Partners in Progress Vol 16 No 4

PartnersINProgress SMACNA & SMART—Building a Future Together

May / June 2022

Plant the seeds early to reap rewards into the future...

PartnersINProgress SMACNA & SMART—Building a Future Together

JOSEPH SELLERS, JR. AL LABELLA Co-Publishers KAARIN ENGELMANN editor@pinpmagazine.org Editor-in-Chief JESSICA KIRBY jkirby@pointonemedia.com Editor

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POINT ONE MEDIA INC. artdept@pointonemedia.com Creative Services

CONTENTS

Partners in Progress is a publication of the Sheet Metal Industry LaborManagement Cooperation Fund.

3 CONFRONTING SKILLS AND LABOR SHORTAGES SMACNA and SMART are partnering to address labor and skill shortages in

All contents ©2022 by the Sheet Metal Industry Labor-Management Cooperation Fund, P.O. Box 221211, Chantilly, VA 20153-1211.

May / June 2022 - Volume 16, Number 4

the signatory sheet metal industry.

4 PLANTING THE SEEDS EARLY Recruitment and retention don’t happen overnight. SMACNA contractors

and SMART Locals are teaming up to deliver recruitment programs at the high school level.

8 UPGRADE YOUR JATC Technology is helping JATCs provide safer, more efficient, and timely

training to a younger, more connected workforce.

Find Partners in Progress online at pinp.org or at issuu.com/ partnersinprogress. An archive of all issues is available. Issues may be downloaded and printed for no fee.

For comments or questions, email editor@pinpmagazine.org.

11 MENTORING TODAY Gone are the days of top-down mentoring. Today’s mentors are direct,

thoughtful, data-driven, and open to reciprocity.

13 CROSSING THE FINISH LINE Like running a marathon, successful negotiation takes time, commitment,

training, and great mental fortitude.

20 MY JOURNEY: MECHELLE MCNEW Mechelle McNew’s journey from bank teller to Local 464’s Business

Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer was rewarding on all levels.

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S HE E T M E TA L | A I R | R A I L | T R A N S P O R TAT I O N

Best practices for confronting

industry worker and skill shortages

Review any current construction industry trade publication and you are bound to see an article on workforce and skill shortages in the construction industry. Attend any industry meeting and ask contractors and union representatives to identify their biggest concerns, and having a sufficient number of skilled craftspersons for current and/or future work will be at the top of the list.

Contractors in the signatory sheet metal industry have important advantages over their non-union competition.

SMACNA contractors are not alone trying to achieve their individual companies’ labor needs. They have union partners at the local and national levels fully committed to addressing this matter, and they have the collective resources and talents of their Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committees and staff to help address the shortage on an industry-wide basis.

Another significant advantage is being a part of an industry where labor and management groups that have successfully recruited, trained, and retained workers to meet their local requirements are more than willing to share their good ideas and proven strategies with their SMACNA and SMART colleagues throughout the United States and Canada. We are pleased to feature a number of those successful examples in this issue of Partners in Progress.

Recruiting new employees is not something that can be done at the last minute. It takes commitment, time, and passion to educate the future workforce about the incredible career opportunities in the signatory sheet metal industry.

Education does not stop with potential employees as noted by industry leaders in “Planting the Seeds Early” on page 4.

To be successful, educational efforts must also be directed at school principals, teachers, guidance counselors, and parents.

Check out an innovative program in Dayton, Ohio, that allows high school students to work summers during their senior year and have a year of apprenticeship completed by the time they graduate high school. Oregon’s Train the Trainer program has inspired sheet metal worker volunteers from different backgrounds to learn how to best relate to and recruit new entrants.

Recruiting is critical, but the work does not stop there.

Retaining those apprentices requires contractors and union leaders to collaboratively upgrade their JATCs to offer training on the latest and greatest industry technology. On page 8, we examine how local areas leverage their JATC accreditation status to qualify for grants offered by the International Training Institute (iTi). This funding provides students with opportunities to use robotics, augmented reality applications, and—in Local 104’s case—the JATC building itself as a simulated jobsite for training.

Great career opportunities, earning potential, and state-of-

the-art technology are all incredible apprentice motivators, but what else is needed? Mentoring is something that is repeatedly cited in the top five things that Millennials and iGen’ers are looking for in a career. “Mentoring Today” on page 11 describes how contemporary mentoring is very different from the “rite of passage/grunt work” approach that many tradespeople experienced during their introduction to the sheet metal craft in years past. Learn tips on effectively mentoring new people just entering our trade.

Apprentices certainly need mentors, but Deirdre McCarthy Gallagher reminds us in “Crossing the Finish Line with Facilitation” on page 13 that everyone can benefit from a facilitator that helps us to clarify our life and work goals, and a good support crew to help us cross the finish line.

It is well known that if you need something done, ask a busy person to do it. In this issue’s “My Journey” on page 20, Mechelle McNew describes what motivated her to leave her job as a bank teller to pursue a fulfilling career in the sheet metal industry. Mechelle is not only the first female SMART union business manager, but also, she has been vicepresident of the SMART Production Council, a member of the Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force, and financial treasurer of the SMART Recruitment and Retention Council.

Her role as the first chairperson of the International SMART Women’s Committee makes her a great role model for women in the industry.

The Partners in Progress team strives to share industry best practices from SMACNA contractors and chapters, and SMART unions. Please share with us what initiatives labor and management are working on in your local area to improve our industry and our communities. And since we are wrapping up this issue of Partners in Progress as 2022 Construction Safety Week draws to a close, please also share what your area does to ensure that all in our industry return home from work safe every day. Forward information on your good ideas, programs, and practices to press@pinpmagazine.org. ▪ Partners in Progress » May / June 2022 » 3

Planting the Seeds Early By / Natalie Bruckner  Photos on pages 4 and 5 courtesy of Local 49

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Competition to attract and retain a younger workforce is becoming increasingly fierce.

That’s why SMART and SMACNA are planting the seeds early among high school students with programs specifically aimed at highlighting the many benefits of the sheet metal industry as a career option for the right person.

“Today, we’re competing with other trades, truck drivers, the military, and the likes of Amazon, Google, Uber, even Chick-fil-A, who is offering $18 an hour,” says Thomas E. Martin, president of Ohio-based T.H. Martin, Inc. “If you’re not already looking at ways to attract the future workforce, now is the time to do it.”

Martin should know. He started a program aimed at high school students more than 20 years ago. It has seen great success, although he admits it took years to gain traction.

“Back in the early 2000s, we knew recruitment and workforce development were key to our industry,” he says. “We needed to get the word out there and make the younger generation aware.”

He set to work, engaging with vocational schools around the Greater Cleveland area. “From there, we started building relationships with the City of Cleveland and some suburban schools systems,” he says. “We understood that to get to high schoolers, you first need to educate the guidance counselors, teachers, and principals. They often don’t know it’s a paid internship, so how can we expect them to speak to their students about it?”

Working alongside Al Simonitis, training coordinator at the Local 33 JATC, they set in motion a high school program where JATC representatives attend job fairs and meet with the school representatives and students. High schoolers receive an open invite to tour the T.H. Martin facility and experience a day in the life of a sheet metal worker. “Over the years, we have engaged more than 20 high school students, 80% of whom have entered into the trade,” Martin says. “We still have three or four forepersons who came through this route.”

Vince Alvarado, business manager/financial secretarytreasurer at Local 49 in New Mexico, echoes Martin’s sentiments about educating adults first. He, too, has been busy targeting high schoolers for two decades.

“I was doing this 20 years ago, but back then we were having a hard time because the counselors and American Federation of Teachers weren’t on board,” he says. “They thought trade schools were for dummies. That attitude changed when we started partnering with them and they looked at our curriculum.

They finally realized we offer a well paying job with many benefits. They even told us, ʻWe thought you were just dirty old construction workers.’ While some of us are,” Alvarado laughs, “this is a skilled craft.”

Following the pandemic, young people are looking for stability, and Alvarado says there has never been a better time to ramp up programs aimed at high schoolers. “Teachers today are more receptive to trade school than ever,” he says. “It’s Partners in Progress » May / June 2022 » 5

Planting the Seed Early

Top and middle: courtesy of Local 24.

Bottom: courtesy of Local 49

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taken 20 years to see that change, but teachers are now directing the right students to the trades, rather than only recommending to them higher academic education.”

To keep the buzz going, Alvarado and his team have a trailer containing equipment that they take to career fairs to get kids actively using their hands. Every time they turn up, there is a line-up around the block. Always looking ahead, Alvarado believes it’s time to shift gears, and for him that means looking at new ways to make access into the industry—for the right candidates—even easier.

“We are currently redoing our standards,” he says. “We realized requiring a high school diploma to enter the trade was putting us on the back foot. The non-union doesn’t have that.

We are hurting the industry—putting handcuffs on ourselves.

We need to get rid of the country club mentality. The world isn’t what it once was. I told our contractors we need to change this, so we are putting a career path together that doesn’t require an apprentice to have a high school diploma or GED.” Over in Oregon state, a similar shift in attitude is being seen at the Sheet Metal Institute. Ben Wood, instructor, is currently in talks to implement a direct entry program—similar to a preapprenticeship program, that would work specifically with high school students.

“It mimics the Local 66 program in Seattle,” he explains.

“I met with the director of administration there in March, and he let us pattern their program. The idea is, you work directly with the high schools with a sort of sponsorship. The schools get to choose who they think would be a good person for the program, rather than the other way around.”

Like Alvarado and Martin, Wood believes buy-in needs to come from teachers and counselors first. To do that, Wood believes we need to tell our stories. “We have people in the industry who are 20 years old and putting a downpayment on their first house,” he says. “There are journeypersons making $100,000 a year. By joining us, kids are still going to college, and at the end of the five years, they have a guaranteed job and a career.”

To spread the word, Wood recently held a Train the Trainer program. It was attended by 12 people from different backgrounds, and the goal was to align the message and have relatable people speak on the industry’s behalf.

Wood says labor and management working together on these programs is imperative. “Never before has there been such a collaborative effort on the training side, working with business managers, organizers, and the apprenticeship programs, skills centers, and high schools,” he says. “This is huge to the success of getting the suitable high school students onboard. There was a disconnect before, and this created confusion out there. Not any more.”

In a similar vein, Ben Watson, project manager at Climate Engineers in Iowa, is working on a new program to overcome that barrier of gaining a diploma before entering the trade.

“We are looking to work with Local 263 on a program that

“Just because many of us started off doing grunt work, doesn’t mean that’s how it should be done today. In reality, that’s only 10% of what apprentices will actually be doing in the workforce.”

—Ben Watson, Climate Engineers would give high schoolers trade school credits and get them on the path early,” Watson says. “If they get credit, there is a higher chance of them sticking with it, and we are less likely to lose them to traditional liberal arts colleges or the military.

The union and contractors need to figure this out together. We are currently working through the logistics to come to some sort of agreement.”

Watson also says the sheet metal industry loses potential apprentices to the “old-fashioned way of doing things.”

“Just because many of us started off doing grunt work, doesn’t mean that’s how it should be done today,” he says.

“In reality, that’s only 10% of what apprentices will actually be doing in the workforce. The labor shortages we are having have exposed how vulnerable we are. Now is the time to show high school students how exciting this trade is, that there is an alternative to taking on the debt that comes with higher education, and that they could be working and getting paid. If in two years they realize it’s not for them, they can still go back to college. The more success stories we can show, the more we will get that point across.”

Back in Ohio, Kathy Kerber has been seeing great success with a school-to-work program aimed at high school students.

She has been working on it for the past 10 years, and it bridges the gap between education and ease of access into the trade.

“Our Local 24 worked with the Ohio State Apprenticeship Council to set up a program where, at the end of their junior year, kids can interview for the school to apprenticeship program,” Kerber explains. “If an employer decides to take them on, they can work the whole summer, full-time. When schools starts, the kids work two weeks and then go to school two weeks, and repeat, with apprenticeship classes in the evening. They end their senior year with a first-year apprenticeship under their belt.”

Guidelines mean students are expected to have a certain GPA, and a good attendance record—resulting in quality and dedicated recruits.

Kerber says a big part of the program’s success has been educating the parents and teachers. “Our Local goes to career fairs and chats with the parents,” she says. “We have to remember, they are the ones who understand the importance of healthcare and pensions and not going into debt. Then, should their child say they are not interested in higher education, the parent understands there are alternatives.”

Photos on this page courtesy of Local 49

Ultimately, investing in young talent is crucial to the success of the industry, and as Kerber and her colleagues echo, “It’s not what it used to be. Programs need to evolve and we need to share our lessons learned. Our local Chamber of Commerce has worked on youth as early as ninth grade, and while it has taken us 10 years to have the careers center change their attitude towards trades as an option, we are seeing a shift in focus. The time to act is now.” ▪ Natalie is an award-winning writer who has worked in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the United States, and Canada. She has more than 23 years experience as a journalist, editor, and brand builder, specializing in construction and transportation. When she’s not writing, you will likely find her snowboarding, mountain biking, or climbing mountains with her rescue dog.

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Upgrade Your

JATC

Contractors and Local representatives work together to make sure JATCs employ the best technology and are first in line for more workhours

By Sheralyn Boileau The Dusty Robotics FieldPrinter is transforming the construction industry, literally underfoot, by automating floor layout. “I call it a Roomba with a laser printer,” says Tim Myres, co-administrator at Local 104 and Bay Area Industry Training Fund, which covers five separate schools. “You download the wall layouts and hanger spots from the 3D model, then the laser printer drives around and sprays markings on the floor,” says.

And even bigger changes are on the horizon. “I think we’re close to producing ductwork on 3D printers,” he says.

“Relativity Space in Los Angeles already makes 90% of their rockets on 3D printers.”

ITI Administrator Mike Harris has his eye on the handheld laser welder. “It’s designed for materials that are quarter of an inch or thinner, putting it right in our wheelhouse,” he says.

“It’s quick, there’s little warpage of the material, and clean-up is extremely easy. This has the potential to be a game changer.”

Harris is also looking at the HoloLens, an augmented reality tool that shows virtual images in a real space. “An estimator could instantly check the fit of a mechanical system in an area by wearing a HoloLens loaded with that model when visiting the intended space,” he says.

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Andre Mayes is membership development coordinator for Local 71. He encourages every Local to plan for a high-tech future. “How do we make sure that these tools are used by qualified, skilled union members?” he asks. “We’ve got to incorporate these advances into our schools.”

Nine times out of ten, the biggest obstacle to adopting new technology isn’t interest. It’s cost. “Technology is not cheap,” Harris says. “That’s why the ITI created several grant programs to make it more affordable for JATCs to acquire technology for training.”

The ITI also offers the know-how, resources, and funding assistance locals need to pull ahead. The number of grants a JATC is eligible for depends on its accreditation status. The ITI recognizes four levels of accreditation—platinum, gold, silver, and bronze. There are more than 100 different accreditation criteria, like the quality of record keeping, type of insurance policies, and number of computers per student.

Harris recommends that schools invest the time it takes to improve their accreditation rating. “If you’re at the bronze or silver levels, you must raise your accreditation to be eligible for more than one grant,” he says. “Once you reach gold or above, you can receive two standard grants a year, plus all the other special grants that the ITI offers.”

Mastering technology gives SMART members a competitive edge. “If we can bid a project that used to take ten individuals and finish it with seven, our contractor can go out and bid more jobs.

That creates workhours for us.”

—Tim Myres, Local 104 co-administrator Standard grants reimburse JATCs 50% of the cost for any training purchase. “We’ve had people get welding equipment, press brakes, or any type of machinery for their schools,” Harris says. The ITI reimburses 100% of a HoloLens purchase, and in February 2022, it rolled out a grant program for laser welders, which includes safety training for instructors. The ITI also offers interest-free loans.

The organization’s new Director of Research, Development, and Technology, David St. Peter, modernized the Local 265 JATC in Carol Stream, Illinois, before joining the ITI. “Local 265 has received every grant the ITI offers,” Harris says.

“They threw out their old drafting tables years ago and went strictly to computer-aided drafting because the majority of new technologies work off electronic models. Local 265 gives apprentices an immersive experience from the beginning of their apprenticeships.”

“Our first big purchase at Local 265 was a Trimble Robotic Total Station (RTS) in December 2015,” St. Peter says.

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Upgrade Your JATC

The Building Teaches—Rethinking the JATC Local 104 is finishing up a new JATC that includes all-new technology but is also more like an actual job site than ever before. Their motto is: “The Building Teaches.”

The heart of the school is an open area around a two-story steel frame. It looks like a construction site, and students will use it for mockups and installation practice. Stairs lead to the roof of the building, where apprentices will service rooftop units. To give students experience with actual equipment, the HVAC systems in the building will be the testing and balance and service labs.

Three technology and three traditional classrooms adjoin the central area. The classrooms have high glass walls so students can study the central steel frame during discussions and see exactly where they will be installing. The other walls of the rooms are huge whiteboards, which the instructors can cover with diagrams and instructions.

Even the classroom ceilings and floors are carefully planned.

There are no ceiling tiles to hide the ductwork, allowing students to see functioning examples overhead during class.

The classroom floors are raised, leaving space for wires. “All the wiring will be underneath so we have flexibility to adapt in future years,” Myres says. “We know things will change.”

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“Trimble gave us a tremendous discount.” There are many other discounts available to JATCs, through both the ITI and software companies. “After the iTi came out with the grant program, everything opened wide up. To get the training center where it is right now, we made about three technology purchases a year.”

Even with platinum accreditation and generous discounts, each JATC will need to decide what to buy next. Talking to member contractors is the first step. “JATCs are in the service industry,” Myres explains. “Our members and our contractors are the clients.” He recommends personally visiting contractors to discuss their needs. “Every time I’m in front of somebody, I ask, ʻWhat do first-year apprentices need to be efficient for your company? What do second-year or third-year apprentices need?’”

Private conversations pay off. “Years ago, I told Westside Mechanical that our JATC had acquired a Trimble Robotic Total Station,” St. Peter says. Westside had recently purchased two RTSs to fulfil contractual obligations, but they were still in boxes. “This was $100,000 sitting because he didn’t have anybody who could run the equipment. Within two weeks, I created a class to get the workforce trained and the equipment into service.”

St. Peter’s work at the JATC allowed Westside to keep their focus on production. “In the Local 265 training facility, they were able to push the pause button, study this technology, learn how it works, and give that training to the membership,” says Westside’s Superintendent of Sheet Metal Matt Mickler. “It’s a great advantage to have that resource.”

The ITI encourages contractors to influence planning conversations by joining JATC boards. This strategy has served Glenn Parvin of Custom Architectural Sheet Specialists well.

He keeps his JATC up to date because he knows local trends in the architectural sector. “I sit on the JATC in Detroit, and we’re always talking about training needs,” he says.

Mastering technology gives SMART members a competitive edge. “If we can bid a project that used to take ten individuals and finish it with seven, our contractor can go out and bid more jobs,” Myres says. “That creates workhours for us. I don’t think non-union labor looks at it that way. I don’t believe they embrace technology and train in technology to the extent we do. When we learn new skills, we elevate ourselves as true craftspeople.” ▪ A Colorado native, Sheralyn Belyeu lives and writes deep in the woods of Alabama. When she’s not writing, she grows organic blueberries and collects misspellings of her name.

Mentoring Today Time to rethink mentoring and ignite passion in the next generation

By Lisa Bordeaux, A Mod Up Consulting

One of the common themes that we heard

at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference was the importance of mentoring. As we look at the coming needs of the industry, it’s important to re-think our approach. What worked for previous generations likely won’t work for as many in today’s generation, not because of a failure at parenting as much as the changing life circumstances of young people today. In order to have a thriving future, the idea of the apprenticeship being a grind, that it is a right of passage, needs to be updated.

We know the average age of those who are entering the apprenticeship program is 26. That is likely because that is about the time people are starting to think about getting married and starting families. In 2021, the average age of marriage was about 28.

If you turn 26 this year, you were born in 1996. Bill Clinton was the president, the Nintendo was popular, and there was a bombing at the Olympic Park in Atlanta. On the news was coverage of mad cow disease and Charles and Diana’s divorce.

DVDs and eBay were taking off, while on the radio played Snoop

Dogg, Metallica, and Sheryl Crow. Thirty Black churches were burned to the ground in Mississippi. There was a lot happening.

When you turned 10, Enron failed, Saddam Hussein was killed, and George W. Bush was in the White House. The Wii was released, Google bought YouTube, and oil shale became viable. PINK!, Nine Inch Nails, and The Pussycat Dolls played on the radio, and North Korea began testing nuclear weapons.

Heatwaves became a problem. There was a tidal wave in Indonesia, and Bush acknowledged secret CIA prisons around the world. Then came the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009.

Add to that the last two years, which have been traumatic for many people, and it is easy to see why there is a generation entering the workforce that is risk averse and afraid to make mistakes.

The generation entering the workforce is looking for mentoring and reassurance. They do not have the same high level of confidence as the generation before them. In fact, what worked for your generation and mine, will likely not work for this generation.

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Mentoring Today

to and older generation’s standards) in face-to-face interactions.

Model appropriate behavior, be clear and direct, and be kind.

2. Invite them to contribute

The days of top-down mentorship are over. Provide the opportunity to share and exchange knowledge between mentors and mentees. Besides fostering young people’s need for collaboration, it helps build their social skills and ability to handle feedback—key areas of learning for this generation.

Consider reverse mentoring program, or implement its success principles, which include demonstrating a diverse culture in your organization and actively addressing mentees’ fear and insecurities.

3. Make mentoring timely

According to indeed.com, mentorship means helping others develop both professionally and personally. A good mentor can provide others with high-quality feedback, mediate conflict, and think creatively to overcome challenges.

We are in luck, because mentoring is something that is repeatedly sited in the top five things that Millennials and iGeners are looking for in a career. Mentoring is different than just telling someone what to do. It requires a bit of nurturing.

This can make a huge difference in the health, happiness, and well-being of the people working in our industry. To be a good mentor, there are a few areas of focus to develop. Good mentors provide constructive feedback, and they have empathy. They communicate and, perhaps most importantly, they listen.

Apprenticeships of the past often meant doing all the dirty work as a rite of passage. Those experiences were focused exclusively on skill development and lacked clear and meaningful mentorship. If the old school apprenticeship mindset continues and mentorship is not included in the process, the industry will lose some great people. These are people who, with positive mentorship and empathy, could have become great workmates and assets. This next generation is generally practical, careerfocused, and cautious. They are not as independent, and they will look for industries that can understand and foster what they need. For the future of the industry, it’s up to us to support them as they come up.

Five Tips for Effective Mentoring Today 1. Rethink the relationship

Young people desire connection. This collaborative generation wants to gain knowledge from every resource possible, and its members crave feedback from managers, as well as peers.

Consider giving individuals the chance to work with multiple mentors or mentees to help build relationships, access a variety of perspectives, and build resilience. While this generation craves connection, it has also grown up in front of a screen, so don’t assume they know how to conduct themselves perfectly (or 12 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org

The need for instant gratification has become a cringe-worthy buzzphrase for Gen Xers and Baby Boomers—generations who feel a sense of entitlement around risk taking. But like it or not, young people have grown up in the age of information where Google is only a tap away. Speed mentoring—similar to speed dating—and flash mentoring, which sets up a network of taskspecific mentors, are great options for leveraging this quality in young people.

4. Redefine progress

Speaking of instant gratification, organizations that give little feedback or only promote a select few, sometimes years apart, will have less success with the younger generation. Strike the phrases “needy” and “too sensitive” from your vocabulary and respect the needs of a generation that grew up getting medals for showing up and trying hard. Consider frequent, meaningful, and direct feedback—texts are great for this—and providing smaller promotions more frequently.

5. Value life over compensation

Perhaps the most interesting defining feature for Millennials and iGeners is the preference and drive to achieve worklife balance. Secretly, we all want that, but these are the first generations to name it and actively push for it. Create value in the mentorship experience by looking ahead to parts of the job that go beyond compensation—benefits, pension, vacation time, health care—and most importantly, making a difference.

Young people today have been told their whole lives that they can achieve anything if they just follow their passion. Make sure they know that their training and career in sheet metal has purpose, helps others, and contributes to the greater good. Make it their passion. ▪ Lisa Bordeaux is a technology thought leader with years of experience. She has developed and implemented technology at all levels of business including the end user, installer/contractor, distributor, manufacturer, cooperatives, and associations. She presented on Modeling Change at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference. Visit pinp.org/conferences/2022pinp to learn more and download presentations.

Crossing the Finish Line

with Facilitation

By Deirdre McCarthy Gallagher In my 25 years of running marathons, I have learned a few critical lessons: don’t go out too fast, practice the art of fueling on the run, and, most important, be proactive in stationing your spectators at points on the course where the race gets difficult.

For me, this is typically miles 18 through 20. Those are the miles when I am thinking about how long 26.2 miles feels, worrying about my pace, and asking myself why I decided to run this race in the first place!

My support crew offers me a few things. First, they give me external and objective encouragement that even if things are getting difficult, I need to trust my abilities and training. Second, they provide me tools to help me achieve my objectives, which often means an orange slice, jelly beans, and flat Coca-Cola.

Third, they remind me of my goal: to put one foot in front of the other to get to that finish line.

Support is Essential

I think of my role as a facilitator as similar to the role of my support crew in a marathon. As a facilitator, I provide objective support when it is most needed. Recently, I facilitated workplace

conversations for a service-oriented business that, like so many businesses, has been indelibly impacted by COVID-19. The first months of the pandemic were focused on damage control: how to keep everyone on the payroll, how to best communicate and work with clients, and how to institute protocols for reopening.

With those protocols in place, the organization then went into overdrive to open its doors, enforce mask and social-distancing guidelines, and provide exceptional service to its clients. It wasn’t easy, and it took a toll. The head of the organization recognized that the team members were not collaborating as effectively as they could, and he took action. As a leader, he understood two critical things: He was too close to the challenges to see things clearly, and if he were leading the effort, then the solutions would be leader-driven rather than team-driven. He called me in to facilitate workplace conversations.

As an objective third party, I worked with team members individually and collectively to understand what was working well and what could be improved, as well as to solicit suggestions for changes. The answers were there. The team just needed the space to express its suggestions and brainstorm the next steps.

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Crossing the Finish Line

My position created the space for them to do just that—to share concerns and ideas so that when the doors did reopen, the team was ready to take that next step together.

Communication is Key

As a facilitator, I also employ tools to help teams accomplish their goals, often through communication. Communicating effectively is tough to do, especially in the midst of the challenges we’ve encountered over the past two years. This is compounded by the fact that much of our communication now happens on a screen, over a phone, and even through a mask.

Pandemic communication is different, and even people who are completely aligned in their goals sometimes have a difficult time talking and listening to each other.

Enter facilitation. Last summer, I facilitated workplace conversations for an organization that is confronting a complete reimagining of its work and how to deliver that work to customers. The organization had become siloed in recent years due to location and work division, a model that was functional but would not suffice for meeting the demands of the moment.

As it worked to break down the silos, the team encountered challenges to sharing critical information and insights, which led to a breakdown in communication and trust—and a brewing conflict. The leader of the organization acted swiftly to enlist support. She knew that the team needed tools to wade through the distrust and engage constructively.

I first spent time with the leader to identify the stakeholders who could offer insight and ideas. Then I worked with the stakeholders individually and collectively to understand the significant issues that needed to be addressed and the obstacles to addressing them. I heard loud and clear that the group needed to have tough conversations and felt deficient in the communication skills to do so. Our dialogue was structured accordingly.

We first spent time understanding that communication is so much more than exchanging messages. It is recognizing that constructing a message necessitates going beyond its substance to consider the sender’s perspective and the perspective of those on the receiving end of the communication. It is working hard not just to hear the content of what someone is saying, but also listening to the tone and the emotion of the person communicating.

With that as the foundation, I facilitated conversations around the brewing conflict, the need for change and strategies to move forward. The cumulative toll of avoiding difficult conversations and conflict was eye-opening for the group. The team recognized that this was not sustainable and committed to addressing communication challenges and conflict sooner rather than later.

And while the team knew that this commitment would not remedy all future challenges, the commitment underscored for them what was important: They had a desire to work as partners to help the organization survive today and, more important, thrive in the future.

14 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org

Goal Clarification is Beneficial

Finally, as a facilitator, I help people clarify and reaffirm their goals. With both of those organizations, that was easy to do. The first organization was managing a sense of fatigue in the face of the daily challenge of operating in a pandemic. That weighed heavily on their narrative—the stories that people were telling themselves about their organization—anchoring it to a negative storyline. There was a need to change and clarify the narrative.

To start the facilitation, I posed a simple question to team members: Why do you do what you do? The answers were astonishingly positive and powerful, with themes of perseverance, community, connection, evolution, hope, and impact. The narrative of fatigue and challenge was replaced by continuity and teamwork, which aligned with their goals to continue working together to deliver exceptional service and thrive.

For the second organization, the weight of the mistrust and brewing conflict obscured the alignment over goals. I asked each stakeholder to tell me about what they do and the why behind it. Every stakeholder responded with an individual narrative of passion, appreciation, and purpose. They made it abundantly clear that they loved their organization and wanted to make it the best place that it could be.

Interweaving the individual narratives into a collective one made the goal articulation very clear: The team wanted their organization to continue to do impactful work and make it the best place it could be. There were different visions on what that might look like, but the endpoint was the same. Amid challenge, it can be easy to lose sight of the shared passion and purpose.

Facilitation allowed team members the space to reflect on and reaffirm their goals. That enabled them to put one foot in front of the other to work through the past, understand the present and focus on the future.

Crossing the Finish Line

By the time I ran my last marathon in Boston in 2014, my pace didn’t matter and I was fueling while walking rather than running. But my third lesson—stationing my support crew on the course—took on even more importance because I knew I needed help, and I was not afraid to ask for it. I had my husband and kids at mile 18, my dad at mile 20, and my sister at mile 22. Enlisting this support did not mean that I was failing in any way or that I didn’t want to do the work. In fact, it meant that I wanted to succeed by equipping myself with the tools to be the best that I could be in that moment. Ultimately, I was the one who had to put one foot in front of the other to get to the finish line. But just as with facilitation, there is sometimes a need for assistance along the way. ▪ Deirdre McCarthy Gallagher is a dispute resolution professional with more than 20 years of experience as a mediator, facilitator, trainer, and conflict management consultant. She presented conflict resolution strategies at the 2022 Partners in Progress Conference.

Learn more at pinp.org/conferences/2022pinp

MY JOURNEY: Mechelle McNew Business Manager/Financial Secretary-Treasurer, Local 464 I became interested in the sheet metal industry totally for the better pay and benefits for my family. I was working as a bank teller at the drive-thru window, and I would see sheet metal workers from the local production shop come through my teller line each Friday. shortly after 3:30 p.m.

Their weekly checks put my bi-weekly check to shame, not to mention they were off work when I still had two hours to go. I was pregnant with my first child at the time, and I was at a point in my life where I had to put my responsibilities to my family first.

Directly after I was off maternity leave, I submitted my application to be considered for employment with the local sheet metal production facility. Soon after, I was called in for an interview, and I happily accepted a job offer from them.

It was most definitely a different career path from the bank job, but it has been a journey and career that has helped both me personally as well as provided for my family.

My journey started in 1990 at the beginning of my newfound career as a sheet metal worker. In 1997, the local union members submitted a request for SMWIA International to grant us our own charter, and Local 464 was born. I was one of the first elected officers. Over the years, I have held office as executive board member, vice president, and shop steward before running for and being elected as Local 464 Business Manager/FST in 2011. Since that time, I have been elected as vice president of the SMART Production Council, appointed as the first chairperson of the International SMART Women committee, appointed as a member of the Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force, and been appointed to the office of financial treasurer for our newly formed SMART Recruitment and Retention Council.

I have been Local 464 Business Manager/FST for 11 years now. It is quite challenging being the only one in the office—I take on the roles of business manager, negotiator, mediator, financial secretary-treasurer, and organizer. I wear many hats, but I love what I do. I get the privilege and honor to stand up for and represent the outstanding sheet metal workers that I worked side by side with for 20 years, but at a new level.

When I decided to run for the elected position of business manager in 2011, I was told “We respect you wanting to run for this position, but we need a strong man to do the job.

Challenge accepted! I won the election and have held the position for four terms. I also had to overcome the challenges

of responsibilities outside of my comfort zone, such as public speaking. This career path has helped me grow in many ways, and I am forever grateful for that.

For young people just starting out or thinking about sheet metal as a career, I say go for it! Sheet metal is a career with many opportunities for all walks of life. It does not matter your gender or ethnicity. There is a place for you, and the growth opportunities are unlimited.

I have prided myself on establishing good labor-management relationships. We all want the same thing and that is for the industry to thrive and grow. It has been my stand as a members’ representative that if we can uphold the contract by communicating with each other instead of using the “gottcha” technique, we can solve problems before they even start.

Anything we can do on a common front helps us all move forward in a positive manner so we can focus on providing a safe and happy workplace for us all.

The Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force works hand-in-hand with labor and management to establish best practices for all of us on diversity, recruitment, retention, and being trained and prepared for the work growth the future has in store for us. ▪ Partners in Progress » May / June 2022 » 15

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Help Spread Awareness About Careers in Sheet Metal

GET THE SMART-SMACNA BRAND AMBASSADOR PROGRAM STARTED IN YOUR AREA The SMART-SMACNA Best Practices Market Expansion Task Force has launched a recruitment initiative to help address the industry's labor shortage.

The Brand Ambassador program attracts new recruits to the sheet metal trade by leveraging the positive experiences of apprentices, journeypersons, and other members of the industry who love the trade.

Anyone interested in being a Brand Ambassador simply uses the hashtag of our recruiting campaign, #MJMG, on their social media accounts.

Exemplary Brand Ambassadors will receive $100 Amazon gift cards.

Brand Ambassadors spread the word about the advantages of SMACNA and SMART careers to their friends and family on social media.

For more details on other recruiting resources visit pinp-materials.org

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