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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
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Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
August 2018 #10229 Page #36
Labor Shortage in the Construction Industry is Partially a Self-Inflicted Wound Copyrights © 2018 Todd Drummond Consulting LLC.
Our industry has been ignoring and not understanding 51% of the population’s needs—specifically, those of women therefore limiting the qualified candidates to fill vital openings Todd Drummond
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n my travels, I have found that women can do any job that men can, including framing homes and manufacturing components. But the ratio of women in the construction industry is abysmal. This is partially caused by the attitudes and mental blocks of men in leadership positions, specifically what they think they need from employees, such as physical requirements. Also, too many men do not have a truly healthy understanding of how to make this industry attractive in relation to the basic needs and desires of women to bring more into the industry. There is always an exception to every rule, but let’s start with a general understanding of women’s main motivators and how we can fill the ranks with highly skilled women. Here is a “We cannot solve our problems with the same clue: women generally do not think about and have the same priorities thinking we used when we created them.” as men, which is a good thing.
Albert Einstein
Women Do Not Have the Same Priorities as Men For most women, family (kids) comes first, not their job. Everything in life, including work, is secondary to the family’s well-being. What does this mean for you, the employer? Well, if you insist on 50-hour work weeks and a rigid schedule, you can rule out most women. Men have traditionally sacrificed time with their family to pay the bills, whereas child rearing has been prioritized by women; regardless of political correctness, women have been and will always be focused on the immediate well-being of their kids and family. Therefore, any employer who needs a greater pool of potential employees needs to keep this in mind when trying to attract women into his or her workforce. Insisting on long and rigid hours that do not allow mothers to pick up and drop off their kids from school or go to an unexpected doctor’s appointment means many women will not even consider your company for employment.
Women are Generally More Loyal and Tend Toward Long-Term Employment You can google plenty of studies for the actual statistics that support this statement, but it comes down how women view the world and their work environment compared to men. A man will leave a company mainly due to his ego and financial needs. In other words, a man is more willing to work with a new employer than a woman. Women have a greater fear of the unknown and prefer to remain with a known group, and among the friendships they have created in their existing company. A small wage increase is not normally worth the risk of jumping ship to another company for most women, but to men, it is not a problem. This risk aversion creates less wage pressure on the company and is partly responsible for the perceived wage gaps between women and men. Studies have shown that regardless of gender long-term loyalty towards a company results in a lower overall pay than those who periodically change companies.
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