Thoughts from the Field
Jim Rogers
Teaching construction professionals to integrate safety, quality, and productivity with over 2 million on-line learners
February 5, 2024
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We started out the new year by introducing a new Professional Certificate program for construction professionals on LinkedIn for Learning . This is part of a new initiative on the platform to pair outstanding learning content with comprehensive assessments that reward successful participants with a credential that highlights their commitments. Additional certificate programs include Supply Chain Management, Business Communication Skills, and more. View them all here.
The Construction Management Professional certificate program covers over 12 hours of content and is followed by a final exam developed by a panel of subject matter experts. Earning the certificate is no small feat! Now you can show off your accomplishment by adding it to the "Education" section of your LinkedIn profile. When you do, you will automatically show up as an "Alumni" on the program's LinkedIn page so people (and employers) can see your accomplishment.
Need some instructions on how this works? Check out this help article, or visit the program page at https://www.dhirubhai.net/school/construction-management-professional-certificate/
Always Reacting, Rarely Thinking Ahead
Construction's Labor Problem
The #construction industry, myself included, has been complaining about the lack of skilled workers for a long time, and we have always been quick to blame this on high schools pushing students to go to four-year colleges and not talking about the opportunities in the trades and the industry as a whole. While these things are certainly true (I have a child in high school and I see the bias), is it really the whole picture? Maybe it's time for us to own part of this.
We are not very good at keeping people in the industry. The ones we get leave at an alarming pace. Do we excel at training? Upskilling? Providing benefits? Creating work environments that people want to be in? I am going to say no.
Apprenticeship programs are wonderful. They are a big part of the solution here, but my experience over the last three decades is that they are not well supported by the trade contractors...unless they are Union contractors. I have had extensive involvement in both types of programs. The non-union trade contractors will rarely pay for apprentice tuition and getting them to release apprentices from the job site in time to get to class is like pulling teeth.
There has been increased discussion lately about new government funded trade school programs, but who is providing the money for these new efforts and training programs? The discussion in the article below is very telling. We have all known this is coming. The efforts described in the article needed to be started long ago and supported by the industry. They needed to be followed by changes in the industry that make it more attractive to young workers. But here we are. In an extreme labor shortage with even more people continuing to leave the industry. My question is...what are we, as an industry, doing about it?
The Growing Digital Divide
Speaking of always reacting, our industry also continues to be criticized for being slow to adopt technology. I have written about this in the past, and while I agree with the statement, I am not sure I agree that the industry needed to wholesale adopt technology just for the sake of doing it. That is right up until now.
It is time to go digital before we lose any more ground. I am not talking about AI, or Augmented Reality, or even BIM. I am just talking about ditching the paper blueprints and going digital. While there are those that will state that we are already there, I will disagree. Yes, big players such as Procore Technologies and Autodesk Construction Cloud have made significant inroads with the medium to large general contractors, the adoption is not flowing to the trade contractors like it needs to.
In the last quarter of 2023, I partnered with Fieldwire by Hilti to create content aimed at calling attention to the need to go digital because I still see paper blueprints as the default norm in the industry among the group of people that need digital the most, the trades. Even when the project management team is digital, the field crews tend to remain on paper. The trades, our subcontractors, the people doing the work in the field, are mostly stuck on paper.
Just look at one piece of the industry, production home building. That entire segment of the construction industry has yet to go digital, in spite of the benefits such as improved communications, better change order management, complete plan revision control, and more. This is a huge piece of the industry that for the most part isn't even working on the digital transformation.
Once again, we are waiting to react instead of thinking ahead.
So, what are the implications? What are the potential consequences of being late to this party?
Quite simply, this ties directly back to the labor shortage. Going digital allows us to be more efficient. When we waste less time trying to find the correct information, we can finish the day and go home on time. When we stop doing things two and three times because we had the wrong information, we can employ fewer people. And when we can start to show the world that the construction industry is modernizing, adopting technology to be safer and more efficient, and equipping our people the tools and skills they need to be successful, we can start to attract more new people to what amounts to one of the most important industries in the world.
Take Away
It is time to start thinking differently. Trade contractors need to start investing in training the new workforce and upskilling the existing workforce. Government initiatives have created training and apprenticeship programs throughout the world, and there are high school programs in existence in many areas that introduce young people to the construction industry. Most have very poor support from industry partners and this needs to change today.
If you are a trade contractor, go find a local apprenticeship program for your trade and put someone in it. Take a chance on training someone. If you don't employ anyone that is working through a formal training program, you have to ask yourself if you might be part of the labor shortage problem.
If you are a general contractor, you need to push this from the top down by providing encouragement and support. When you are evaluating your trade contractors, start including this in the metrics. Do they have a formal training program or participate in an apprenticeship program? What are they doing to secure the workforce of tomorrow?
STOP USING PAPER BLUEPRINTS!
Yes, its bold and all caps and I keep saying it. It's time to go digital and it's really easy to do. Go check out the You Tube series that I created with Fieldwire by Hilti . There are six, five-minute videos that show how fast you can do this and review all the benefits you can leverage once you switch digital. If you really want to dive in and need some help, I have a learning cohort forming at The Construction Collaborative to help companies walk through the steps to be successful right out of the gate. Check it out at www.cmsocial.net.
Additional Resources for Construction Professionals
Speaking of upskilling...
Many of us in the construction industry got where we are by coming up through the trades and may not have had the opportunity for formal management training. If you are in charge of people and need to improve your management and communication skills, this certificate program is an excellent place to start:
Here are some additional ways to access more tips and advice for professionals in the #aec industries (#Architecture, #Engineering, #Construction):
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Health and Safety Advisor - Conventional Island Unit 2- Hinkley Point C
1 年great read Jim, I am just coming to the end of Procore Construction Management Professional Certificate and found it absolutely brilliant, i took so much away from it, great job ??
Founder, CEO @ eXact Digital
1 年Brilliant observations Jim! I could not agree more, there is a gap between trades schools, real world experience, and education. In my experience over the last three decades training and managing digital designers, estimators, project managers, and structural wood framers, nothing tops the perfect balance where workers are well-educated but also trained and experienced in the field. If our conventional education system had stayed the course of industrial shop classes and trade schools, we would not have the skilled labor shortage we see today. Of course, AI and robots are now on the threshold of doing what was promised, even warned about, and replacing much of the manual labor workforce in many industries, including mine as a structural wood framing expert. Some say that was the plan all along, to create a labor shortage as a reason to provide an automated solution. Either way, we are where we are due to those in leadership roles not listening to the cry of those who wanted, even warned and demanded, we stick with training in the trades of the industries that build our world. Thanks for sharing, I always enjoy your work and find it has the observations of a visionary, both seeing the past and a forward solution!
Dispatch at Miles Sand & Gravel Company (Baker Division)
1 年Government funded trade schools? There is no such thing as a government funded program. There are only taxpayer funded programs. I read earlier this week that we have reached a point where people who work for a living are outnumbered by people who vote for a living. Unfortunately that seems to be where most of the taxpayer funds go these days. I believe it will take the construction industry working together to make the changes that are needed. If we wait for the government to do anything, we will just get deeper in the hole. We need actionable ideas and programs that can be implemented immediately if not sooner, and we need the force of the construction industry backing these ideas and programs.
Commercial Flooring Takeoff - The Original Measure Square Partner
1 年Being from a 51-year stint in commercial flooring, I would advise a youngster to finish as much education as they can afford and stay away from the construction industry entirely unless they have a real passion for a skilled trade under the banner. And, of course, I would advise anyone contemplating investment In commercial flooring to buy GICs Instead. As noted, there are many reasons for the skilled labour shortage, but I don't think educator bias is one of them. They are not stupid. They watched their parents and grandparents work all the hours God sent and have little to show for it. Who can blame them for wanting something better for their families?