Several years ago, Tammy Livers and I were at an ELECTRI Council meeting in Napa California. Having worked on several industry projects together and formed a lasting friendship, it’s not surprising that we were enjoying a nice glass of wine in a tasting room, networking with industry colleagues and collaborating on how we might apply our talent and energy to impact the industry. And an idea was born…”what if we sponsor a research project to identify how to recruit and retain women and minorities to the electrical construction industry as a way to positively impact the workforce shortage?”
We explored the concept with a few council and industry members, formalized the proposal, secured funding and support from our companies (Southwire and Graybar), found a research professor (Ben Bigelow, secured approval from ELECTRI, and kicked off the project. Ben and his team conducted extensive research, surveyed more than 700 members of the industry, analyzed the results and presented the findings the following year.
It’s fulfilling to read the culmination of this project in the report titled “Attracting and Retaining Managerial Workforce in the Electrical Construction Industry” featured in the recent ELECTRI Newsletter and Research Reports Homepage.
Here are the key findings:
1. We don’t have an industry image problem...we have an industry awareness problem. The industry will sell itself if the opportunities available are presented (true for all groups surveyed, but especially under 30, female, and Hispanics).
2. Women & minorities represent one solid solution to the workforce shortage and should be specifically targeted for recruitment and retention in the industry. We are making progress - Participation of women and minorities is increasing in the younger / less-experienced groups (but is still very low).
3. Management personnel are not coming out of the trades anymore. The recruitment message is no longer a “hands-on” career, instead it is one focused around “planning, thinking, and problem solving”. The message should particularly feature the skills required to deal with the technological transformation that is rapidly changing the industry.
If you’re in our electrical construction industry, whether a contractor, distributor or manufacturer, the actions outlined in the report offer a great way to attract and retain talent....particularly women and minorities, but also younger talent (millennials).
Please share your ideas on increasing our industry awareness and let’s get the conversation started!
For more information on ELECTRI International, check out electri.org and visit them at booth #1645 at the upcoming NECA Conference in Philadelphia September 29 through Oct 2, 2018.
If you’re interested in learning more about this particular research project, please feel free to contact me at info@kjcompany.com or find me at the NECA Conference.