Solid Partnership

Solid Partnership

Advice is rampant on being an example, walking the walk, and staying true to one’s goals and character. These are certainly words of wisdom and can be important in how we develop as individuals, but let’s not forget the importance of the messages we send to the world and others via our behavior. Conducting ourselves with integrity and prioritizing collaborative efforts demonstrates that we are a powerful force, an example of genuine expertise, and the only place to look for the highest quality. In essense, we teach people what we are capable of and how to treat us.

It is easy to get stuck looking inward or at a microcosmic example of conflict or upset, but when we do that we are only addressing an inner need for control; we are not doing the industry or the greater community any good. Staying stuck means conveying the impression that disagreement rules the day and that being right is more important than doing the right thing. When we live in the problem, this is the message heard by the construction community, building owners, and potential new recruits.

But when we come together for solutions, demonstrate flexiblity to save the day, and invest time and money into bettering ourselves and our teams, we are sending a different, brighter message: this is an industry where progress, innovation, and cooperation are the norm. Ours is an industry where ideas are shared and solutions are the focus, and those experiencing similar issues can learn by our example—this is the message we send, not out of arrogance, but out of confidence that doing the right thing is the only way to move forward.

This issue of Partners in Progress is full of examples of highly functional, cooperative teams showing the greater community what solid partnership looks like. Local 36 and Integrated Facilities Services came together on an innovative school project to beat a labor shortage and make it well known that labor and management in the signatory sheet metal industry can and will do whatever it takes to complete high quality work and regain market share. This team met each obstacle with poise and ingenuity, and they put together a solid plan based on trust and a mutual end goal to get the job done. See page 4 for more.

In an effort to proactively reach diversity goals in the sheet metal industry, SMACNA Cleveland and Local 33 visited the Spanish American Committee together to promote the area’s Cleveland Latino Construction program. They continue to work as allies on recruitment and other issues, which sends an important message to their communities and potential recruits: partnerships work. Read about this success story on page 7.

Those who have taken the time and made the investment into become TABB certified are finding countless opportunities, both in bringing additional valuable skills to the workforce and in securing new market share for businesses. Most importantly, having the certification means garnering respect from the engineering community and other specifiers. It demonstrates that these individuals care enough about their industry and their career diversity to be on constant lookout for ways to improve and bring higher skill and craftspersonship to the forefront of the industry. SMACNA and SMART professionals discuss the opportunities further beginning on page 9.

And finally, what do we really mean by “experience”? The literal meaning is practice or repetition of a particular habit or action granting us the right to claim credit for having done that thing at least once before. But this has to be one of the most misused terms in history, because we often feel “experience” means “expertise” and these things aren’t at all the same. While the act of experience takes the will to complete the action, expertise is the result of experience plus effort, discipline, and persistence— the willingness to push hard through disappointment and failure to reap the benefits of internalizing experiential learning. That is the place from which inner stength and lasting partnerships arise. Read about how to get there on page 11.

The 2020 Partners in Progress conference will highlight the many ways labor and management can build solutions for the way forward. Registration opens in September, and program details will be available shortly. Watch these pages for more info. ▪

LAST CHANCE: Contribute to the 2019 State of SMART- SMACNA Labor-Management Cooperation Survey

In order to assess the perceived value of labor-management cooperation, find success stories, and ensure that the 2020 Partners in Progress Conference provides value to all attendees, SMACNA and SMART’s Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force is conducting the State of SMART-SMACNA Labor- Management Cooperation Survey 2019. It is available at surveymonkey.com/r/DMTVK6R and via Partners in Progress at pinp.org. All SMACNA chapters and contractors; SMART Locals, business managers and agents; JATC coordinators; apprentices, foremen, supervisors, and labor-management cooperation committee or trust members are requested to participate by Aug. 15, 2019. Results will be shared only in aggregate in SMACNA, SMART, and Partners in Progress publications. Direct questions to Kaarin Engelmann at editor@pinpmagazine.org.