A note from ConstructReach’s Paul Robinson, Founder and CEO, and Ebony Robinson, Director of Business Development
As we stand midway through our 5th year as a workforce development consulting initiative, and also on the front end of 2024, we’ve got our eyes fixated on an exciting future of expanding our reach in the construction industry, and other neighboring fields.
Why Is Diversity Important To Construction?
Over the years, we have learned a lot about our company’s role in an industry that is in need of an influx of talent. As it stands, the state of the construction industry would suggest that it’s in a retirement crisis and construction workforce shortage. A 2019 study found that nearly 40% of the construction company is expected to retire within the next 7 years. The construction workforce statistics equate that loss to roughly 3 million available jobs to come. As this next generation is the most diverse generation ever, the construction industry is faced with the opportunity to create a workforce culture that is conducive to a minority’s success.
However, the industry is not collectively in a position to just list their construction job openings and expect this younger, diverse generation to come in large numbers looking to enter its workforce. In order to successfully recruit for construction work jobs, the issue lays with overcoming the stigma that construction is an industry one fails into.
Building A Diversity Recruiting Strategy
As a workforce development consultant and facilitator between stakeholders within the construction industry pipeline, we’ve emphasized the importance of how corporate company values, DEI/B initiatives, social responsibility commitments, community engagement, and organizational readiness are just as important as scope, schedule, and budget.
Our holistic approach to connecting construction internship programs, recruiting and the need to attract potential young, diverse construction workforce talent with company values, alongside those aforementioned components has propelled us to where we are today. It has also allowed us to begin to transfer those same principles to other industry sectors, including manufacturing.
Construction is an industry that impacts us all. It’s an industry which surrounds us, yet is still unknown by far too many, especially when the “many” (ie. the younger demographic) are the ones who are sorely needed and too few know enough about it. To ConstructReach, this means opportunity!
What Do DEI Consultants Do?
As workforce development consultants focused on DEI/B in the industry, one of the things that we have leaned into is the importance of ubiquity. Being where young diverse talent is and engaging in a way that is congruent to how this technologically savvy, mission-oriented generation is accustomed to engaging and connecting is how to best attract the next generation.
ConstructReach is not just our name, it’s our sole objective. Whether it be social media, our ConstructReach Community, podcasting on iReach, or physically being present in urban communities, we attempt to serve and reach people in a way that affirms, celebrates, and educates in a way that can yield transformative results.
From day one, our goal has been to build reachable opportunities through construction — with an emphasis on on reachable. Our workforce development programs aim to affirm a younger demographic who often has to combat an external narrative to show them that they are worth the investment and capable of reaching their full potential.
The success generated through exposure and opportunity underscores the need for continuous engagement. And the dual impact of having more accessibility to an industry creates more interest and aids in helping to reposition the industry to be a viable career choice and not an industry that you fail into, but rather a preeminent choice that one can be proud to be a part of. For example, our work with educators attempts to solve this outlook with an emergence of more career and technical education programming.
In conjunction with attracting a younger diverse demographic, we look forward to creating and strengthening our industry partnerships. Since 2018, we have been working alongside an array of brand leaders, general contractors, and educators to identify ways to be more intentional with organizational change management, professional development, recruitment, onboarding, internships, and new-hire programming. All have combined together and led to the successful placement of talent that found a place to belong and thrive, as well as equipping leaders with tools to continue to grow and develop their existing workforce.
What’s Next For ConstructReach
In 2023, we celebrated 5 years and we also had an opportunity to reflect on the collective impact we have made alongside industry leaders and partners. And this is only the beginning.
Our goal for the next 5 years is to become the premier choice for workforce development and organizational health consultation by:
- Continuing to press the envelope on innovative ways to engage and educate a young diverse demographic.
- Continuing to reposture both the industries of advanced manufacturing and construction.
- Continuing to connect construction with culture.
We look forward to partnering with companies that would like to connect their social responsibility efforts with current projects or companies and brands who are allowing for projects to become more programmatic to enhance their workforce initiatives. Reach out today to learn more about our DEI consulting services!
