Generation Z is the most ethnically diverse generation the United States has ever seen. Tapping into this pool of talent will be essential for your business's progress in the next 15-20 years.

 

Paul Robinson — the founder and CEO of ConstructReach — a company that focuses on diversifying the construction industry, is here with us today to explore diversity, and why it’s important to your company’s success.

 

Some of the highlights of our discussion include:

 

• How leadership and construction companies can drive diversity initiatives,

 

• How construction companies can sustain this over a period of time,

 

• Some of the roadblocks to diversity and how to overcome those,

 

• And many more.

 

Get some fresh perspective from today’s conversation with Paul. Understand the issues and challenges around diversity that construction companies are currently facing and how you can overcome them!

 

Discussion Points:

 

• 0:00 Introduction

 

• 2:55 Paul’s background

 

• 4:31 Paul’s journey towards ConstructReach

 

• 6:49 The reason behind the lack of diversity in construction

 

• 8:22 The business case for diversity

 

• 9:33 Strategies to apply if you want your construction company to be successful in terms of diversification

 

• 10:59 What are the schools’ roles in terms of promoting the diversification initiative?

 

• 13:29 Trends on shop emphasis vs having our heads up in the technology cloud

 

• 15:19 How construction companies build relationships with schools so they can tap into the vast pool of talent afterwards

 

• 17:24 Sustaining a diverse workforce

 

• 22:17 Persuading construction leaders into hiring a diverse workforce

 

• 25:35 Stop jumping on the bandwagon with your marketing

 

• 28:15 Closing in on the generation gap

 

• 30:06 What ConstructReach does for general contractors and subcontractors

 

• 30:56 The importance of the onboarding piece

 

• 32:29 The difference between a successful company in terms of diversification and the not-so-successful one

 

• 33:18 How Paul helps construction companies overcome the challenges of diversification

 

• 34:06 Definition of small wins in the context of a diversity initiative

 

• 35:29 Setting specific diversity goals in a construction company

 

• 36:28 Paul talks about ConstructReach and what they do as a company

 

• 38:18 First steps you need to take if you’re looking at diversifying your workforce

 

 

About Our Guest:

 

Paul Robinson joined the Target Corporation in 2006 and quickly rose to become a Construction Project Manager. In 2012, he, his wife, and growing family, decided to move home to be tangible examples in their St. Louis, MO community. In 2015, construction leadership at Target reached out to Paul with a proposition: assistance in ensuring the construction pipeline stays filled with competent employees and increasing the diversity of those employees. Paul founded ConstructReach in May 2018 — a construction industry workforce development initiative and consultancy that seeks to increase the visibility of the construction industry by educating students about career opportunities within construction, connecting general contractors to interns, employees, and internship curriculum, and creating content, experiences, and a social network to expose a diverse population to sustainable construction careers. ConstructReach works with students, educators, high school counselors, large brands, and general contractors throughout the country to ensure they have the information and connections they need to facilitate the longevity of a new, more diverse construction industry. ConstructReach is currently adding general contractors, and expanding brands to its network.

 

Resources:

• Restaurant Recommendations:

 

• Imo’s Pizza: https://www.imospizza.com/

 

• Sugarfire: https://sugarfiresmokehouse.com/

 

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

 

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

 

Connect with Paul Robinson/ConstructReach:

 

• Paul Robinson - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-robinson-a528151a/)

 

• ConstructReach - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/constructreach/)

 

• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/constructreach/)

 

• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/constructreach/)

 

• Twitter (https://twitter.com/ConstructReach)

 

• Website (https://constructreach.com/)

 

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

 

Thank you for tuning in!