Episode 145: Paul Robinson

Construction’s in a labor shortage, and the industry’s only growing older. Construction consultant group ConstructReach found over half of the construction workforce is over 46 years old. Racial minorities have traditionally been underrepresented in construction, according to ConstructReach. But ConstructReach founder and CEO Paul Robinson says the opportunity to reverse that trend and address this labor shortage is here: 44% of millennials and 49% of Generation Z are non-white.

Today on “The Building Code,” Zach and Charley learn Paul’s story and why he thinks construction companies can connect the industry’s abounding opportunity to a younger, more diverse workforce.

HOW CAN LACK OF DIVERSITY BE A BARRIER TO YOUNG PEOPLE LOOKING TO ENTER CONSTRUCTION? “One of the things that we try to do is to allow others to see themselves in this industry. Because if you can't see yourself, then you can't see yourself actually being in it. And so understanding the importance of being able to identify with others, not just those entry-level positions, but seeing how far you can go -seeing yourself represented in the very highest positions that this industry has to offer.”

HOW CAN A BUILDING COMPANY START APPEALING TO A MORE DIVERSE WORKFORCE? “It's making sure that you do the proper assessment internally first. There's nothing like putting forth a lot of effort and going through all of the steps to get in front of young talent that you're not ready for. And so that's one of the things that we like to stress. It's not a cookie-cutter approach, it's not a cookie-cutter model, so you're not going to do these 10 things and then magically see this pipeline and this diverse pipeline grow overnight. It is really looking at how you do business, understanding that DEI is something that should be interwoven into the fabric of the company - making sure that you are healthy to receive them. You're not going to be perfect. If there's a person there, it's not perfect. But we can be healthy.”

LINKS AND MORE

Related content: Learn more about ConstructReach’s success here. Check out Paul’s podcast here. We’re wrapping up Women’s History Month. Here are four tips for celebrating your female construction team members. Miss our last minisode? Listen now to hear about how searching Buildertrend just got easier.

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