The Construction Industry Culture Taskforce has implemented a set of basic standards that look to create a healthier work environment.
With the Australian construction industry facing key issues including labour demand, a large gender pay gap, a lack of diversity and high rates of suicide, the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce (CICT) has taken steps to drive positive change.
For the past five years, CICT has collaborated with and been funded by the New South Wales (NSW) and Victorian governments, as well as the Australian Constructors Association, to improve the culture on worksites.
The woman behind this initiative is CICT chair Gabrielle Trainor, who comes with a wealth of experience as the acting chief commissioner of Infrastructure Australia and co-chair of Build Skills Australia – to name a few of her numerous titles.
While CICT’s goal is ambitious, Trainor says it is crucial for the industry to undertake change – rather than nothing be done.
“We want to drive industry productivity improvements by embedding a Culture Standard into procurement, harmonised across all Australian jurisdictions,” she says.
“If we can get there, it will create a level playing field for contractors, will help drive positive cultural change through the supply chain and government clients will buy in to be part of the solution.”
CICT has outlined three key pillars to the Culture Standard – time for life, diversity and inclusion and wellbeing –that it recommends tackling together, instead of individually.
Driving change
Losing approximately 100,000 workers a year to retirement or simply just leaving for opportunities elsewhere, CICT wants to make the construction industry more appealing for the workforce.
“Despite the great things about working in construction, it is not an industry of choice for many people – especially women and increasingly young men,” Trainor says.
Three key factors are at the forefront of CICT’s development, which Trainor refers to as the three P’s – pipeline, people and policy. She says pipeline refers to the increasing labour demands which are more than double available supply – with labour costs reflecting that.
“Infrastructure Australia’s Market Capacity Report found the pipeline of public infrastructure projects ($230 billion over the next five years) faces a shortage of 214,000 skilled workers,” she says.
Trainor says the people factor refers to the construction workers who face mental health battles, deal with a lack of diversity and endure a large gender pay gap.
According to CICT, construction workers are six times more likely to die from suicide than an accident at work. The industry also has the largest median total remuneration gender pay gap – at 31.8 per cent.
“Despite all the good work that’s been done by organisations like the National Association of Women In Construction (NAWIC), Mates in Construction and Wellness in Infrastructure, the needle has not materially moved over decades, and coincidentally, neither has industry productivity,” Trainor says.
The third factor is policy, referring to the policy makers who Trainor says are focusing strongly on diversity and equality.
“Employees have very different expectations now than in the past, so it’s important that we can help build a positive culture,” the CICT chair says.
“The Building Commission of NSW published a report in January stating 63 per cent of the 1,800 surveyed are considering leaving the industry.”
Trainor says the main reason for this is working hours, the lack of work and life balance and company or team culture – all key aspects of CICT’s Culture Standard.
Implementation
Looking to address these concerns, CICT has tested the impacts of its draft Culture Standard in the field, by applying them to five pilot projects across NSW and Victoria.
Trainor says the aim of the pilots were to measure the costs, benefits and impacts through the whole lifecycle of these projects.
In Victoria, the Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road Upgrade (McConnell Dowell) and the Brunt Road Level Crossing Removal Project (Fulton Hogan) were chosen to implement the Culture Standard.
In NSW, they were applied to the Wentworth Point High School project (Roberts Co), the Mulgoa Road Upgrade Project Stage One (Seymour Whyte), Sydney Children’s Hospital Stage One and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre (John Holland Group).
With a mix of different projects, clients and different scales, CICT has tried to assemble a representative sample of the industry.
The data from these projects, gathered by researchers at RMIT University over two years, involved over 700 workplace surveys, organisational data collection and 320 individual in-depth interviews.
Each project applied the draft Culture Standard differently, with two projects combining a five-day Monday to Friday schedule with alternative work arrangements, one project ran a six day-on and three day-off roster, another ran four 12-hour shifts with two days off, and one set 50-hour working caps with an option for Saturday work – within these hours.
Interim report
Results of the pilot projects were positive, with Trainor saying workers were particularly supportive of five-day work weeks with an average of 50 hours worked.
84 per cent of salaried and 61 per cent of wage workers preferred this over a six-day work week.
“Another positive we’ve found is that less hours worked doesn’t appear to have decreased productivity,” Trainor says.
One of the main reasons for this, is that team members were more rested over the weekend, which cancelled out the hours lost on the weekend.
An anonymous survey respondent backed up this point through their experience in the pilot projects.
“When you do stupid hours, like 70 to 80, I don’t think you get more work done, you’re much less effective when tired,” the respondent says.
Trainor says most preferred the Monday to Friday week, citing family time and recovery as key reasons.
Another respondent added that they loved the change and that they couldn’t see themselves working another six-day job again.
Initially, some workers were concerened about the reduced hours effecting pay, however, Trainor says there was a minimal effect.
“Most of the respondents said having the time back to spend with friends and family, exercise and do all of those things were really important to their wellbeing,” she says.
“The evidence shows that wellbeing was enhanced, and that men and women found the environments more positive.”
Trainor says women felt much more respected in the workplace and had better access to amenities than on previous projects.
Another respondent added that they wished the Culture Standard had been set 10 years ago.
“It would have made my career a lot easier with all the other jobs I’ve done,” the respondent says.
Looking ahead
Researchers from RMIT will finalise its research and report by the end of the year and CICT will look to alleviate some of the challenges that were found in the pilots by updating the Culture Standard.
One of these challenges was the impact of longer working days – due to shorter weeks – on stress levels.
“There are always challenges and this one came out of workers who reallocated hours into five days – creating longer days,” Trainor says.
Another challenge that arose, were younger workers wanting to work more hours and days to establish themselves – in contrary to most of the older workers who had families.
“About 28 per cent of the workers – mainly waged – wanted more work and or days,” Trainor says.
“This statistic mostly comprises young males who haven’t started a family and therefore are seeking more overtime.”
Looking ahead, CICT will need to balance these differing needs, but in the meantime, Trainor says the Culture Standard is having a positive effect on the industry.
“We believe our research and Culture Standard can help transform infrastructure and construction with deliberate, accountable and specific actions.”
For more information on CICT, visit constructionindustryculturetaskforce.com.au