If You Build An Inclusive Environment, They Will Come...And They Will Stay

How can we retain women in the construction industry? 

Once we’ve succeeded in recruiting new women to fill available roles in the construction industry, what’s the next step? What are some other ways that we can retain them?

People love their jobs when they love the people that they work for..

All people – male or female – want to work for people that they like. Employees leave jobs because they have a bad relationship with their supervisor or direct boss, or they leave jobs because they have no sense of accomplishment or wellbeing.

So, it’s important for employers to ask the people that work for them what they want out of their jobs and how they aspire to grow professionally. After that, the next step is to follow up with an evaluation process in a timely manner.

Having a game plan for onboarding is super important for both recruitment and retention. A well-designed, fun, and engaging onboarding process has a significantly greater effect on employee engagement and retention when compared to the old-school mentality of one-day orientation.

This is an opportunity to teach about the mission, vision, values, and culture of the organization, and ensure that the women being hired understand their roles and how they relate to the organization’s big picture operations. They learn what’s expected, how to deliver, and how and when they will be evaluated. When their differences are set aside, and they understand what's expected of them (of anyone who holds this role), they begin to feel valued and included as someone who is part of a team.

Being the underdog can make you feel underqualified..

Whether you’re male or female, think about the first job that you worked. Whether you received a college degree, learned a trade, or worked straight out of high school, there’s a good chance that you felt an overwhelming sense of insecurity from being the youngest and most inexperienced on the team at that moment in time.

You were the odd man out. With time, education, and experience, you dug your way out of that hole. But, at least for a brief moment in time; you were the odd man out.

Something that women fall victim to more than anything else, is that there's an unconscious bias in networking and business relationships. In an industry that most people refer to as “a man’s world,” it’s easy for women to constantly feel like the odd man out, sometimes causing them to feel insecure and doubt their own capabilities and qualifications.

How can we combat this? Women need to learn how to expand their networks and feel more comfortable with their industry peers to gain a sense of wellbeing. The best way to do this? Many organizations are finding value in establishing mentorship programs.

Keep up with us to learn how a mentorship program might can help foster an inclusive environment.

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