How to Manage a Diverse Workplace

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Construction Executive

Things look a lot different on a construction site now than they did 50 or 100 years ago. Back then, the construction industry was predominantly male driven. A construction job site today is a melting pot of different genders, ethnicities and cultures, all bringing unique skills, personalities, and perspective to the job site; how should your leadership manage it all?

4 Tips for Managing a Diverse Workplace

Keep any bias out of your human resources policies

Hiring procedures, performance reviews and promotions should all be documented with policies that do not factor in race, religion, gender or age. When working with a diverse workforce, you must keep equality on the forefront of all your policies. Having an outside professional examine your procedures can help you create an objective human resource environment.

Encourage open-mindedness

For some construction workers, working along side a person from a different background might be a new experience. Sometimes these new experiences push these employees out of their comfort zones. Creating a strong mentorship program can help your crew work more harmoniously and improve interpersonal relationships.

Mix up your teams

When it’s time for your crew to work on collaborative projects, be sure those groups include a good mix of diversity. Every worker brings in their own unique skills and talents, most of which have more to do with their specialized training than their cultural background. However, by keeping these teams diverse, you allow your workers—both temporary and permanent—to learn from each other.

Provide diversity training

A diverse workforce, especially on a construction site, can come with a unique set of challenges that are hard to predict. Offering diversity training from an outside professional can really help your employees learn how to work together better. They will understand how to work through language barriers, cultural differences and gender inequality issues. Since diversity is on the rise in the construction industry, many firms are making diversity training a mandatory part of their onboarding process.

Managing a diverse workforce can take more time than some contractors and superintendents are use to, but having a plan in place will help boost productivity and reduce the risk of workplace conflict. When a job site runs smooth, projects get done in budget and on time. If you’re looking for ways to improve your construction workforce, give CCS Construction Staffing a call. We have the tools, training and talent you need to keep your crew happy and harmonious, and your project moving forward on schedule.

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