Workforce Diversity in Infrastructure

Workforce diversity has always been a topic of interest, especially given the circumstances of the current macro environment. Construction companies are facing an unprecedented challenge in this uncertain economic outlook as COVID-19 cases continue to spike nationwide. With stay-at-home orders and undermined consumer confidence, the FED’s stimulus package might not be enough for most Americans. To stay afloat, businesses have to become self-reliant, adaptable, and strategic. Fortunately, such qualities inherently translate to high performing teams with strong morale.

In this story, we will examine what constitutes workforce diversity and how it enables empathy, inclusivity, freedom of thought, and leads to creativity and performance. Having a diverse set of perspectives and approaches to work can ultimately bring companies out of crises and allow them to outperform competition.

Diversity in Construction

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 10.3% of the construction workforce are female and 6.4% are African American. In comparison, the tech industry giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft make up a workforce that is 34.4% women. When looking at industry growth, construction is experiencing an annual growth of 1% while tech is experiencing 3.7%. Given the information, does workforce diversity have a direct impact on performance?

As McKinsey’s “Delivering through Diversity” report indicates, gender and race diversity are directly correlated to the increase of profitability as well as value creation. An ethnically diverse executive team is 33% more likely to outperform a homogeneous one. In addition, an interesting finding in the Gallup report shows that removing bias from the interview process and hiring based on skills and talent leads to 41% less absenteeism, 70% fewer safety incidents, and 59% less turnover.

As contractors build more diverse teams, it is important to note that diversity is not limited to race and gender but also includes cultural background, religion, ideas, skillset, and personality. It is crucial for a firm in any industry to set aside bias during an interview and instead focus on the skillset, innovative ideas, and raw talent that a candidate can bring to the table. According to McKinsey’s report “Attracting and retaining the right talent”, selecting the right talent leads to a remarkable increase in a company’s performance as one talented individual can be up to eight times more productive than an average employee in a high-complexity job. Diversity provides companies with a competitive edge, allowing them to win more projects, attract top talent, and establish honest relationships in the community. As a result, the construction industry has a huge potential for improvement and growth.

Freedom of Thought and Space for Creativity

Now, let’s talk about how a diverse workforce and culture have direct impact on team performance and overall project success. Its inclusive nature (cultural background, race, religion, personalities, etc.) creates an environment where differences are cherished with freedom of individual thought. From the employees’ perspective, their individuality and freedom are valued, encouraging them to express their ideas and innovate more openly. A diverse set of perspectives promotes creativity and allows employees to do things differently compared to how they have been done before and reduces the risk of groupthink and complacency. It also gives companies agility and adaptability when it comes to new opportunities and challenges.

As an example, our team values diversity on many fronts and has been harvesting the benefits for a long time. With an inclusive and innovative culture, our team members come from all over the globe, including South America, Europe, East Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The openness and mutual respect towards different cultural experiences, innovative thoughts, personalities, and skill sets allow us to collaborate seamlessly between departments and explore individual creativity in group settings. Most importantly, we strive to create a safe environment where individual thoughts are freely expressed to guide organic growth of culture and business. With new team members from business analytics and software development backgrounds, we experienced rapid revenue growth of almost twofold from 2018 to 2019. We also adopted new growth strategies and expanded our business nationwide during the same period to Washington, Texas, and New York. During the COVID period, our diverse approaches and ideas have not only allowed us to stay afloat but also enabled us to capitalize on downtime to adapt our business strategies and kick off new initiatives.

Moving Forward

A good place to start understanding workforce diversity is by looking at our thoughts and perceptions. Dr. Greenwald and Dr. Krieger introduced a novel concept of Unconscious Bias in their 2006 research paper. It suggests that something we are not aware of, such as stereotypes and prejudices, can affect our action and decision making. For example, a Yale University study found that male and female scientists, both trained to be objective, were more likely to hire men, and consider them more competent than women, and pay them $4,000 more per year than women. Such Unconscious Bias can exist in various aspects of an organization, from individuals to the collective. Thus to examine whether such a phenomenon exists on a systematic level, we can ask ourselves the following questions:

• Do I have certain preconceptions towards certain groups of people?
• Do some of my existing beliefs affect how I interact with them?
• Do some of my own interactions contribute to certain team dynamics and performance of my team?

Every positive change starts with small steps, from self-reflection and recognition to adjustments in behaviors and outcomes. We encourage you to think of some biases that you might have experienced in the past and think about the impact of diversity from a fresh perspective. If you are interested to learn more, here is some additional reading material:

• Unconscious Bias: How It Affects Us More Than We Know (Forbes)
• Research: A Method for Overcoming Implicit Bias When Considering Job Candidates (Harvard Business Review)

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