A Fairness, Inclusion and Respect survey reveals serious issues with the way the industry values and appreciates employees. Dale Turner says only by embracing inclusiveness at all levels can talent be attracted and retained in construction.
Dale Turner
Inclusion matters. Valuing and appreciating uniqueness and diversity is what supports people at work to do their very best. It is the right thing to do, it feels good. However, make no mistake, inclusion is no mere nice-to-have – it is an economic necessity, especially for construction.
Some of the reasons it is now so important can be counted in their thousands, literally, with the industry forecast to need more than 223,000 new employees by 2019, at an average of 44,600 a year.
Unfortunately, only 9,306 apprenticeships were completed at the last annual count and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills reports just one in 20 teenagers expressing an interest in the sector. As a result, the workforce percentage of under-24-year-olds is actually falling, not rising. Factor in a lower-than-average proportion of 14.5% women employed and you start to get the worrying picture.
Historically, of course, UK construction has relied on a fallback resource of new immigrant workers coming into the country to plug the skills gap. Future prospects for this supply stream are, however, poor and worsening, with immigration policies under review, plus Brexit a reality.
Therefore, in terms of market opportunity and business risk for an employer in construction and infrastructure, inclusion really matters. As well as being a key differentiator in the battle to attract and retain talent, it increases staff engagement, productivity and creativity, boosting financial returns, enabling growth and bolstering resilience.
So, what are we doing about it? Well, recognising a need for culture change in the workplace is one thing, but making it happen is another. In response, the Supply Chain School has been working with clients such as Network Rail, HS2 and Highways England, as well as contractors including Balfour Beatty, BAM Construction, Carillion, Graham Construction, Interserve, Skanska and Vinci Construction UK, to produce a practical new Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Toolkit for Construction. Led by CECA and delivered with funding from CITB, it is being rolled out UK-wide, via an ongoing programme of workshops.
The FIR Toolkit provides a library of free resources that anyone can access and use, at any time. Designed directly to help construction employers upskill their workforce – from senior management through to site operatives – it comprises e-learning modules and a suite of four video-backed Toolbox Talks, as well as useful case study examples.
Of course, given the challenge of recruiting new employees, the last thing construction can afford is to lose existing personnel and be a “leaky bucket” for talent. So, to find out how our industry rates at present against the FIR agenda, we asked the workers themselves.
Hard data is key and, whilst we have long had anecdotal reports, the findings of the resulting FIR Culture Survey now provide us all with up-to-date, real-world evidence to confirm suspicions and challenge assumptions. So, what do the actual numbers tell us?
Well, first impressions seem positive, with almost all respondents (98%) saying they felt safe at work and the majority (85%) comfortable to “be themselves”. However, it is when we drill down that we start to unearth some key discrepancies symptomatic of discontent and disconnect:
- Respondents within smaller organisations are consistently much happier with their workplace. As many as 53% within client organisations believed people had quit jobs because of the way they had been treated, whereas the figure for labour agencies or SMEs was far lower, at only 29%;
- The proportion of respondents that did not feel managers and supervisors behaved and spoke to people in a way that helped them do their best was more than double among clients (39%), compared to labour agencies and SMEs (17%);
- There were marked differences between the responses of operative-level employees and those of directors or management staff. Whilst 39% of respondents on average believed certain groups of people were treated unfairly, or less favourably, than others at their place of work, the discrepancy between a mere 19% of managerial staff and a whopping 51% of operatives was dramatic;
- Ultimately, most damning is the concluding statistic that more than one in four respondents would feel unable to recommend their place of work to family and friends – this is not the kind of endorsement hoped for by a sector desperate to attract and retain talent.
Construction has clear issues to address, both within the industry and individual organisations. The call therefore is for inclusive leadership to optimise the performance value of diversity going forward.
Success will require us to hear, understand and respect different perspectives, better; whilst at the same time challenging divisive behaviours and unfair practices, constructively. The good news is that we have both the incentive and now the tools to change.
Dale Turner is director of procurement and supply chain at Skanska UK and a member of the industry Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Steering Group, at the Supply Chain School
