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Why We Shouldn’t Try to Change the Image of Construction

4/30/2018

5 Comments

 
Picture

^^ A very typical stock image for "construction" ^^

Contributed by Darren Lester
​For as long as I’ve been involved in and around the construction industry, there’s been an underlying consensus that we need to clean up the public's perception of the industry.

Disasters like Grenfell Tower and scandals like the Carillion collapse tend to bring this into sharp focus and we see a renewed energy to show people the positive stuff in construction.

The legitimate worry is that all of the negativity, combined with the image of the stereotypical construction worker, complete with hard hat and hi-vis jacket, will limit our ability to attract younger, smarter, tech-savvy professionals and the must-needed next generation workforce.

So the logical conclusion is to try to push the good stuff even harder.

But perhaps this is the wrong approach.

Unfortunately, the truth is that the public image of the construction industry exists for a reason — it’s mostly accurate.

To portray anything else would be misleading.

Our industry has huge issues, from top to bottom. 

We’re embarrassingly inefficient. Rarely deliver as promised. We overspend. We’re huge polluters. We're wasteful with resources. We put people’s physical health and lives at risk on a daily basis. We have a terrible record of mental ill health amongst workers. We’re rife with corruption and 'old boys' clubs. We treat women unfairly. We lack any sort of competent leadership. And we’re pretty much the worst of laggards in adopting digital technology. 

I could go on.

If we continue to try to put a positive spin on things, or suppress these issues in order to exemplify the glimmers of hope there are within the industry (and don't get me wrong, they do exist), then we’ll end up with another generation of workers who simply knuckle down and accept that this is as good as it gets.

Ironically, shining a light on these shortcomings, by making them painfully transparent to the whole world and by holding our hands up to say “sorry, things aren’t great”, perhaps we can give ourselves the best chance of driving change.

Because all of the sh*t that’s wrong with our industry is actually what could attract the smartest, most ambitious young professionals and entrepreneurs (and the capital to back them), who see an opportunity to really disrupt and rebuild a huge industry.

Yes, we should continue to educate young professionals about the industry, and show them that there are more options to a career in construction than working on a cold, wet building site. But all industries have their stereotypes - that in itself isn't holding us back from change.

But perhaps we should also share with them our biggest failings, and present them as rewarding opportunities for those willing to challenge the status quo.

Not an easy thing to do, but maybe we'd end up with real change, rather than a slightly improved public image.
5 Comments
Ron Leiseca
5/1/2018 07:36:26 am

Darren,

As in many other segments of the industry, be it supplier, specialty contractors and "general contractors", there has been attempts to and some changes, but not enough, and some actually making it more complicated.

We do have to accept what you have stated, make it a list of items to correct, and move to better models of how to make things more efficient in all of the areas of the process, be it design, materials, construction, education of the participants, participation by all key persons and the general participants (yes, the people doing the actual work), and the owners for whom this is being done.

In addition we have to demystify the process itself. There have been a number of cases where the length of the gestation between defining need to getting a finished project is way too long for many reasons, some of which if really understood could be resolved and reduce the time and costs involved.

This does not mean cookie-cutter approach, as the individual style and effects are part of the creative input of the owner's wishes, the designer's interpretation and the execution by the trades. It's just that we do need to attract those that can enjoy the process and be proud of the end results without having the conclusion become another process we have seen way too often -- claims; litigation; defects; waste.

I will offer a suggestion and hope others will also use their expertise to contribute. Use the human resources of your network to better fine tune your selection of key systems and materials. In my experience, this is becoming a bigger issue as the ease of researching the Internet do not include the caveat "do not use this for . . .", along with the recycling of old specifications not applicable to the project or so "general" that they miss out on the specific needs of the project as the designer wanted them.

Thoughts?

Reply
David Parsons
5/20/2018 01:02:33 pm

I vehemently and strongly disagree with most of what you say. To paint an entire industry of mostly trained & educated albeit college or trade professionals the majority of whom are honest and truly trying to be the best they can as corrupt, dishonest, ill equipped as well as all the other slanderous invectives you use dishonors me and the vast majority that I have associated with for the past 50 years. I am not sure what you did or who you worked for but you must have associated with the most scurrilous bunch of fiendish malcontents alive. I have a couple of engineering degrees, have owned and sold companies, built and sold around the world all in the construction industry and frankly proud of every moment. What in hell have you been doing and what cesspool were you mired in to allow yourself to develop such a negative attitude towards an industry that obviously treated you better than you deserve. Find a second career at Walmart.

Reply
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Joan Palmer link
12/6/2024 12:57:22 pm

But perhaps we should also share with them our biggest failings, and present them as rewarding opportunities for those willing to challenge the status quo.

Reply
Pressure Washing Service in Alhambra link
12/24/2024 09:05:15 am

Changing the image of construction may overlook its rich history and the skilled workforce behind it. Instead, we should focus on evolving practices and innovation, maintaining respect for the industry’s foundations.

Reply



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