Diversity is more than a buzzword in the construction industry. It is a key factor that can boost your team performance, creativity, and innovation. In this article, you will learn how to create a more diverse construction team and how to leverage the benefits of diversity for your projects.
Diversity refers to the broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, skills, and experiences that your team members bring to the table. This type of variety can offer many advantages, such as enhancing problem-solving and decision-making by providing different viewpoints and approaches. Additionally, it can improve communication and collaboration by cultivating a culture of respect and inclusion. Furthermore, it can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty by comprehending and serving the needs of diverse markets and stakeholders. Lastly, it can attract and retain talent by providing a stimulating and rewarding work environment.
Before you can create a more diverse construction team, you need to know where you stand. To do this, you can conduct a diversity audit, which is a process of collecting and analyzing data on your team's composition, performance, and culture. This includes questions such as the demographics of your team, such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, and experience. You should also investigate how your team members perceive the level of diversity and inclusion in your team and organization as well as how diversity affects your team's productivity, quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Additionally, it is important to identify the challenges and opportunities for improving diversity and inclusion in your team and organization.
Expanding your talent pool and creating a more diverse construction team can be achieved by reviewing job descriptions and requirements to ensure they are clear, relevant, and inclusive. Additionally, it is important to use multiple channels and platforms to advertise vacancies, such as social media, job boards, referrals, and community networks. Partnering with organizations and institutions that promote diversity and inclusion, such as schools, colleges, associations, and NGOs is also beneficial. Finally, implementing fair and objective screening and selection processes that focus on the skills and competencies of the candidates is essential.
Creating a more diverse construction team can be achieved through offering ongoing training and development opportunities. These can include orientation and induction programs that introduce your team members to the values, goals, and expectations of the team and organization, technical and soft skills training that enhance knowledge, abilities, and performance, mentoring and coaching relationships that support growth and career progression, as well as learning and feedback loops that enable your team members to share their insights, experiences, and best practices.
The final way to create a more diverse construction team is to adopt effective management practices that foster a positive and productive team culture. This can be done by setting clear and achievable goals and roles that align with your team's vision and mission, as well as communicating openly and frequently with your team members using various methods and languages. Additionally, recognizing and rewarding your team members' contributions and achievements, both individually and collectively, is another important factor. Resolving conflicts and issues constructively and respectfully, using mediation and negotiation techniques, is also key. Finally, celebrating and leveraging your team's diversity by acknowledging and appreciating the differences and similarities among your team members is essential.
In the greater Boston area I work in, more and more the work force is Hispanic. A common complain is the language barrier. That important ability to communicate. I once over saw the exterior finish of a home with 2 Brazilian carpenters who spoke no English at all. But we did share a common language and that was as carpenters. They did an outstanding job just thru little sketches and examples. But I also learned a simple thing in the last few years. I learned the word for “Good Morning “in their language. Buenos Dias if Spanish and Bon Gia if Portuguese’s. Just a bit of acknowledging someone’s humanity goes a long way it turns out.
I would add having a diverse, engaged, valued, and respected is enriching. If everybody shares exactly the same thoughts, has the same type of background, education and life and industry experiences, then this is not going to provide for a diverse range of skills and opinions. For example, if disabled persons are not engaged in professional construction roles, then they cannot offer the benefit of their insights, in making buildings better for disabled people (who represent 17.8% of the population of England and Wales based on 2021 figures). There is also a huge amount of potential for the construction industry to offer retraining to people who find themselves in poverty.