To all,

On behalf of PEOPLE–and I am sure all of the good people working to promote diversity and inclusion on our construction worksites– I wanted to offer my personal thanks to McCarthy, Turner, Gilbane, Mortenson, Clark and DPR Construction for the great week and wealth of information presented during Construction Inclusion Week. Our collective challenge now is to build off this week and make Construction Inclusion Week a 52 week a year event in our industry.

I love the quote on jobsite culture from Day Four and want to highlight it here for all to cut out and place on their desk, on their bulletin boards, in their jobsite trailers, screen saver on their computers and wherever else may cause these words to be read and lived throughout the year:

“Establishing and maintaining a positive jobsite culture means that everyone gets to experience a workplace that is inclusive and respectful. We know what a good jobsite culture feels like—it’s the job that everyone wants to be on because it looks and feels welcoming. We also know that a good culture leads to a safer and more productive job, one that provides higher value to our client and allows each and every worker to perform their best work.

Everyone must actively care for each other and ensure that everyone feels both physically and psychologically safe. Job sites are our work homes, they are where we spend our days, and they are where we gather the emotions, attitudes, and behaviors that we bring home to our families. We should expect to get a high level of respect and standard of care where we work. We must create workplaces which are equitable and meet the needs of all employees, industry wide. We need to ensure job sites are free of bias and harassment; where all are treated with respect; sites in which our professional opinions are heard and valued, and all have a seat at the table. Additionally, our clients appreciate and have come to expect a diverse and respectful workplace.

This is not diversity on paper only, we need to foster collaborative and inclusive teams where everyone can do their best work and deliver for our clients.

Simply said: When it comes to jobsite culture, it has to be practiced and lived daily. EVERYONE has to be about it and not just talk about it.”

Construction Inclusion Week—Day 4: Jobsite Culture

I have a challenge I would like to present to the industry; not only to the leaders but to every manager sitting behind every desk and every worker that puts on boots in the early morning hours of every work day. We have been given a head start by the six major GC’s that organized this week; they have moved the needle on diversity, equity and inclusion; they stood up and shined a light in the direction of success—let us all stand behind that needle and push on it so it does not slide backwards. Let’s shove it a bit closer to the end, let’s live the words above and create a culture that “fosters collaborative and inclusive teams where everyone can do their best work and deliver for our clients.”

This jobsite culture thing is possible–as complex as it may sound to some. But, let me point out that such a culture is not achievable if we do not value the following steps:

• Owners need to return to the days of yesteryear (not that long ago) where monthly summaries of cost were paid to their GC by the tenth of the month. This will allow monies to flow to the many first and second and third tier contractors out there standing in the mud doing their jobs. This will allow all to “maintain a positive jobsite culture” and “feel welcome” and “physically and psychologically safe.” Companies–especially minority owned and woman owned business enterprises that have little to no access to market rate working capital–cannot “gather the emotions, attitudes and behaviors” necessary for a working jobsite culture if they are constantly under the pressure of finding funds for those dreaded Friday payrolls and those end of the month union benefits. We must recognize this glaring deficiency in our process–it is causing undue stress to so many and yes, stress that “we bring home to our families.”

• Owners, GC’s, and prime subcontractors need to take a mentoring and teaching approach to the minority and woman owned business enterprises they bring to their projects. If these firms struggle with the paperwork challenges, help them through it. If they do not clearly understand their contract requirements, help to explain the differences to them–or possibly change them. If they are not performing to your expectations, help them understand why and assign members of your company to help guide them. If they can’t afford to wait sixty or seventy or ninety days to get paid, pay them. If they cannot afford to wait a year or more for retention monies, release or seriously reduce their retention. If you ask the minority firms to perform extra work, pay them for that work in a timely manner—they cannot afford to wait six months because your approval process is so short sighted. In short, help these firms succeed; point out and discuss their problems in a constructive and helpful manner; help them succeed, not watch them fail.

• Include a line item on your monthly job site meetings and discuss the health of the relationship between the prime sub and their minority business enterprise partner. How is everything going–any issues we should talk about? Are payments flowing to where your minority partner can meet the obligations of the project? Do you have any change order work that is stuck in the log jam? Are your costs to date matching your estimate and is progress to date meeting your expectations? What can we all do together to help you succeed on this project? Is our job site culture allowing “each and every one of your workers to perform their best work?” Of course, first GC’s and prime subs would have to invite the second tier minority subs to the job site meetings and create a culture to where “all professional opinions are heard and valued, and all have a seat at the table.”

• The city and county can be a huge help by requiring developers of city or county partially funded projects to pay closer attention to the needs of the minority and women owned business enterprises they ask the developers and GC’s to bring to their projects. We cannot ask MBE and WBE firms to participate in these massive and complex renovations of century old structures and not provide them with the necessary tools for success–such as timely payment, user friendly contracts, retention free provisions, business support, a open and lending hand, and a healthy jobsite culture. It would be much preferred to simply leave them out of the process–at least that way these firms would have a chance at sustained success in our industry. Private owners and developers should think the same way–what is it that keeps everyone from thinking this way?

Many reading this “challenge” are busy making a list of counter arguments. We all have our reasons for not actively jumping all over the above business points. I have heard them all and I have respect for all positions on diversity, equity and inclusion. I did not make the rules nor do I necessarily agree to all the rules, I just try to guide MBE and WBE firms the best I can through all the obstacles. Until we remove some of these obstacles, I fear that my need for PEOPLE and the need of so many organizations working to promote diversity, equity and inclusion are safe and well protected for years into the future.

How do we take the efforts of McCarthy, Turner, Gilbane, Clark, Mortenson and DPR and turn them into a consistent fifty-two week program, every year? How do we get the many other good owners, GC’s, CM’s, prime subcontractors on board and have their own internal versions of Construction Inclusion week? Or do we silently fall back in line, somehow convincing ourselves that our programs and policies are working and our job site cultures are what they should be and this is somebody else’s problem, not ours?

“Simply said: When it comes to jobsite culture, it has to be practiced and lived daily. EVERYONE has to be about it and not just talk about it.”

PEOPLE

Ron