5 minute read
MY HOPES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY POST COVID BY ALISON MIRAMS AAIQS
Three weeks into the COVID lockdown, I was working from home, I’d had three sleepless nights wondering if construction would be stopped, we were modelling 7 different scenarios and I remember having the very distinct thought – “I didn’t sign up for this as a CEO”. There was no playbook that I could look to. There was no other event in history that I could learn from. This was a true black swan event that no one saw coming.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and COVID-19 has put the construction industry (along with other industries) into the biggest and fastest experiment on flexible working. For the past 20 years, I have heard many dinosaurs in the industry say, “you can’t work flexibly or be part-time on a construction site”. This attitude has perpetuated the gender imbalance as women leave the industry 39 times faster than men, mostly during their childbearing years, thinking they can’t have a family and be based on site.
COVID-19 has allowed us to test those outdated theories and pleasingly it has been a resounding success. We have developed new ways of working that I sincerely hope becomes the new normal for the construction industry.
It would be such a waste of a bad situation if we didn’t sit back and analyse what we’ve learnt and set some new benchmarks. I am sharing my hopes for the construction industry moving out of the global pandemic known as COVID-19.
1. I hope that the construction industry will actually embrace flexibility. Companies need to stop talking and pretending they are working flexibly – they need to truly embrace flexibility for all. We have seen over the past three months that you can work remotely and still build. From the start of March, we asked our engineers, contracts administrators, design managers and project managers to alternate days between the site office and working from home. Sure, it’s had its challenges. We had to introduce virtual meetings and we turned on face time so engineers could see the issues on sites; but our jobs kept moving, we increased the numbers of workers on site and we kept everyone safe. People had time with their loved ones. And people experienced the joy of eating dinner together as a family at least a couple of nights a week. We have proven flexibility is possible and we have demonstrated it’s not a women’s issue, it’s a people issue. If we genuinely embrace flexibility, it will help to attract more women and keep them in the industry, and we can break the gender imbalance.
2. I hope that people now understand the isolation that an expectant mother experiences. That feeling that everyone felt when we entered COVID and were forced into our homes is exactly how an expectant mother feels. You are about to give birth, you’ve stopped work to rest, but the days are long. You can’t go shopping as you are not your normal size and god forbid your waters break whilst you are out and there is only so much Netflix and books you can read because you are terribly uncomfortable. Everyone else’s life continues as normal and you are alone at home. It’s lonely and it’s isolating. I hope people now realise why it’s so important for those women that want to return to work, to return to the job they left. It’s a small piece of a mothers’ former life that is so important for them to return to. I have seen many women lose their roles returning from maternity leave and the pain and devastation it causes is wrong. Perhaps this period will give people a different perspective on maternity leave.
3. I hope that clients continue to focus on the health and well-being of construction workers. This pandemic has been a health pandemic. Everyone has been very focused on staying safe and healthy. Let’s not lose those caring attitudes. I’d love clients to consider, that as the cost of time is so low, that there is no need to push programmes. There was a time imperative when interest rates were at 17%, but there is not now. To be honest – speed is the opposite of what we need now – as we try to keep people employed. We are seeing people hesitating to return to the office five days a week, but construction workers are working six or seven days a week. People need time to rest and recover. Working five days a week, gives construction workers an additional six weeks of leave per annum. Granted it’s not in one block, but it is still the equivalent of an additional six weeks of rest per annum – that’s a massive increase in rest time that must be good for you. It can’t be solely up to contractors to push this change; I’d love to see clients asking for five-day programmes in tenders and accepting the responsibility of their actions when they want projects delivered in ridiculously tight timeframes. Please don’t lose the focus we have had on people’s health.
4. I hope clients don’t take advantage of cheap prices. With the forward pipeline vanishing before our eyes, builders will be keen to fill their workbooks and to keep their good people together. Over many years, construction margins have been squeezed and the risk profile has increased exponentially. Pre-COVID it was not unusual to see contractors making a nett 2 - 3% return. Let’s be honest – with labour prices fixed and supply prices known, any discounting will come from margin and contingency. With margins squeezed so tightly, contractors don’t have the capacity to deal with significant bumps in the road, but more importantly, they don’t have the financial capacity to invest in research and development and we are perpetuating an unsustainable industry. We need to take a longterm view on the industry, and not feast on ridiculously cheap pricing. I’d love to hear clients say, this price is too cheap.
5. I hope that the industry collaboration continues as the new normal. The collaboration between contractors, industry bodies, the MBA and the unions has been simply magnificent. Let’s stop tearing each other down, let’s raise each other up, and work together so that the industry improves for every single person in it. After all, we want the same thing – a truly sustainable industry, where we are all valued and one that we can be proud of.
Everyone is saying the world has changed. This is our new normal. Let’s maintain the focus on people’s health, smash the gender imbalance, and openly and honestly embrace flexible working for all. And finally, let’s treat contractors and the entire supply chain with respect and fairness so that together we can develop a sustainable industry for everyone.
What hopes do you have?
Alison Mirams AAIQS is the Chief Executive Officer of Roberts Pizzarotti.
