Construction workers want culture change

Toxic culture and industry tensions seem to be weighing heavily on construction workers’ minds, with a majority of them citing workplace culture as a key issue that needs to be corrected within the industry.

In a recent online forum and LinkedIn survey involving hundreds of construction leaders and workers, 49 per cent of respondents said improving culture should be a key priority for the industry moving forward, while 29 per cent cited improving risk allocation as a priority. In addition, 15 per cent said they would like to see productivity improved.

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Surprisingly, only seven per cent said expanding the resource pool was most important, even though recent media and industry discussion has focused on that topic.

“There is a tension behind the 49 per cent figure for improving culture,” said specialist industry management consultant, Shivendra Kumar, who was one of four industry leaders responsible for carrying out the forum and survey.

“I think the biggest source of that tension is a systemic dissatisfaction with the pressures people work under and the dynamics of the industry as a whole,” he said.

Australian Constructors Association (ACA) CEO, Jon Davies, said the forum highlighted that the challenges are all interlinked.

“For example, it is widely understood that adversarial commercial frameworks negatively impact on culture and yet a positive industry culture is a key factor in attracting people into the industry,” he said.

“The ACA is committed to improving the sustainability of the industry and working closely with all stakeholders.”

Following on from the survey, an online forum will be held on March 9 to dive deeper into cultural issues happening within the industry and ways to address them.

Speakers include Roberts Co CEO, Alison Mirams; Brisbane construction company Mettle’s managing director, Marc Kenny; Anthropologist, Kevin Porter; quantity surveying firm Arcadis’ director, Matthew Mackey, and Gearoid Considine of specialist recruitment firm Brightside Consultants.

“What we are seeing so far is very encouraging, there is a lot of interest and enthusiasm for change, so we want to build on that now with more grass-roots collaboration, so watch this space, the next forum on industry culture will be lively,” Considine said.

The online forum is free and available for anyone interested in the topic to attend. For more information and to register your spot, visit the event’s LinkedIn page.