Barriers to diversity can be overcome: Rennehan
Tearing down the barriers that discourage traditionally under-represented groups from working in construction may not be that difficult a thing to do, and the COVID-19 pandemic may be just the thing to help contractors do it.
FreshCo CEO Mandy Rennehan, who was due to serve as the keynote speaker during the Canadian Construction Association’s 2020 convention in San Diego last spring, spoke with association present Mary Van Buren about labour force issues in construction, and steps contractors can take to address labour shortages, barriers to work in the industry, and a lack of diversity.
The presentation was part of the CCA’s Un-Conference—an alternative delivery format for several of the sessions that were planned in March.
During a one-on-one video discussion, Rennehan and Van Buren discussed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workforce.
“New thinking about safety and hygiene is another modality people have to accept,” said Rennehan. “Hygiene and physical distancing were never big things in our industry until now. Now that they are, companies are thinking differently and being creative about their operations.”
Van Buren asked whether a renewed focus on safety and hygiene would help attract new workers and those from traditionally under-represented groups into the industry.
“Absolutely, it will help us,” said Rennehan. “The older generation of workers used to accept that it was the norm to use porta potties in minus-20 degree weather. But why is that ok? It’s because our people have accepted this as the thing to do.”
Rennehan said the industry needs human capital now more than it ever has before, but if it doesn’t change its ways by, for example, giving people toilet facilities in trailers that are pleasant to use, it risks closing the door to new streams of workers.
“We have to invest in things like these that give people as much dignity as they would receive if they chose to work in an office building. It’s time to change that thinking.”
Rennehan also suggested that the industry’s lack of ability to attract a greater number of female workers and those from under-represented groups has a great deal to do with how it presents itself. She said the industry is very skilled at getting its work done, but far less at marketing itself.
“We need to create cultures and brands that support diversity,” she said. “These days, it’s not enough to have a great company with good people that do good work. You have to show people who you are as a company. Women and other under-represented groups want to know how they will be supported at your company and how they will fit in. That’s what you have to show them.”
She added that the industry has to do much more to strike down the notion that young people have to go to university to be accepted in society.