Sink Your DEI & B

Any time there’s an accident that results in the loss of human life, we should pause not only to remember and honor colleagues, but also to examine mechanisms for improving practices to prevent such incidents in the future. At the time I’m writing this editor’s note, social and mainstream media are discussing the doomed Titan submersible and spending an inordinate amount of time on comments made by the late CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, Stockton Rush.

It’s not kind to heap blame on those who have perished, so I won’t. What I will do is launch a discussion of the wisdom of hiring the right person for the right job at the right time.

I believe our industry is well acquainted with the adage of performing the right treatment to the right pavement at the right time. For example, if you perform merely a sealcoat on a rutted, fatigued and alligatored pavement structure with a PCI around 45, you’ll not end up with a new and fully restored pavement system.

What I want to propose here is hiring the best person into a construction company based on merit. Let’s take a page from the pavement preservation playbook and promote the idea of hiring the right people based on skill sets, rather than demographic boxes. As of June 29, I think six of nine Supreme Court justices agree with that concept.

I need to paraphrase Rush’s interview in which he stated he’d rather hire young, inspiring workers instead of 50-year-old, white, former submariners. In my opinion and experience, a mix of new ideas with veteran leaders brings strength to a project.

Look at your paving business. When it’s time to hire a project manager, you probably choose from your paving superintendents and not your first-season rakers. To replace that paving superintendent, you probably choose from your project foremen or paver operators. You see the chain of skill and responsibility here. It would be asinine to go to the local labor pool and select an 18-year-old for your project manager or estimator position.

No matter how inspiring she may be. You might think that’s rich coming from a woman who includes features on women in the asphalt industry in as many editions of her magazine as she possibly can. But let me tell you something of which you are probably aware: there are some skills in our industry for which women are fabulously suited. Look at the operation of a roller. Does that take patience and attention to detail? Yes, it does. Do women typically bring those qualities to the job? Yes, they do. Does this mean you should only hire and train women for roller operation? Of course not.

The goal is to attract to the workforce many people who can learn and grow in their knowledge of best, safest practices to build and maintain our nation’s infrastructure. If that goal brings a diverse set of humans, that’s great. We should be encouraging men and women of all ages and ethnicities to join and enjoy a fulfilling career. The concept of the melting pot works on individual industry levels as well as the national level.

On-the-job training for promotion is something a diversity hire may or may not recognize as important. When you bring in a laborer, that individual might not know all the reasons for spraying down a shovel with release agent or all the reasons for keeping the push rollers on the front of the paver clean and free-moving. That’s okay. He’s not supposed to be born with that knowledge. He’s supposed to learn it when you bring him in for training. He’s supposed to learn all the skills to move up to the next role on the paving crew. And the next. Then one day, he (or she) will be the paving superintendent. One day, he (or she) will be the project manager.

When you’re hiring, you want the person with the right attitude to learn and grow with the team. You want the right person for the right job at the right time no matter what he or she looks like on the outside.

Stay Safe, Sandy Lender

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Sandy Lender sandy@theasphaltpro.com (239) 272-8613

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AsphaltPro is published 11 times per year. Writers expressing views in AsphaltPro Magazine or on the AsphaltPro website are professionals with sound, professional advice. Views expressed herein are not necessarily the same as the views of AsphaltPro, thus producers/contractors are still encouraged to use best practices when implementing new advice.

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