Leveraging DEI to address the labour shortage

September 30, 2024* – Thousands of jobs are going unfilled in Canada’s construction sector, and even more will open in the coming years. To help address this labour shortage, we must consider casting a wider net to include non-traditional pools of talent.

With that goal in mind, Onsite, HPAC, and Electrical Business magazines partnered to host the Pursuing DEI summit, which put a spotlight on the sector’s labour challenges while providing practical advice for attracting and retaining workers from underrepresented populations.

Sponsored by Procore Technologies, Jacques Cartier + Champlain Bridges, Electricity Human Resources Canada, and EMCO Corp., the summit’s speakers shared their insights for building diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces, with the aim of helping construction companies become an Employer of Choice for talent.

Becoming self-aware about bias

The summit opened with a keynote address by Rubiena Duarte, vice-president of global diversity and inclusion at Procore, and was followed by three panels that discussed:

• How do you establish (and maintain) an inclusive culture?
• What are non-traditional pools of talent?
• How do you market your inclusive workplace?
• Becoming self-aware about bias

“Last year, it was reported that Canadian construction companies missed out on $9.6 billion in revenue opportunities because of the labour shortage,” said Duarte.

Given the massive number of job openings, she said companies need to think about how to entice the next generation of workers to the sector, including Gen Zs, newcomers, women, and Indigenous communities.

Contributing to the low levels of diversity in the sector’s labour pool are unconscious biases, which refers to “assumptions, stereotypes, and reactions about a person or group of people that are formed by our experiences, our upbringing, and societal influences”.

Duarte highlighted various types of unconscious biases, stressing that—for a sector desperately in need of workers—we cannot allow these biases to cause us to ignore, dismiss, or overlook any viable pool of talent.

Building a culture of inclusion

“It’s inclusivity that actually matters,” insisted Kenny Leon, vice-president of the Canadian Construction Association, and moderator of the panel “Building and maintaining your culture of inclusion”.

This discussion featured Brandi Ferenc of Fair-Trades Toolbox, Graeme Aitken of Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario, Maraika De Groot of Maven Consulting Limited, and Luanne Whitecrow with the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business.

And the inclusivity movement must start at the very top, Leon added. “We need a set of company expectations to take it forward. We need to communicate those expectations.”

While there is no single recipe for creating such an environment, De Groot said being self-aware—both individually and as a company—factors into developing policies and practices that lead to a healthy corporate culture.

The panelists warned that company policy cannot be a “one-and-done” effort, and that establishing a DEI committee is by no means a guarantee of success. As Aitken put it, “A committee is not enough… [not] unless you simply want to check a box”.

Whitecrow agreed. “Is having a committee enough? No. It’s all about getting executive leadership buy-in and reflecting on the intent in developing an inclusive culture for the long term.”

When creating a cultural shift inside an organization, Whitecrow said it is crucial to establish that policy commitment, along with the associated work plans, for long-term success.

Part of that long-term success should include management-supported employee resource groups (a.k.a. affinity groups). “20 years ago, we didn’t have social media. My affinity group was one other woman that was working in the trades,” said Ferenc. “And without that, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

Encouragement helps create and maintain the desired inclusive workplace; sometimes, penalties, too, must come into the picture.

“We need to be ready to enforce the rules of our roads if we are going to be viewed as progressive employers who value all workers,” Leon said.

Leaving no (labour) stone unturned

Moderated by Martin Luymes of the Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute of Canada, Session 2 stressed how an inclusive workplace is a powerful tool for attracting and retaining the best talent.

The session featured Bill Ferreira of BuildForce Canada, Kim Rutherford from Emco Corporation, Viktoriya Syromyatova of Boralex, and Craig Swanberg from PCL Construction.

“Employment demand is growing dramatically,” explained Ferreira. “We estimate that we’re going to need about 88,000 additional workers over the next 10 years just to keep pace… When we factor in the retirement of 263,000 individuals during that period, the industry is going to need to hire about 350,000 individuals.”

To fill this void, human resources teams and hiring organizations will need to broaden their search parameters, and provide mentorship and career advancement opportunities for underrepresented jobseekers/employees.

“When partnering with a recruiting organization, I like to look at their commitment to diversity and inclusion,” said Rutherford. “[Are they] casting a wide enough net that we’re getting the best possible candidate—not just for my industry—but broadly throughout the community so that we represent the community we serve?”

While DEI efforts in hiring have generated some gains within certain groups—including attracting more women to the construction sector—much more needs to be done. On the newcomer front, for example, Ferreira has not seen any significant progress. “We’ve actually been seeing that number slightly declining when we look at the overall number of newcomers involved in the trades,” he said.

Becoming an employer of choice

Moderated by Michelle Branigan, CEO of Electricity Human Resources Canada, the final panel focused on becoming an Employer of Choice through the application of DEI-driven policies and principles.

Panel members Meg Mathes, RSE, with Modern Niagara, Elaine Carelse with Orion Construction, and Hatch’s Lindsay Janca shared insights about what jobseekers want from their employers.

“Jobseekers are looking at employers’ annual reports, senior leadership team and, if they don’t see themselves represented there, that’s going to make a difference to your ability to attract and retain,” Branigan said.

“Organizations that can build truly inclusive workplaces are going to have the edge when it comes to both the recruitment and retention of that workforce, and really position themselves as employers of choice,” she added.

The panelists emphasized the need for organizations to take ownership of creating inclusive workplaces, avoiding labelling and stereotyping underrepresented groups, and using practical actions to promote diversity and inclusion.

In essence—and in agreement with the previous panels—an inclusive workplace is something you create, foster, and champion every day, with every action. To that end, any company DEI initiative should take a process-oriented approach, focusing on setting measurable goals and regular check-ins to ensure those goals are being achieved.

Assuming that all the above efforts are paying dividends, next comes the question of outreach… letting underrepresented jobseekers know about the inclusive workplace you’ve created. And here is where your existing employees become your greatest HR marketing asset.

There was a real groundswell of support for DEI at Hatch, Janca explained, where employees—through their own social media engagements—became de facto ambassadors for the company and its inclusive culture.

Win the race for top talent

It’s important to remember that the construction sector is not only facing talent competition from within, but from outside the sector, too. All the more reason to flex any HR tool available to bolster your chances at long-term success.

You can watch or listen to all of these sessions on Electrical Business Magazine’s YouTube channel.

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Adam Freill is the editor of Onsite Magazine, a member of Annex Business Media’s Construction Group, which includes Electrical Business and HPAC magazines. This article is an updated version of the one originally published July 5, 2024.

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