projects are facing a different labour market altogether
• How long hiring processes are costing businesses good people
• Why waiting for the “perfect candidate” is often a delivery risk
• The difference between cost per hire and cost of vacancy
• A practical hiring framework every leader should be using before going to market

If you are responsible for hiring, leading teams, or delivering projects across construction, infrastructure, civil, energy, renewables, or trades, this episode will help you think differently about workforce planning.

The businesses best positioned in 2027 will not be the ones simply recruiting harder.

They will be the ones building better hiring systems now.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.

If attracting experienced people feels harder than ever right now, the problem might not be salary, competition, or the skills shortage.Your job advert could be sending the wrong signals.

In this episode of Leader Scout, I break down why experienced project managers, engineers, construction professionals, and infrastructure leaders can often tell within seconds whether a business truly understands the role it's hiring for.

Vague phrases like "wear multiple hats", "fast-paced environment", and "must be adaptable" don't create interest. They create doubt.

Because experienced candidates aren't just evaluating the role. They're evaluating leadership clarity, workload expectations, project stability, reporting structures, and the operational maturity of the business behind the advert.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why vague job ads quietly drive quality candidates away
• What experienced professionals are really looking for before they apply
• How job adverts reveal leadership thinking and business maturity
• Why salary transparency matters more than many employers realise
• A practical framework for creating clearer, more effective job adverts

If you're hiring project managers, contract administrators, site managers, engineers, supervisors, or construction professionals in today's market, this episode will help you attract better applicants by creating more clarity from the very beginning.

Leader Scout is the podcast for business owners, operations managers, project directors, and hiring leaders who want to hire smarter, lead better, and retain the people they've worked hard to bring on.

Follow Leader Scout for practical insights on hiring, leadership, retention, and workforce strategy across construction, infrastructure, and project-driven businesses.