Construction's image problem: fixing it is harder than you think

By GERALD BARON
Baron & Co.

What do high schoolers really think about construction workers? Why are kids so reluctant to consider construction a career, particularly considering the wide variety of jobs available, the career path offered, and the remarkably high pay compared to so many other professions?

The construction industry has an image problem. No one seems to be arguing the point any more. In normal times the reaction to that statement might be: So what? But these are not normal times and the image problem is affecting most contractors bottom lines. The difficulty in recruiting and maintaining top notch employees at all levels office management, field management and labor has everyone in the industry searching around for solutions.

Why has recruiting quality workers become so difficult? Sure, the labor shortage is pinching everyone, but why do so few top quality young people choose construction as a career?

A recent survey of high school students in this region showed 84 percent would not consider a career in construction. Asked to describe a construction worker, they used words such as: "Dirty. Lazy. Beer belly. Macho. Harasses women."

Sixteen percent of the students responding said they would consider a career in construction. Eighty four percent said they would not. But the most telling answers came when we asked the students to describe a construction worker. The vast majority described them in very negative terms relating to their physical characteristics or character. This was an open-ended question and here are some of the answers given:

"Sleaze. Butt-crack. Dirty. Grunt. Fat. Lazy. Unshaven. Cigarette smoker. Beer belly. Overweight. Old. Tight jeans. Scruff. No shirt. Bums. Pig. Wife beater. Dishonest."

There were also numerous comments about the hard physical labor involved in construction and there were several relatively positive comments about this such as:

"Buff. Strong men. Muscles. Bulky. Suspenders. Rugged. Macho. Tough."

One of the consistent comments that emerged related to the students perception of how construction workers treated women. Here are some of the words used to describe this:

"Whoop and hollers at women. Looks at chicks. Harasses women."

A video taped focus group was part of this research and one high school junior described with considerable pain how she was treated by a construction worker as she slowly drove through a construction site. The boorish behavior of that person created an indelible impression that applied not only to him, but to the entire industry he represented.

One young man said he had once considered a job in construction. "A guy said he'd hire me, but was too drunk to give me a job when I asked him about it later."

Teens offer advice

Finally, we asked the students for the advice they would offer contractors interested in improving their image. Their top advice is straight and to the point: "Don't allow workers to spit, swear, be crude and show their butts."

It's a little ironic that the industry responsible for creating the greatest infrastructure the world has ever seen should be getting advice on improving their behavior from Americas teenagers. But the more one reflects on this information and the advice offered, the more appropriate it seems.

How many image conscious industries do you know that would allow workers to plaster their bodies with tattoos, dress in way as to be indistinguishable from street people, and allow personal grooming to be a matter of individual taste? Could an industry maintain any sort of image if it didn't demand that the employees at closest contact with the public treat that public with respect? What would happen if fast food employees or airline baggage handlers were allowed by their supervisors to wolf whistle, curse and swear at each other and the public, and to treat the public with disregard and discourtesy?

It is certainly the truth that not all construction workers act boorishly and contractors seem to be gaining awareness of how behavior on the job site impacts the entire company. The simple fact is that job sites are the front counters of the construction industry. It is where the public day in and day out comes in contact with the quality, character and nature of the people employed in it. It is where the public decides if these are the kind of people they are interested in associating with. It is where young people are getting their information needed to make a career choice.

The construction industry through its trade groups is responding to the image problem. But they are responding to the symptoms of the problem and not the fundamental problem. The symptom is recruiting difficulty and the assumed solution is better education about what construction is all about. The solution comes in the form of a teachers tool kit aimed at the elementary grades. Now, this is a significant and valuable effort and will likely prove highly useful. But it does not address the fundamental problem and therefore can never be a long term solution to the image problem.

The fundamental problem occurs at the job site. The public makes it judgements about the industry based on what it observes in the workers. One persons negative opinion can quickly be spread to many others, particularly if the offended person is influential. The job site is the front door to the construction industry because it is where most people contact the industry. And frankly, it's a bit of a mess. The kitchen and bathroom may look wonderful, but if the front door is a mess, people are not likely to want to enter the house.

Rebuilding the image

The image problem can be fixed. But it will take considerably more than creating school curricula. The best model for what is needed is the issue of safety. Except in this case we don't have the regulators providing incentive.

Safety records in construction companies have improved dramatically. How and why? For one thing, improving safety is simply the right thing to do. For another, it is good economics. Potential owners and employees alike look at a company's safety record to determine the nature and quality of the organization. This improvement was made possible by:

1. Industry inducements such as the retro programs and safety awards;
   
2. Education about the problem;
   
3. Strictly enforced safety policies.

   The same effort will be required to make a real difference in the image problem. The industry through its trade groups or through pro-active efforts of contractors, needs to create awards and inducements that will evaluate real progress toward image improvements. Contractors and their employees need to become aware of the true nature of the problem and they need to take it very seriously. And contractors need to develop operational policies that have the same teeth as their safety policies.

   What might these policies be? Based on the students comments, the policies need to address how each person appears and how each person behaves. Policies about dress, language, treatment of co-workers, and treatment of the public need to be developed and strictly enforced. Policies also need to be implemented providing better communication with the public in the form of improved job site signs and community information that lets the public know what benefits are being provided through the inconvenience of the project.

   At the very heart of it is one single word and Aretha Franklin said it best: respect. We cannot ask young people to enter a profession that lacks the respect of the general public. And we cannot ask the public to respect us if we do not show respect for each other and for the public. We might build the biggest, grandest malls, airports and skyscrapers in the world. But if we treat one another and the public who comes in contact with us boorishly, we cannot expect them to want to join our ranks.

   Respect begins with the owner and the managers for each and every worker. Then, and only then, can the contractor demand that each worker respect each other, the public and most of all, themselves.

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   Gerald Baron is the founder and president of Baron & Co., a marketing and public relations firm with an emphasis on the construction industry. A copy of the report on Construction Image Research can be obtained by calling Baron & Co. at (206) 748-0370 or email.
   
   

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