Construction Companies in “Adaptation” Phase Use Technology to Support Hybrid Workforce
The construction industry’s COVID-19 recovery across Asia Pacific including Japan (APIJ) can be classified into three phases: “response”, “adaptation”, and “acceleration”. A recent IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Autodesk, Road to Recovery: Overcoming COVID-19’s Impact on the Construction Industry with Digital Technologies, looks at each of these phases including the top technology investments at each stage of recovery.
We’ve talked previously on the blog about how the industry is building resilience and future-proofing through digital technologies, as well as how construction companies in the “response” phase of COVID-19 are using technology to ensure the workforce is connected, engaged and safe.
The “adaptation” phase is the next stage of recovery, in which construction companies must secure and create a well-adjusted workforce regardless of their location. These organisations are supporting a hybrid workforce, characterised by effective management of policies, processes, and technologies. They have moved beyond simply responding to the crisis and are actively bolstering themselves to operate in a new world, one where COVID could still impact them – but they will respond more quickly than the first time, and one where they are setting themselves up for future unforeseeable crises.
Whilst the companies in this group, just over 63% of survey respondents, have not hit peak acceleration – they still have knowledge to share. They are likely now set up to support a remote workforce, have implemented health and safety processes and technology, and have started to make a solid plan to accelerate themselves into the next phase.
The focus for companies in the “adaptation” phase
Companies in this phase must focus on investing in technologies more selectively in a move towards building resiliency for the business, especially since they are experiencing the impact of recession due to a prolonged decline in revenue and are looking to overcome this situation.
The InfoBrief found that among APIJ construction companies:
- 65% show very effective or highly effective adaptation of technologies
- 62% say that they have very effective or highly effective processes
- 59% believe they have been very effective or highly effective in implementing policies in a hybrid workforce
Top three technology investments in this stage of recovery
As construction companies in the “adaptation” phase anticipate the increase of onsite operations, technology investments must be made to ensure safety and security amongst employees. The key to a successful reopening are smartphone apps to communicate with employees and capture feedback on health and wellbeing (52%), touchless fixtures (45%), and temperature sensing technologies (43%).
For construction companies in the adaptation phase, the primary consideration is to capture feedback on a real-time basis, to ensure that any break in workforce safety is captured immediately to avoid possible disruptions in the workplace and in operations.
Preparations for a hybrid workforce
While preparations are being made for a safe return to work, construction companies in the adaptation phase are likely to retain a portion of their employees working primarily from their homes because of the benefits experienced by both the business and the workforce, as well as potentially during future COVID-19 outbreaks in which working from home is mandated or encouraged for short periods.
By supporting a hybrid workforce, 50% of construction companies in APIJ have seen improved employee health and safety, 43% realised higher employee retention, and 41% noted improved employee experience.
Autodesk Construction Cloud supports COVID-19 recovery
With the construction industry facing a new era of convergence and evolving challenges for processes and teams, innovation is essential to create streamlined workflows and maintain competitiveness in today’s marketplace.
Software like Autodesk Construction Cloud, which integrates a cloud-based portfolio of products used to manage construction projects, enables connected workflows, teams and data at every stage of construction to reduce risk, maximise efficiency and increase profits; supports companies into the future.
The unified technology offered by Autodesk Construction Cloud is becoming increasingly important for companies to support COVID-19 recovery, and we are working with our customers to support them through their journey to recovery, growth and beyond.
To download the IDC InfoBrief, click here. To find out more about how Autodesk Construction Cloud can support your business, contact us or get your free trial.
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Why Do We Make Errors in Construction?
You can imagine the scene in Pisa, Italy, 900 years ago. In 1178, a new bell tower was entering its fourth year of construction when – to the builders’ horror – it began to sink.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa was caused by one of the most famous mistakes in construction history: building shallow foundations on unstable subsoil. Now the 4-degree tilt is at the heart of Pisa’s tourism industry. But most building errors don’t turn out to be happy accidents.
Mistakes on projects can result in lost time, profit and reputation. Rework alone costs around $65.2bn in the US each year – and of course mistakes can damage vital client relationships for good.
So why do we make mistakes in construction and why are they so hard to solve? This blog will explore three common causes of errors and the psychology behind them – as well as a solution for companies to consider.
Reason #1: Human – surprisingly common with repetitive tasks
It may sound obvious, but a major factor behind mistakes is good old fashioned human error. Construction involves repetitive, complex tasks that humans aren’t always good at.
Studies have shown that monotonous tasks involuntarily switch the human brain into rest mode, making mistakes more likely. This repetitive work can be anything from a physical job on-site to transferring information between systems. In construction, the issue is exacerbated if businesses don’t have the right processes or tools in place to easily spot mistakes.
For example, the time pressure and manual processes involved in preconstruction can often lead to errors, as our recent research showed. One main contractor admitted, “I have put in an incorrect digit during tendering. It just takes one small slip in attention to make a big difference.”
Little blunders can have significant consequences. Most main contractors (86%) and subcontractors (78%) admit that errors are routinely made during the tender submission process that impact the project down the line – usually underestimating the timeline or labour needed. Simple human error can be the difference between finishing on time, on budget and with a profit.
Reason #2: Miscommunication – especially when “you’re sure it was obvious”
With so many stakeholders and moving parts on every project, communication is critical in construction. But often, it isn’t easy to share the messages needed between contractors – and even within your organisation.
Before implementing a document management platform, Welsh subcontractor SAM Drylining ran into breakdowns in communication between the head office and jobsites. The team responsible for the commercial management of the business simply weren’t aware of what was actually happening on the ground.
“We were constantly running into difficulties where issues on sites were reported too late or not at all,” Director Kyle Spiller recalled. The company relied on paper for its on-site documentation, which was printed, annotated by hand and passed between sites. “It could take days, weeks or even months to pass the necessary information between individual sites and the head office.”
One of the factors contributing to miscommunication is what psychologists call signal amplification bias: as humans, we regularly fail to realise how little we’re actually communicating with others.
It’s common to assume that things should be obvious, especially with close relationships like colleagues – and we can become frustrated if the message has failed to land. On a site, you might think that what you’ve done or why you’ve done it is clear to your colleagues or collaborators. But often, that information goes unseen, and that can cause wider problems.
This is an industry-wide issue. Poor project data and miscommunication are responsible for 48% of all rework in the US, costing the sector $31.3bn in 2018 alone.
Reason #3: An opaque culture makes it hard to admit to errors
It’s easy to make an error. But those mistakes become all the more damaging in organisations where employees are afraid to highlight missteps because of fears about blame.
It’s always hard to admit to ourselves that we’ve made a mistake, especially if we think it isn’t in our nature. This is something psychologists call cognitive dissonance: if you believe that you’re competent and careful, it can be really hard to acknowledge that you’ve made a “careless” mistake.
It’s even more difficult to take responsibility for mistakes if you don’t think you can change your behaviour in the future – in other words, if it’s down to factors outside of your control. In construction, if bad processes make mistakes more likely, you might be less willing to acknowledge making them.
Admitting and addressing mistakes early in a project can make them less damaging. As a result, Autodesk’s report, Trust Matters, showed that construction businesses with higher trust levels also performed better financially. For example, these businesses miss fewer schedules, saving up to $4 million annually on projects. Greater transparency pays, in more ways than one.
The surprisingly simple fix for many mistakes
There is a solution to address these causes of mistakes: improving your information-sharing using cloud-based technology. Digital platforms can make project information available on any device, to anyone who needs it, with updates shared in real-time.
Platforms like Autodesk Construction Cloud make it extremely easy for collaborators to make updates directly from the construction site, simplifying communication across the project.
This kind of document management reduces the incidence of errors caused by miscommunication or outdated information. It can also make mistakes easier and quicker to spot and fix. Importantly, a better information-sharing system creates greater accountability for everyone on the project – and can actually make it easier for workers to own up to a mistake.
This was one benefit experienced at SAM Drylining when the firm implemented a digital platform. Teams are encouraged to be open and upfront about the status of work, while management are able to check the progress on projects instantly. “The transparency that the Autodesk Construction Cloud has brought to the business is absolutely priceless,” said Kyle Spiller. “It’s transformed the mindset on jobsites and has definitely boosted our productivity.”
Over time, these kinds of digital platforms can even enable firms to spot errors before they are made. With in-built data analysis tools, business leaders can see common sources of mistakes on projects and implement process changes. But this all starts with better information-sharing.
Mistakes are present in an industry as complicated as construction. But businesses can establish the tools and processes to set people up for success – and help them to spot errors before they become major issues. This will in turn create a more profitable business, and a safer, better place to work.
“We won’t be going back”: Learn how SAM Drylining created a culture of transparency through better document management
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We Analyzed 600+ Construction Job Listings for Gender Bias: What We Found Surprised Us
When we think of someone who works in construction, what are the first images that pop in our head? Are they usually male or female? Many of us might immediately picture a male since the construction industry is primarily male — with women representing just around 10% of the workforce — and this is usually what is depicted in the media as well. Does this also mean that job listings are tailored towards male candidates? We decided to do research on construction job listings to find out.
We analyzed 600+ job listings in some of the world’s largest cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, and more. We looked at a large range of job roles to identify any gender bias that may exist in construction job descriptions. We also wanted to identify if there may be a gender bias in specific roles. Are administrative roles more female-centric? Or were trade roles more male-centric?
Here’s what we discovered.
About Our Research
In our research, we pulled a range of job listings across locations and roles and ran each post through TotalJobs’ Gender Bias Decoder to determine whether construction listings today are more male coded or female coded. We looked at many different types of roles including: Construction Laborer, Project Manager, Foreman, Project Engineer, Construction Administrator, Construction Estimator, Electrician, Pipefitter, Carpenter, Plumber, BIM Manager/ VDC Manager, Construction Director, and Machine Operator. We also looked at listings across various large metro areas and cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Washington DC, Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, London, Dublin, Sydney, and Auckland.
What does it mean to have gendered wording in job listings and why does it matter? When creating their gender bias decoder tool, TotalJobs adapted insights from a notable research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
According to the publication, “Women were more interested in male-dominated jobs when the advertisements were unbiased, making reference to both men and women as candidates, than when the advertisements made reference only to men (Bem & Bem, 1973).” So by identifying gender biases in construction job postings, we can see whether the gap of women working in construction compared to men has to do with the wording of the job postings itself.
You may be wondering what kind of words are considered female coded or male coded. According to research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, women are perceived as more community- and interpersonally-oriented than men. Whereas men are more often attributed with traits associated with leadership and agency. “A job advertisement for a company in a male dominated area might, using masculine language, emphasize the company’s “dominance” of the marketplace, whereas a company in a less male-dominated area might, more neutrally, emphasize the company’s “excellence” in the market.”
The Findings
Given the fact that construction has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, our initial hypothesis was that certain jobs like trade roles would have more male-coded words. We also speculated that administrative jobs would potentially have more female coded words. But what we found surprised and encouraged us.
We discovered many job posts feature both male and female coded words, and most job posts are actually slightly more female coded — including listings for trade roles such as journeyman and electrician, fields where women only represent about 1% of the workforce.
Our findings indicate that the construction industry is making progress in connecting with female candidates and presenting inclusive work opportunities..
Steps in the Right Direction: How Construction Is Becoming More Inclusive
Our findings mirror some of the recent momentum we’ve seen companies and associations take to make the construction industry more inclusive. For instance, Laing O’Rourke has set itself the target of employing equal numbers of men and women among its 5,500 global staff by 2033.
Another example is from construction workforce intelligence solution, Bridgit, which is making a push for more inclusive terminology. When Lora McMillan, Senior Superintendent at Ledcor, challenged Lauren Lake, COO & Co-Founder at Bridgit, and other leaders at the women-owned company to consider more inclusive alternatives to words such as “manpower” and “foreman,” it sparked a call to action that they are taking to the entire industry.
The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk also recently launched the Construction Diversity Image Library to increase representation of industry diversity. The library provides media imagery of diverse talent in the construction workforce, including women, people of color, and people of varying ages.
How to Bridge the Gap
Considering construction is still predominantly male, a gap remains between who jobs are marketed towards and who is actually filling the positions. To help understand why this is the case and what can be done to close the gap, we spoke with two industry talent experts from DPR Construction: Alison Tripp, National Talent Acquisition Leader, and Stacee Barkley, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader.
“There has been focus and intentionality in the talent acquisition space to have more gender neutral and gender inclusive language. However, the language (gender coding) of job descriptions, does not address the potential perceived value proposition (or lack thereof) for women entering or staying in the construction industry,” said Barkley.
So what steps should companies and the industry take to help bridge the gap? Tripp and Barkley say we need to address the “elephant in the room” as it pertains to jobsite culture, build awareness around bias and misogyny via training and education, and hold people accountable for cultivating and maintaining cultures of inclusion and belonging.
“Build a better mouse-trap,” said Tripp. “In other words, enhance the value proposition of careers in the construction industry for women. Identify the barriers: pay, healthcare, childcare, eldercare, remote/flex work, etc., then mitigate if not eliminate those barriers. Give women a reason to come to this industry and stay in this industry.”
Lastly, We discussed what hiring managers should keep in mind to ensure job postings or other recruitment strategies are as gender-neutral as possible. “Unconscious bias education, hiring best-practices and cultural agility” are of chief importance. “Ensure talent acquisition has an embedded DEI strategy and practice,” said Barkley. “Diversity is insufficient if people don’t feel like they are welcomed and belong. It is not enough to attract talent, you want talent to stay. A talent acquisition and DEI strategy applies to the kaleidoscope of diversity and is not exclusive to gender.”
The reputation of construction being an “old-boys club” “must be deconstructed and reimaged through the lens of possibilities — recognizing both the business and human cases for a diverse and inclusive workforce.”
Bias in the interview process can be mitigated by, “providing your teams with standardized interview questions and a comprehensive definition of candidate competencies so all interviewers follow the same framework when assessing and ranking candidates. Also, evaluate the diversity of your interview teams,” said Tripp.
There are clear efforts being made in the construction industry when it comes to diversity — but there’s still a long road ahead. With more time, effort, and action, we will begin to see more diverse groups of people working and thriving in construction in the years to come.
We all have a role in creating a better, more inclusive construction industry. If you are looking to join the conversation and lend your voice, learn more by exploring Autodesk’s Advancing the Industry initiatives for resources, upcoming events, and more.
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AGC and Autodesk Launch Media Library to Boost Representation of Diversity in Construction
Images readily available for editorial use showcase women and people of color in construction to increase visibility in industry media coverage
San Francisco, Calif., June 29, 2021 – The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk today launched the Construction Diversity Image Library, a collection of photographs for use by the media featuring diverse individuals in the construction workforce. The library will launch with an established collection of images and as part of the initiative, organizations from across the design, engineering and building industry are invited to contribute additional photographs.
In both 2019 and 2020, the annual workforce survey conducted by the AGC and Autodesk identified a steady and unfulfilled demand for more talent, with up to 80 percent of contractors reporting they are unable to find skilled workers. To fill the workforce gap and deliver on the growing call for more buildings, construction needs to attract and retain new talent.
The Construction Diversity Image Library provides editors and journalists with a resource to easily access imagery that showcases diversity in construction as it exists today and empowers the industry to appeal to new, diverse talent.
“The library is a valuable asset that provides media easy access to photos featuring various communities in construction,” said Jan Tuchman, editor-in-chief, Engineering News-Record (ENR). “It will help us represent diversity in our stories more generally so that hopefully more people can see a place for themselves in the industry – whether in the field, trailer or office.”
“Showing potential recruits that they will not be alone on the jobsite will make construction careers even more attractive to many people,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of The Associated General Contractors of America. “The Construction Diversity Image Library provides an invaluable tool for helping the industry recruit the kind of diverse workforce it needs to keep pace with future demand.”
To kickstart the library’s collection, Autodesk commissioned a gallery of photographs in collaboration with several AGC member firms. Autodesk will continue adding content, and other companies and associations that share a commitment to elevating diverse representation in construction are invited to add their own images to the library.
The new Construction Diversity Image Library follows on the heels of the AGC and Autodesk’s women’s safety harness grant program, and builds on a shared resolve to address workforce shortages, improve jobsite safety and boost diversity and inclusion in construction. At Autodesk University 2020, industry publications ENR and Construction Business Owner along with AGC member firms also participated in a panel discussion, “How the construction industry and media can work together to attract more diversity.”
“As the saying goes, you can’t be what you can’t see,” said Allison Scott, director of construction thought leadership, Autodesk Construction Solutions. “By increasing the diverse representation of construction professionals in the media, we can show that a career in construction is within reach for people who may never have considered it an option. Both Autodesk and the AGC are committed to celebrating industry diversity and encouraging more growth for the future of work in construction.”
Organizations interested in contributing to the library can do so here. All submitted images are for editorial use only by media publications. If used in editorial coverage, images will be credited to the contributing organization.
To learn more about the role that initiatives such as the Construction Diversity Image Library play in supporting industry diversity and inclusion, visit the Autodesk Digital Builder blog to read an interview with Henry Nutt III, chair of the AGC’s National Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee. Autodesk also offers additional resources, events and conversations for those who want to get involved in shaping the future of construction on the newly launched “Advancing the Industry” webpage.
About the Associated General Contractors of America
The Associated General Contractors of America works to ensure the continued success of the commercial construction industry by advocating for supportive federal, state and local measures; providing opportunities for firms to learn about ways to become more accomplished and connecting them with the resources and individuals they need to be successful business and corporate citizens.
About Autodesk
Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you’ve ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you’ve experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything. For more information visit autodesk.com or follow @autodesk.
Media Contacts:
Niyati Desai
Autodesk
[email protected]
415-726-1015
Brian Turmail
Associated General Contractors of America
[email protected]
703-459-0238
Autodesk and the Autodesk logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2021 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
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