September 2, 1999

Construction management: what women really want

By ELAINE J. ERVIN
Special to the Journal

Everyone seems to be asking the same question these days: in a boom economy, with an acute shortage of top-drawer managerial talent, how do you hire and retain good people?

That problem -- let's call it "finding and keeping" -- has been especially tough in construction, where it's hard to compete with the high salaries, stock options, and general pizzazz that surrounds the "dot com" industries.

Now let's jump to a question that may not seem connected -- and that few people are bothering to ask: why aren't there more women in construction management?

The answer to this second question is simplicity itself: no good reason at all.

Women have traditionally been a very small part of the industry. They now hold at most seven percent of all managerial jobs in construction (according to a recent FMI survey) -- and the number is almost certainly much lower for the senior positions. Yet talented women managers have an immense amount to offer.

Name: Martha Barkman Occupation: Project Manager for Harbor Properties Age: 33 Education: B.A. Finance and Management, Seattle Pacific University, B.S. Construction Management, University of Washington On why she likes construction management: "I can’t stand not having my fingers in the pie. If I wasn’t on-site everyday, I’d miss the energy of hands-on problem solving." On being a woman in a non-traditional field: "I’ve never had any difficulties, my age tends to be more of an issue. People are surprised that someone so young has the experience I have.’’ Barkman's tips for women in construction: Get energized. When it comes to breaking into construction management, it’s not who you know, it’s the energy level and skills you bring. If your desire for the work is evident, you’re more attractive to an employer. Keep organized. There’s lots of pressure to be on time, on budget and to coordinate multiple tasks. This isn’t a career for those who can only do one task at a time. Don’t be a know-it-all. One of the most sure ways to make mistakes is to act as though you know everything. Instead, be sure to ask lots of questions when in doubt. Be flexible. Due to the vulnerability of the industry, people who enter the field need to be open to change and have diverse skills so they can switch careers until the market picks up again. Don’t get discouraged. Construction management is a difficult field to get into, keep (politely) knocking on doors to let people know you’re interested. Do internships. Internships are a good way of finding out if you like the work, plus they get your foot in the door - before graduating college. Learn as many skills as you can, then lean on all your resources when looking for a job.

They are often much more than just technically adept. As natural team players, with lots of human relations savvy, great interpersonal skills and a liking for "flat" organizational structures, women managers are often very comfortable in the kind of business environment that construction companies create. Often, they're also exactly what the company needs.

Bottom line: when construction companies don't hire women managers, that's obviously a bad thing for women, who miss out the chance of a challenging, varied, and fulfilling career. And it's a bad thing for the construction industry, which is failing to fully utilize a rich pool of talent.

The industry can't afford that failure. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting a 10 to 20 percent growth in construction employment through 2006 -- that's up to 50,000 new jobs. Meanwhile, the country continues on the downward side of the Baby Boom mountain: birthrates in the 1960s and 1970s were less than half the level of the post-war years, and that means senior job applicants are going to get even more scarce and more picky over the next decade.

In these conditions, the smartest construction companies will get ahead in the "finding and keeping" game by seeing women managers not as a marginal statistic but as a hidden key to the development of their hiring, training and retention efforts.

They will design the "manager career environment" so that it's attractive to the most talented women. They will have a well-structured mentoring program-in which the goal is to develop people, not fix them; a benefits package designed to be as helpful and user-friendly as possible, rather than as large as possible; and a commitment to rewarding excellence that's both absolutely clear and absolutely sincere.

Other important elements will include an emphasis on developing both collaboration and leadership; clarity about roles and accountability; measuring and tracking processes that are accurate without being invasive; and clearly defined solutions to succession issues -- because this is so vital for the sense of continuity.

Put these elements in place -- which is to say, persuade the most talented women managers that you have a long-term commitment to their professional well-being -- and two very interesting things will happen.

First, those women will feel committed to the company in a way that causes them to do their jobs better. Second, the best male managers will also want to be, or stay, in your company.

This is not to dismiss the significance of "golden handcuffs," in the form of big salaries, great 401(k)s, and a bulging sack of other goodies. Those things are nice if you can afford them. In fact, looking at the long term, construction companies will more and more have to ask whether they can afford to be without them.

In making the calculation, you have to be realistic about the high cost of turnover. Every time you lose a manager, the work of replacement will cost from 25 percent to 50 percent of that manager's annual salary, according to most estimates. And those estimates err on the low side, because they concentrate on tangibles like recruiting and training costs, and can't accurately tally the more intangible financial drag caused by discontinuity.

This is why doing what it takes to keep good people is less often an expense than a hidden form of efficiency.

In any case, the financial goodies aren't the most important part of what makes a job offer persuasive to a newcomer, or a competitor's job offer unpersuasive to someone who's already at work.

The most important thing is ownership -- "ownership" in a sense that goes beyond salaries, bonuses and an impressive figure for hours-per-year of training.

In its most powerful and important sense, "ownership" is when the employee feels she (or he) is a necessary and valued part of a compelling enterprise. Employees who "own," in this sense, are distinguished by the belief that their company is the best in its field, the belief that its work is exciting, and, above all, the belief that they personally are respected as a creative force within the organization.

Finally, note that the importance of this last factor is steadily growing as Gen-Xers move into more senior management positions.

People don't agree about much when it comes to the "Gen-X profile," but it's a safe bet that new hires are going to be ever more independent, less tolerant of rigid command structures, and more demanding when it comes to creative independence and flexibility. Translation: they are going to expect "ownership," and they are going to flee from companies that can't give it to them.

The moral is simple. Everyone has seen the bumper sticker that says "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Revised a little, it might be a motto for the care and feeding of good management. "If you think manager empowerment is expensive, try manager neglect."

Other stories in Women in Construction Her career is in the bag Profile: Ann Schuessler Doan's work continues in high-tech lab Schools failing to attract women into construction Barkman: managing projects suits her perfectly

By thinking about the changing role of women in construction management, we have come to a new perspective on both construction management and the industry of which it's a part. You could sum up it up this way:

The construction industry is a great opportunity -- to a significant degree, an unrecognized opportunity -- for talented women who want to make a career in management. And talented women who want to make a career in management are a great unrecognized opportunity for the construction industry.

Construction companies that see this and design their manager career structure to "find and keep" the best women will be setting out into the 21 century armed with a significant competitive advantage.

---

Elaine J. Ervin is a partner at Moss Adams LLP.