Op-Ed: Seeing is Believing... Isn't It?

How to attract employees to the A/E/C industry has be a concern for several years. The solution may be right before our eyes.

I was honored to be a panel member at the CCE's Construction Workforce Conference in March, helping to address the issue of "Marketing Construction as an Attractive Career Choice." Attendees clearly understood our challenges in attracting new people, especially younger generations, to our industry.

Through our discussions, though, one concept kept popping up. Since then, it has come back to me time and time again, like it's knocking on the door, saying, "Hello-o-o-o in there... is anyone paying any attention?"

That concept is image.

There is no doubt that solutions for today's (and tomorrow's) construction labor shortages are deep and multi-faceted.

There simply is no "one answer." Our challenges here include broader and deeper communication; refinement of and increased training programs; an understanding of the other industries that we're competing with for fresh talent; generations that continue to be unique from their predecessors; and much more. But I can't help but think-and hey, there's that knocking sound again-that image plays a fundamental role across all aspects of this entire issue.

Let's just throw out some words to describe the stereotypical response across America to the word construction. Consider, for a moment, images we've all heard associated with construction, like blue-collar, low-skill, dirty, dead-end job, pick-up truck, uneducated, and low pay.

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In this day and age, young people (and their parents, teachers, and counselors) are keen on image. Their immediate impressions and quick conclusions are based on visual cues. Often, they make snap decisions -accurate or not-about who's talking to them, and how believable and attractive their message is. We'd better be doing all we can, from the first moment, to put ourselves in as positive a light as possible. It's mattering more and more every day.

Elevating our image starts with what we have the most control over: our personal appearance and demeanor, followed by our offices, our vehicles, and our jobsites. (By the way, the second most prevalent message we heard at the conference was "we're all in this together," and the more we all understand that, the better.)

When we're interacting with prospective industry members, we are representing ourselves, our organizations, and our industry. We should present an image that is appropriate and professional. Anyone in marketing or sales knows two things about presenting a new face or idea to someone: one, you are going to make an impression, one way or another; and two, you have just one shot at making that impression a good one. And if image is as important as our conference session implied, these "front line" interactions are prime opportunities to present a positive one.

Maybe I'm old-school and completely out-of-touch with what appeals to young people. Or, maybe I'm-we're-on to a little something here that ties directly and fundamentally to the labor challenges we're facing: appearances and first impressions still apply and are clearly and universally relevant to this issue. I think it's the latter. How 'bout you?