5 reasons why respect for people isn’t peripheral:

Last week we blogged about the amazing news that the CITB   BE FaIR Framework had gained interest from 148 companies in the construction sector, and that 110 of them had been accepted onto the pilot. Off the back of that blog we had some really positive comments supporting the framework and the work that companies have been doing to drive this agenda forward in the sector.

"So encouraging to see such great take up of this by Main Contractors. Well done to Constructing Equality for helping to make some small steps towards a fairer and more respectful Construction Industry..."

By Nicola Dibb

Unfortunately, we also had some comments, like those from Dan Lewis below: that felt the agenda around respect was peripheral to more important issues in the sector - that resources should only be put into this area when there was a surplus and other factors are dealt with.

"It is peripheral because the focus of a company is on serving its clients and customers. The colour of one's skin, one's gender, or the nationality of one's parents has nothing to do with the mission of the company. As an executive, the first and only requirement of an employee is to serve the company's clients with respect and diligence. Yes, that requires people working together and well. But race, gender, et al have nothing to do with it. Management has to foster an environment built toward service and excellence. In a prosperous market, there are resources and time for such efforts. Most companies have to focus on something else right now. And as Matthew points out, employee development and recognition are important management activities, but that is because it is focused on what is performed, rather than who you are."By Dan Lewis

We feel this sentiment is missing the point and to consider that issues around respect affect only those visibly different from the norm is missing the point. Furthermore, to assume that equality is only an important factor when recruiting misunderstands the challenges faced by individuals in the sector and organisations trying to retain key talent.

Therefore we felt that we should explain why equality and respect for people are not peripheral but at the core of everything a business does.

1.       Innovation - groups of different people are more likely to be more innovative. This is true of personality types and factors like gender and background. A mixed range of experience is more likely to produce innovative solutions - imagine the solutions that would come from 12 people with the same experience and background. Then imagine the response from 12 people with a varied range. Not only does a mixed group have more experience to share, it is also much more likely to feel able to do so.

2.       Procurement - Public sector bodies procuring work in the UK are legally committed to improving equality in the workplace, so are their supply chain. I’m going to credit you all with the smarts to work out why that’s important to your business.

3.       Productive teams - We are at our best when we are happy - we are more productive and encourage productivity around us. Therefore, if members of the team are worried, harassed or unable to build a rapport with colleagues we are not able to get the most out of them. Things seemingly unrelated, like sexual orientation or religion, can have a huge impact here; if a colleague makes jokes and other people laugh it sends a message about how the group feels about other groups and can make individuals less likely to talk about what’s important to them. Imagine if you felt you couldn’t talk about your friends, hobbies, partners and interest for fear of giving away an identity that might be rejected by your colleagues.

4.       Retain Talent - If people don’t feel they are respected and valued within their roles, it is highly likely that they will seek employment elsewhere. Women and minority groups, especially those with a visible indicator, are likely to have a different experience in the construction workplace; usually a more stressful and discriminatory one. This experience is not something that others are aware that they are contributing to or think is something negative, but nonetheless it has a negative impact on careers. For example: - the site manager who protects the female trainee from the site environment by giving her more work in the office; the QS who only employs from their own pool of past colleagues; or the colleague who makes jokes around homosexuality. Whilst these acts might seem inoffensive, they can hold back a career by not providing the right experience and limit the opportunities from those trying to get a start in the sector who are not already in the main pool as well as making people afraid to be themselves and form real friendships in the work environment. You see… race, gender and a host of other factors have a lot to do with people working well together, and whilst you can choose to ignore this it will not stop it affecting you as you watch your key talent walk out the door.

5.       Encourage the best recruits - we know there is a shortage of skills in the sector and this problem is only likely to increase as we come out of the recession. That means the fight to attract the best talent is an important one. A good salary is only half the battle people want to know that their place of employment is committed to respect, and by being able to show this you are much more likely to attract key talent.

So there you have it, 5 reasons why this agenda is so important to your business. Thank you to all those who left comments – even ones we do not agree with; this blog shows they are a great way of furthering the debate, so please continue to let us know your thoughts on this agenda.

Happy Building

Chrissi

How we got to here - a history of Constructing Equality.

This month marks the sixth year anniversary of Constructing Equality Ltd and we thought we would provide you with a bit of history and perspective so that you can understand how we are working to make change in the sector.

2007 – 2009 The Learning Years                

Originally, after leaving my job as a site manager, I set up the company with the aim of helping businesses find an approach to aspects around equality that could understand the challenges they faced. What was very clear from the off was that the industry could not overcome many of the barriers it was presented with such as: - false self-employment, poor trainee record, and nepotistic culture, without working together. We knew
this because companies that had tried told us they found this work was undermined by competitors poaching staff they had trained and therefore were unable to pay more, was diluted on projects without the same underpinning and was not valued by clients - who often valued short-term initiatives for the community over longer term progress for industry; consequently this did not win tenders.  You might think that this is not important to equality, but it is, very important indeed. How can we expect the majority of the industry to co-operate in encouraging and developing individuals from minority backgrounds when they themselves feel undervalued, badly treated and threatened? We felt that in order to bring equality to the sector we needed to start with the workforce we already had.

2009 – 2011 – Formulating a Plan

The first two years were spent reading quite a bit - the next few were spent reading a lot; undertaking a Masters degree and transferring onto a PhD . Not only did we need to improve conditions in the sector for the individuals within it, but for the companies too and we needed to be able to back this up with research. Whilst ten years in industry gave us a good background in the sector we needed to establish a greater depth to the understanding of how policy, politics and the economy shaped the way the industry operates and then look at how we could set in motion a realistic plan to overcome those challenges together as a sector. We know from historic work, to succeed it needed to have value, but be reasonably priced, be highly complex in its understanding of the sector, people and equalities as well as easy for companies to understand and use - but most importantly have the ability to bring the industry together; trusting that if we worked together we would all benefit. Early on we understood that we could not develop this trust from a consultancy framework, nor could we do this alone. We therefore decided to approach CITB the sector skills council.

2012 – Present - Making Progress

CITB were looking to develop an equality standard of their own - so, with the timing right, we put forward the idea of something bigger - that went beyond equalities and tackled the issues faced by the sector in a way that was affordable and attainable to all organisations working within it. We won the bid and have been developing the CITB BE FaIR framework for the last year and a half with the first 6 strands (Sub-contractors and Main Contractors) being piloted this year and the second set of 8 also being tested. The BE FaIR framework has had an amazing response and whilst it is at the core of our business, it’s not all we do.

We also undertake research for CITB and other clients, Training for companies like Graham, Taylor Wimpey and Derbyshire County Council and consultation for the likes of  Vinci, CITB and CIC.

Aside from the business of making money, we commit 10% of our time to work which helps move this agenda forward in industry - not only with our more recognised resources like the website, quiz and newsletter, which contain a wealth of information and opportunities for companies to promote good practice, but also by running projects to retain students in universities, collecting data in industry (CIC), visiting schools to talk about careers in industry and talking at events.

In the future, we want to involve more of you in this work - creating a scheme where you can become supporters of Constructing Equality Ltd., which will essentially mean that you support the right of all people in industry to be treated fairly.  We in turn will look to give you training and opportunities to showcase your passion. At the end of the day, the company is guided by a love of industry and a vision of the potential of the sector. 

We already do amazing things on a daily basis - just imagine how much more we could do in the right working environment.

Please get in touch to find out how you can get involved,

Happy Building

Chrissi

Wedding rings – “To wear or not to wear?”

“I have spoken to people who have said they'd remove engagement or wedding rings before going into a job interview.

Has it become so bad that we perceive ourselves as having to almost lie in order not to be judged as falling into a certain stereotype? I.e. She is engaged and will therefore be married and have kids within a year so she’s not worth employing?”

In an ideal world the answer would be to wear your rings; the law is in place to protect you and make sure that you will not be discriminated against so you should have nothing to worry about.

The problem is we don’t live in an ideal world.  And whilst if you did face discrimination in a job interview because your prospective employers suspected you were newly married and about to start a family you could take legal action, but first of all, you would have to know that was the reason for their decision.  

Secondly, you would need to be able to prove it. Neither of which are particularly easy to do.

Even if you could prove it, the expense of a court case, in terms of finance, time and mental well-being  is high and the pay-outs are low - if you take away the few big pay-outs that are awarded, you find an average of £3/4k.

So what then should you do?

If you need a job, don’t care what job is and just have to pay the mortgage now…then it might be best to leave the ring at home. You see, it’s not just that some people do not employ “women of child bearing age” (a phrase we have heard more often that we would like to admit) or those who are recently married.  Although this direct discrimination is common, it is not the only thing you need to worry about; there is also the problem of inherent bias - subconsciously a lot of people think mums will take more time off, not be fully committed and generally fall short of the work a man can do. It doesn't matter that research has found the opposite to be true and it doesn't matter that you don’t want children; you look like you might have them and, to the under-educated, that makes you a risk not an asset.

If, on the other hand, you have a bit more choice and don’t need to take the first job that comes towards you; wear the ring . You see if you take a job with an employer who does not understand the business argument for equality and supporting working parents, it is likely that you will eventually find out about it (even if you never have children). If you do, this may be made apparent by being given lesser roles and responsibilities and possibly being made to feel unwanted if, and when, you do conceive. If you have the luxury of being able to take the risk let the employer self-select. This will enable you to find yourself an employer who “gets it”, one who knows the importance of supporting and retaining key talent – and don’t just do this because you’ll get extra maternity pay.  It goes further than that - a supportive working environment is more likely to retain key people which has a positive effect on profit; meaning that this is the company more likely to be around in ten or twenty years’ time.

The changes in law mean that men can now take paternity leave so the risk is there - male or female - and with an increasing number of men becoming the main or sole carer, the point should be that the questions and assumptions are made of all or none; failing to do this is denying someone an opportunity because of their gender, not because of their family status. A company deciding to discriminate is doing so despite the fact that it is illegal; whatever your moral position, they are in the wrong.

Happy Building,

Chrissi x

Site Managers - What they and I think I do........

As it is the Easter Bank Holiday this coming weekend we thought that we would take a slightly different approach to the blog this week and celebrate the long weekend with a dab of construction related comedy.

Whilst we have a lot of work to do around the image of construction, its healthy to have a little laugh at the current perceptions. My personal bug bear was always - "so your an architect....."

Not to exclude anyone planners, QS's, drylinners, ground workers and architects we would love to see your versions.

Happy building 

Chrissi x

What is the business case for diversity in the built environment?

There are a number of reasons why considering diversity is good for your business these include:

• To prevent legislative costs,

• To reap the benefits of employing a diverse team,

• To increase success on public sector tenders,

• To create a more supportive working environment.

When considering the business case you really need to think about what area of the business you are focusing on and what the business case means to you for example do you value the bottom line, employee retention or productivity as a priority?

The research is stronger in some areas than others for example women on strategic boards is an area currently receiving a lot of attention due to the Davies report and the direction France, Spain and Norway have taken with regards to quotas. The wonderful catalyst has also been doing great work for 50 years this year looking at the benefits of gender equality.

Yet diversity isn’t all about gender, what about people from different ethnic and religious communities or those who for some other reason experience life in a different way to the majority? In construction there hasn’t been too much research looking at a tangible business argument though there is research from outside of the sector.

The current research suggests that there is an argument for diversity when it is well managed and understood. Unfortunately a badly thought through strategy can have a negative impact on your business which is why I would always advise clients to avoid undertaking a tick box approach – it’s likely to cost you more in the long run.

The idea behind the business model is that you should be attracting a diverse workforce not to predominantly “do the right thing” or “ensure fairness for all” but in fact to strengthen your productivity and bottom line. Here are some examples of how diversity can be a positive to your organisation.

Become an employer of choice.

For minorities in construction, the support they will receive from their employer is an important factor in choosing who they will work for. It therefore stands to reason that if you can promote high retention rates and support services, you will find more interest from not only minorities but the top end of the workforce in general. A series of surveys by Target Jobs in 2008 into construction found work life balance and development opportunities to be the most important factors in deciding upon an employer.

Improve business performance

Here it’s important to note that the research suggests that a well-managed group of diverse employees will improve your productivity and profit in a number of ways which include mirroring your client base, having a wider pool of experience and creativity and being able to tap into more networks. But if the group is not well managed, the same cannot be said.

Change appears to happen at strategic level when there are more than three women on a board; in fact a US study of fortune 500 companies found that those with 3+ women on the board all reported significantly stronger than average profits.

At tactical level research has found that diverse groups outperform more capably homogeneous groups, which backs up the theory that different experiences provide us with different viewpoints and solutions.

Retain knowledge and experience

Research into diversity in construction suggests that more could have been done to stop the majority of women leaving the construction industry. What’s more compelling is the amount of money that could have been saved if we had. A 2009 government report “Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement.” put the cost of replacing an employee roughly equivalent to their salary, once training, corporate knowledge and intellectual capita are considered. The same report found that committed employees are 87% less likely to leave their organisations than those less engaged; they also perform 20% better. Instead of thinking can we afford to support our staff? Isn’t it time we started to question if we can afford not to?

Skills Shortage

The latest skills survey from the CIOB finds 72% of respondents felt there was still a skills shortage. Without recruiting from the entire selection pool we are not only failing to meet demand for numbers but also failing to find the best candidates for the roles available. Increasingly a number of smaller studies have found that young men are also avoiding construction due to its macho image and male dominance. In short, to ensure that we encourage the best recruits, we need to offer the most appealing, diverse and professional environment.

Meet procurement standards and stakeholder requirements

Public authorities need to meet the equality duties of The Equality Act 2010 and more importantly, so do their subcontractors. With 60% of current work coming from this sector that’s big news for contractors. By being able to align your organisation to the needs of your client you are putting yourself in a solid position to win more work.

With a large percentage of women and minorities now making procurement decisions for public sector work they want to see themselves represented in your workforce, so if all you have to offer is middle aged white men, it might not be enough.

Happy building, Chrissi

For all things construction and equality, get yourself over to the Constructing Equality Ltd. website. 

Why the Prompt Payment Code matters to people in the construction industry.

I have worked for a main contractor, sub-contractor and, for my sins, I married a PQS - so I’d like to think I have a bit of an idea around how late payments work – though, as always, I’m happy to be corrected.

In the worst case scenario main contractors retain money from sub-contractors so that they can invest/buy land.

“Evil main contractors!” I hear you say? Well no, not always. Whilst some companies do this as a business model, many are being forced back down a route that was abandoned in the early 2000’s due to client’s ever increasing pressure to reduce costs. This means profit margins are slashed and the retention of payment is the only way to make money.

Evil clients then? Well, again, not always; when everyone is submitting similar prices it can be hard to know that something should cost more. Also, the news is rife with stories about construction bid-rigging and cover-pricing. Although in industry we might know there is a big difference between these terms and clients have asked for a cover price on more than one occasion, localised clients don’t. This means there is an air of distrust and reasonable prices can be seen as a bit of a con.

Why does late payment matter to the people?

Quite a few reasons:

• Sub-contractors have to wait up to three months to get paid, which can mean making staff redundant, but more likely moving to a self-employed model of work. Whilst there are up-sides to this for those who enjoy true self-employment, there is a dirty dark side. Harvey [1] found a large number of people working in construction were falsely self-employed, meaning they had no choice over the hours they worked (the same as a regular employee), but did not receive employee benefits such as holiday pay, sick pay and employment rights. In the very worst cases, the situation was used to pay people less than minimum wage.  This isn't to say that this happens to everyone everywhere, but it does happen and late payments encourage that. As a site manager once said to me, “we once employed a team to supply and pour concrete for less than we could buy it with our own substantial discount – we really should have looked into that.”

• As a site manager bad subbies would make my life very difficult, and it’s pretty likely that a underpaid, unfairly treated person is not going to be a pleasure to work with - the worse we treat people the worse they behave. Don’t believe me? Look at your own reactions - very few people can smile in the face of constant disadvantage; obviously I’m not including Preston fans. This means our lives are made increasingly difficult, subcontractors are harder to work with and yet we have the same, if not shorter, time frames to do it all in. Not exactly great for our blood pressure. 

• If, as often happens, a sub-contractor goes under due to late payments, someone is needed to come in last minute which is never easy to find, creating additional headaches and cost. Quite often, more cost than would have been saved if the subbie had been paid on time in the first place.

• The image of the industry also slips again; stories of late payment, subbies going under and false self-employment create a bleak picture of the industry and of those who work in it, which ultimately feeds the client view. 

Before anyone says this blog adds to the problem, I would disagree. The problem is that acceptance of late payment practices treats people as if they don’t have rights or an expectation of fairness. As a sector we must work together to eradicate these issues by first acknowledging they exist, then finding a way to overcome them. Whilst we are fragmented and apart, Clients cannot always see when a rogue contractor is bringing the sector down. By signing and adhering to a code of practice we can take the steps in the right direction.  And though no one is saying this will make the world better overnight, at least it won’t be pushing it further backward.

Happy Building, Chrissi.

For all things construction and equality; get yourself over to Constructing Equality Ltd.

The business of site: 10 things running a site can tell you about running a business.

Last week when we spoke about the reasons why we felt a career in construction was worth it, we started thinking a little about the link between working on site and running a business.  After all building sites might have the support of head office, but more often than not you’re pretty alone out there and the process you follow of setting up office, managing work and closing the site down is pretty similar to any small business with an exit strategy. So for those who have been caught out by the recession, or others seeking new opportunities, why not think about your skills differently and see how you can apply them to your own business.   

This week let’s consider 10 things running a site can tell you about running a business.   

Please note, I've written these from the point of view of a setting-out engineer/site manager, so please feel free to comment on how other roles might see this transition: -

1.     How to start.

So you've got a site and an idea of what needs to be done, but how do you do it? Think like a site and get a plan, establish contacts, collate the right information and find out what the critical path is. You already know how to ring people you don’t know, so just do it; try to imagine yourself as a business, not an individual, and this will be a lot easier.

2.     Managing finance

I know unless you work in America most sites will have a QS that handles this work, but that doesn't mean there is no financial interaction; the basics are there - collecting information for contra-charges, checking day rate sheets and information learnt from progress meetings. Trust me, you know this stuff and, whilst some of it gets a bit more complicated, for about £100 a year you can hire an accountant to take the pain away.

3.     Managing staff

If you can motivate sub-contractors who don’t work directly for you, you have already got more skill in this area than you’re giving yourself credit for. Do be careful though, it’s much more difficult to manage people directly; you are paying them with money that could otherwise be going into your own pocket, which is why it’s even more important to build up trusting relationships and empower your employees.

4.     Managing programs

This is, kind of, our thing, which makes life easier - though do be prepared to find out that Microsoft Project Professional costs about £900 per computer; like me, you might have to go old school and use excel for, at least, the first few years.

5.     Producing a quality product

Again, you know what to check for and how to ensure quality; you know when a line needs to be drawn to mm thickness and when a can of spray will do. Apply this to your business to help you prioritise and not waste time on work that doesn’t need to be perfect; trust me, when you’re running your own business, time is not a luxury you will have to waste.

6.     Marketing yourself

Ok, so this is where my plan falls down a little. Most builders I know are not great marketers, but they do have a great base of hard work and quality product to build upon. The industry needs to up-skill when it comes to telling people how much it achieves so don’t take lessons from it here, instead look outside of the sector and see how other companies brand and sell that brand.

7.     Added value

Another thing we do a lot in construction. We look at the big picture; the building needs to get built so we put in extra hours, skills and money to make it happen, often without really considering it – it’s just got to be done. Think of your business in the same way, without being taken advantage of, and work with your clients to achieve their goals. If this means a small bit of additional work, weigh up what’s best in the long run.

8.     Entrepreneurial spirit

On site we find ourselves problem-solving as a matter of course, which is a great stepping stone into business management. Knowing how to overcome issues, seeing the bigger picture and knowing what needs to be done are tools you can’t afford to be without.

9.     Managing risk

In business you need to know which risks will provide a return and which are best left alone.  Again this is something we learn through health and safety training and the day to day experience of life on site.

10. Leadership

Running a site means leading a team. If you can get a site to follow your vision you should appreciate that as a valuable skill that is not as common as you think, and being able to apply that to your own business is a key factor in success.

Happy building, Chrissi

For all things construction and equality; get yourself over to Constructing Equality Ltd.

Is it all worth it in the end? Twenty things construction taught me…

Yes, no and maybe. You see, this question depends upon the role you work in, the people you work for, the company you work in, your personal support networks, your ambitions and your views on work/life balance. 

It can be worth it; examples like Anna Stewart show that it is possible for a woman to rise to the top of a major construction company on her own merit.

It can also not be worth it; there are unfortunately a lot of people who have left the sector because of the way they were treated, not because they did not enjoy the work.

Maybe; because there are many people who have found themselves somewhere they did not expect - in education, training or running a business, as a result of the environments they worked in.

I can only speak from my own experience, but I feel it was worth it. Whilst I was not able to achieve my original ambitions of building flagship projects and winning the Construction Manager of the Year Award, I have been able to accomplish many other things that I would never have thought possible, such as running my own business, undertaking a PhD and speaking in the House of Lords. Without my career in construction, good and bad, I don’t believe I would have been able to create the varied, challenging and rewarding career I have today.

So whilst I can’t tell you if it will be worth it in the end, I can tell you what working in construction has taught me: -

1. People don’t always know what they are talking about, or care.
2. There is a point when you get so wet in the rain that it ceases to matter.
3. What hard work really is.
4. The best sentence in the world is “I built this”.
5. Some people will go a long way out of their way to help you progress, and never ask a thing for it.
6. How to multi task.
7. How to problem solve.
8. How to manage, cold, wet, angry people.
9. How to get up really bloomin’ early.
10. That the impossible can be achieved as long as you have a programme and a good team.
11. The importance of being kind, especially when someone is stressed
12. How to run a business, before I ever ran a business.
13. I cannot drink as much alcohol as ground workers.
14. You can tell the amount of concrete in a wagon by the number of wheels it has.
15. How to handle complex and interesting work.
16. Trigonometry isn’t that difficult.
17. Some people like being nasty.
18. People will do extra work for you if you give them Jaffa cakes.
19. Most people just want to be appreciated.
20. Floating concrete is one of life’s small joys.

If you look at life as a journey and don’t consider the experience of working on site as an end point, but look instead at all the experiences that make up that picture, I personally think it’s worth it. If you get a good company and good managers that will help you achieve your ambitions - then brilliant, we wish you well. If you’re not so lucky, there is still a lot that can be taken away from the experience that will help you succeed.

Whilst I no longer get to build buildings, something that I miss very much, I get to run a business and possibly change an industry - two things I am only capable of because of my career in construction.

So yes, I think it’s worth it.

Happy building, Chrissi.

To view previous Constructing Equality Ltd. blogs please visit:

Constructing Equality Ltd. Blogspot.