Supporting women: Unlocking the untapped talent pool in the construction industry

As a working mother to eight-year-old twins, born just as I was accelerating my professional career growth, the challenges of maintaining work-life balance while navigating a male-dominated space are familiar to me. The experience of the last eight years has made me think deeply about the value women bring to the workplace.

While the reason for bringing greater attention to the issue of women in the workplace may be rooted in the push for fairness, an International Monetary Fund study called “Economic Gains from Gender Inclusion: New Mechanisms, New Evidence” has uncovered interesting findings that cannot be ignored. The study reveals that gender complementarity increases productivity, leads to an increase in male wages, greater economic growth, and ultimately concludes that “reducing female underemployment should yield greater gains than an equivalent increase in male employment.” It appears that everyone—men, women, businesses, and communities—wins when there is gender balance.

Gender balance conversations are critical to have in the construction industry. As of 2022, women make up only 10.9% of the entire construction workforce and earn 82.9% of what men make on average. These statistics are concerning, and the industry can no longer afford to delay addressing the unique challenges of women in the workplace, especially in the face of continued labor shortages. So how do businesses maintain visibility in this seemingly untapped talent pool and more intentionally support women as they continue their career journeys?

If we want to attract and retain women, we need to ensure that organizational policies are crafted with them in mind. This is in addition to incentivizing everyone in the organization to achieve gender goals. So here are my top seven ideas for businesses to consider as we celebrate International Women’s Day:

• Outreach:  Businesses should work with women-focused establishments where job openings can be posted. This is a quick way to stay on the radar of women wanting to join the workforce. One example is the National Association of Women in Construction, which is dedicated to strengthening the success of women in the construction industry. Many local communities also have women as part of trade associations and industry bodies. We need similar professional groups that address the needs of women at all stages of their careers.
  
  
• Recruitment policies: Businesses should analyze their recruitment process and find ways to remove bias. For example, many businesses have started sanitizing resumes by removing names, so gender cannot form an unconscious bias. Several have policies requiring at least one female candidate to be presented to hiring managers to increase the diversity of candidates in the talent pool.
  
  
• Recruitment incentive: Similarly, some businesses have modified their employee referral programs to pay a larger bonus to those employees who successfully refer diverse candidates. This strategy may be controversial, but it is intended to combat programs where employees tend to continuously refer candidates of the type their company has a visible propensity to hire, perpetuating gender disparity. The key is to make sure your hiring processes are buttoned up so that hiring decisions are made based on qualifications and fairness to all.
  
  
• Branding: There is no better way to increase women’s visibility than by highlighting their personal success stories. Women’s successful careers and journeys should be showcased, ensuring these stories encourage women to join the workforce. From time to time, we do this at Aurigo, but we should do it more often. Showcasing successful women and the unique benefits, such as paid maternity leave, offered to them will ensure easier access to the talent pool of women. And, by the way, Aurigo also provides paid paternity leave!
  
  
• Training and mentorship: Recognizing that women face unique challenges in the workplace, employers should provide women-focused training opportunities to help women feel supported and educated in their roles. Apprenticeships can help provide on-the-job training and technical skills. In addition, internal and external mentorship opportunities can be explored to offer trusted professional and career guidance.
  
  
• Back-to-work program: Women sometimes need extended leave to attend to their personal priorities and family duties. This results in a loss of carefully nurtured talent. There are many creative ways to structure programs aimed at helping women get re-absorbed into the workplace after an extended break, such as providing flexible schedules, project-based re-entry programs, technical upskilling, and interpersonal support.
  
  
• Management support: Several studies have shown that the role “Head of Diversity” is becoming popular in corporate environments. The use of this title more than doubled between 2015 and 2020. About half of the Standard and Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) companies employ a chief diversity officer, and in 2022, the US and Canada found that “Diversity and Inclusion Manager” was among the fastest-growing jobs. If your company has a similar role, you are already ahead of others. In addition, organizations would do well by revisiting their programs to retain employees, especially regarding pay equity, paid family leave, caregiving, childcare support, flexible work policies, hybrid schedules, compressed work weeks, modified hours, part-time work, and job sharing. The world has changed, and these programs should be enhanced or changed to support employees, especially women, in the workplace.

The blunt truth remains that women are overlooked in the industry. We must identify how we can show women they are valued as part of our talent strategy. Ignoring this will negatively affect access to critical talent and have an impact on businesses and our communities.