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At Mortenson, we believe that anyone can fill a leadership role, and we encourage people to build their leadership skills, regardless of their position.

When we cultivate leaders who know how to work with people and lead with emotional intelligence, we are also promoting the advancement of women, both in our own workforce and in the wider construction industry.

While we celebrated Women in Construction Week this past month, we fully recognize that boosting the roles of women in our company is an ongoing endeavor with no end in sight as we seek a concerted and intentional cultural shift in our own offices, on our job sites and throughout the construction industry.

We鈥檙e proud that Mortenson is at the forefront of the movement to make this happen. Women now fill nearly a third of the company鈥檚 senior leadership team and executive team. Further, the number of women Mortenson employs has continued to grow over the past decade:

• In 2015, women made up 1 percent of superintendents; today, that number is 6.4 percent.
• In 2015, women made up 26 percent of our non-craft workforce and 7 percent of our craft workforce; today, those figures are 31 percent and 19 percent, respectively.
• Finally, in 2015, just 3 percent of our team members were women of color; today, that number is just shy of 9 percent.

These figures compare quite favorably with showing that women now represent just 9.9 percent of the construction industry workforce nationally, when combining both craft and professional positions.

Continuing those gains, however, requires a two-point solution. One, we need more girls interested in and aware of the opportunities in the construction industry. And two, we need those women who are interested to stay in the industry. This means addressing workplace issues such as flexibility and accessibility, as well as shifting recruiting efforts to include more middle school and even elementary school students to reinforce at younger ages than ever the possibility of entering a construction career.

This will hopefully build a stronger pipeline of talent and help counter the 鈥渢hree Ps鈥� we have repeatedly heard from women craft workers during exit interviews: the perception that equal pay and equitable promotion are available 鈥� and a lack of suitable, clean restroom facilities.

My colleague Aubrey Mollett, an assistant project manager, describes this as women still experiencing wage gaps and difficulty in gaining promotion as well as ongoing lack of access to gender-specific restrooms and facilities that cater effectively to women鈥檚 needs. In addition, she notes that there remains plenty of work to do to effectively accommodate the child care needs of women, particularly those of single mothers.

For those in the office, women also face difficulties being heard in meetings in which they are typically outnumbered by men. But speaking up assertively is not always easy, particularly not in a traditionally male-dominated industry like construction.

Devising effective solutions to these challenges will require a combination of strategies that create a culture of psychological safety for women. This will help ensure everyone feels valued and able to contribute to the best of their ability.

One way Mortenson is accomplishing this is through mentorship efforts 鈥� both in formal programs as well as more informal efforts in Portland and other offices. We strive to ensure that women who join our company connect with a mentor with whom they can grow.

We strongly encourage our women to spearhead new initiatives in this regard. A great example is Building Up Women, a networking event started by Mortenson鈥檚 Portland business resource group for women in construction. This gathering is intended to foster organic mentorship opportunities and a holistic community that will build upon and improve the experiences of all women in construction.

For me, Lois Martin, our chief financial officer, filled that mentorship role and remains very relatable to me. She talks so elegantly and has so much experience in the field (while also being a mother) that she has been invaluable as a mentor. She 鈥� along with all the other women I work with 鈥� has shown me the importance of recognizing that every woman in construction is a leader in forging the way for the next generation to join us.

In our Portland office, Lindsay Verdugo, our senior community empowerment specialist, has demonstrated leadership by advocating for the importance of a flexible workplace and a private space for new mothers. Lindsay is a new mother herself, and her efforts have ensured support for our traveling mothers in shipping their breast milk home. Our ability to provide our women with this kind of flexibility allows them to be both a parent and a professional and is critical to retaining and growing our women workforce.

With its early mornings and long days, a construction schedule is not easy to navigate when you also have limited child care hours, school, health care and other child-related tasks that need to be handled. But as another colleague, Senior Project Manager Sarah Cochenour, likes to say, as we come up with solutions to these problems, we are forcing a reckoning within the industry.

From the job site to the office, every role is a high-value part of our team; access to those roles is what creates the opportunity to thrive and advance. We look for people who inspire new thinking, regardless of role or function. We strive to build a supportive, caring, and thoughtful place that provides the opportunity for people to learn and grow throughout their careers. We hope that our colleagues in the construction industry can embrace these same values to collectively improve the entire industry and embrace the unique skills and talent that women bring to the workplace.

Kallen Gatherer is director of project development in Mortenson鈥檚 Portland office. Contact her at 971-202-4100 or [email protected].

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 红桃视频 guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.