Spec Finish

What attractedyou to the construction industry? “I fell into the construction industry by accident. The role of Health, Safety and Compliance Manager was really interesting and the idea of working within what I had always perceived to be a ‘man’s world’ was too tempting to pass by.” said Jayne Mason , Health, Safety and Compliance Manager. What challenges do you face working in a predominantly male industry? “Trust. I almost feel I have to prove my worth through knowledge and competence - though generally it only takes a minute! Ceiling tiles are such a niche area of construction and there’s a lot of technical knowledge required. Customers then forget gender and realise they’re dealing with someone passionate about their job and wanting the best for them.” said Emma Mundy , Sales TeamManager. What challenges do you face working with a predominantly male target audience? “I wouldn’t say they’re challenges as such. I actually see that being a woman working within this industry provides opportunities to bring a different perspective and try new ideas to reach our target audience. Typically, people perceive marketing in construction as more traditional than other industries, and far less creative - but this isn’t the case. Marketing within the B2B construction sector relies heavily on detailed strategic marketing planning and measurements that are continually reviewed and evolved.” said Amy Hough, Marketing Director. What would you say to inspire other women in the construction industry? Emma, Jayne and Amy said: “It feels great to buck the trend that construction is a male-dominated industry. Every call we take, we feel like we are changing the mindset that they should be speaking to a man to obtain a price or information on our products. “Be confident in who you are and if the construction industry is something you want to consider, go for it - you may be very surprised! “There’s so much opportunity within this industry to improve how we market to our customers. No day is ever the same because the industry is constantly changing and evolving. “As a pioneering construction group, we know it’s important to lead by example. We’re always keen to break biases within the industry, especially when it comes to the younger generation. Just the other day we were overjoyed by the conversations we had when visiting a local school to discuss the skills needed to thrive in a construction role, from a female’s perspective”. www.workplaceco.co.uk Feature www.thefis.org 19 Source 1. www.chas.co.uk/blog/women-in-construction 2. https://austinnawic.org/history-of-nawic 3. www.nawic.co.uk 4. www.instagram.com/morleyvon/?hl=en 5. www.instagram.com/imageofwic The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) original chapter was founded in the USA in 1953 2 . The UK & Ireland branch was founded in 2003 3 . It is run by committees of volunteers who work within organisations or run their own businesses in the construction industry. Across the UK, NAWIC has six active regions. Each region is run independently by a local committee that works to promote the industry in the best possible way for their region. “NAWIC exists to promote opportunities for women in the construction industry” says Annie Clift , Chair of the London and South East Region of NAWIC. Annie said: “Across the UK, the organisation works to improve industry standards. In recent years, we have worked with the JCT to support the change to gender neutral language across their suite of contracts. “NAWIC is not only for women, though we are women-focussed. Our platform exists to celebrate some of the fantastic role models, and to promote the construction industry as an attractive career choice for the next generation. “One way of doing this is through our collaboration with architectural photographer Morley Von Sternberg 4 ‘The Image of Women in Construction’ 5 . This project aims to highlight the diversity of roles held by women in the industry. We hope it will inspire the next generation to see themselves as potential construction professionals in the future”. Annie explained its plan of events for 2023 will focus on sustainability, one of the most important topics in the construction industry at present. They will be highlighting projects that are using innovative new techniques, hosting panels, site visits, and workshops, and looking at how we can all be a little more sustainable in our personal lives. They will also be looking at new ways of supporting small businesses. The construction industry makes up over 20% of the UK’s SMEs, and many women in the NAWIC network are small business owners. They hope to develop a small business owners group for its members to work together to solve some of the problems that crop up time and time again. Annie concluded by saying: “Ultimately, our vision is to increase the number of women joining the construction industry. Once here we need to continuously support women so their careers may flourish, and they stay in the industry. Our committees will continue to work towards these aims and give back to the industry that they are passionate about”. www.nawic.london National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) committee members