Ashe Construction has launched an initiative that aims to increase the representation of women and underrepresented groups on site.
The initiative is part of the company’s wider workforce strategy called Belong, which is designed to foster a workplace where everyone feels that they belong.
The team at Ashe’s Bedford Academy site in Bedfordshire is being encouraged to consider diversity when allocating staff across the project.
The contractor is also promoting inclusivity by introducing simple adjustments across the site, including women-only toilets, prayer spaces and ramps for accessibility.
Project manager Danny Roberts, who is leading the initiative, tells CM People how Ashe is setting an example of how medium-sized contractors can lead on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
Tell us about the EDI initiative and why you got involved.
I got involved about five or six months ago. One of the key things I was interested in is trying to improve diversity across the project and the wider company.
I have been site based for many years. In my experience, women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds have always been underrepresented on site. Through Belong, we have set up an initiative that aims to help improve that.
A lot of companies have been using the old ‘Rooney Rule’ [a policy adopted in the American National Football League, which aims to increase diversity in coaching and leadership positions] but I think sometimes that can feel like a bit of tokenism. So, as a company, we want to improve on that.
We started the initiative at our Bedford Academy site. As part of this, we’re encouraging our subcontractors to encourage their office-based staff to visit the project and experience what it’s like to be part of the site team.
We are also engaging with the local community to help promote careers in construction. A lot of people have an outdated view of what construction sites are like, so we’re trying to change that image.
If you can’t see anyone that you can relate to, why would you want to work in the industry? Our initiative is really helping to change [local schoolchildren’s] whole thought process.
How do you hope that engagement with the local community will help to attract a more diverse workforce?
Having a more diverse group of people on site is really valuable, especially as we are working right next to a school.
We have encouraged lots of visits for the students, so they can come to the site and they can see people who look like them working on the project.
It’s a really visual way to engage with local schoolchildren who previously never considered construction as a career prospect.
If you can’t see anyone that you can relate to, why would you want to work in the industry? Our initiative is really helping to change their whole thought process.
Have there been any challenges getting your team and subcontractors to buy in to the initiative?
Everyone has been really welcoming and open to the initiative. We often talk about diversity and inclusion, so it’s in everyone’s peripheral vision. Everyone’s aware of it, but they don’t always engage directly.
The initiative is giving everyone across the project an opportunity to engage with EDI and help to make a difference.
How has the initiative shaped your own view of diversity in the workplace? Has there been anything that has surprised you along the way?
No, nothing has really surprised me. I’m just excited to see that change is starting to happen.
I have worked in the industry for about 40 years. In the past, it has been very rare to see women or anyone from a minority ethnic background on site.
Obviously, there are geographical differences, but the majority of the workforce is white, male and middle-aged.
We are really trying to change that and encourage more diversity on site. It has such a positive impact across the project.
It has been fantastic to see people from underrepresented groups engage in all the varied careers that construction can offer.
When people consider construction, they usually think of bricklayers, plasterers, plumbers and electricians.
They don’t tend to think about the diversity of all the other roles that are now involved across the industry, or how much of a varied and rewarding career it could be. We’re really hoping to help change that.
What advice would you give to other contractors who want to highlight the varied roles available in construction and attract a more diverse workforce?
It just takes a bit of tenacity because you really have to keep pushing through.
I have been working with one of our decorating contractors to help her bring a team of female decorators together. It has been a really hard slog for about two years now, but she hasn’t given up. She keeps on trying. That’s the approach that is needed.
We have a large bank of people in the industry who will be retiring in the next 10 years, and we need to fill those roles. We need to encourage more young people to join construction so they can benefit from our experience while we are still in the industry.
It needs to happen now because that deficit [of skilled professionals] is only going to get worse if we don’t take action.
Looking ahead, what’s next for the initiative?
We are planning to start offering some open days exclusively for women who might be interested in a career in construction, or an experienced professional who might be considering a career change.
It would give them an opportunity to see what a modern construction site is really like, to dispel all of those outdated images of men wolf-whistling from a scaffolding.
We want to encourage them to see and experience construction for themselves because it really is a different world now.
