Solving the industry’s people problem

By |  July 30, 2019

The following transcript was edited from a discussion on labor at this year’s Pit & Quarry Roundtable & Conference. Look for an edited transcript from a second Roundtable discussion on labor in the June 2019 edition of the magazine.


iStock.com/wawritto

The next labor wave continues to be a challenge for aggregate producers. Photo: iStock.com/wawritto

P&Q: Labor remains a very real problem for the aggregate industry as producers continue to struggle to hire and retain quality people. With labor being a serious issue that isn’t going away, does it make sense for our greater industry – perhaps through an association effort or a collective effort of multiple organizations – to develop a campaign promoting the crushed stone, sand and gravel industry? Would such an effort help industry businesses like yours, or is the responsibility of attracting talent ultimately the sole task of individual companies? In the meantime, how are producers getting by in areas where they have shortfalls? How are you enticing people to stay within your organization rather than move on to greener pastures?

Says Bond Construction’s Karen Hubacz-Kiley: “When you have good employees, you want to make sure they feel that you appreciate them.” Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

Says Bond Construction’s Karen Hubacz-Kiley: “When you have good employees, you want to make sure they feel that you appreciate them.” Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

Karen Hubacz-Kiley (Bond Construction): It’s very difficult for us to keep and retain employees. It isn’t just about the grass being greener somewhere else.

Before, it was just about, ‘Hey, I got a great paycheck and I think I accomplished something today.’ That’s not where it’s at anymore. It’s them feeling good about being there.

We try to go outside the box. If we have a big job, I’ll go in the truck. I try to thank everybody when they punch out every day. We do things like cookouts or, in the summer, we’ll rent a hall and do a dinner. We make sure everybody’s work anniversaries are acknowledged. When you have good employees, you want to make sure they feel that you appreciate them.

One thing in Massachusetts that has become a giant problem for us is that marijuana is now legal there recreationally. I have so many people who have come in, filled out applications and look so promising. But as soon as you say we’re a drug-free workforce under MSHA (Mine Safety & Health Administration) and DOT (Department of Transportation), it’s a no-go.

Kenneth Rogers (The Shelly Company/CRH): We’ve had a really big influx of turnover with our workforce, and it really made us re-evaluate how we were doing things. We tend to kick the can down the road and anticipate a lot of our veterans to be there for a while. But then they decide to retire and it’s like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. Who do we have in the background to help fill some of that talent pool?’

Says Kenneth Rogers of The Shelly Company/CRH: “We’ve had a really big influx of turnover with our workforce, and it made us re-evaluate how we were doing things.” Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

Says Kenneth Rogers of The Shelly Company/CRH: “We’ve had a really big influx of turnover with our workforce, and it made us re-evaluate how we were doing things.” Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

We really tried to get feedback from guys on their vision, goals and how they look to see themselves develop over the next five to 10 years. We have those in-depth conversations to see where their minds are at.

Are they wanting to chase that paycheck and provide for their family? At the same time, do we need to re-evaluate how we’re structuring their level of responsibilities within our organization?

I do I think I fall in the millennial realm of things, but I think I’m very different in the sense that I’ve been very fortunate to have a family that raised me a little bit differently. In the construction field, when I first started managing projects for three and a half years, all I did was work nights. It was very rough.

Now, guys are like, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ I sit back and think at what point in your career are you willing to make the sacrifices you need to get where you want to be? That’s the question you have to ask a lot of guys: Are they willing to make the sacrifice for the greater good later?

Alan Maio (Cemex): We have to do a better job. I’ve been around the industry for 25 years. I started as a manager trainee. If I were to grade us in the industry marketing ourselves, I would give us an F. Do we need to have a trade organization involved or collectively doing it? Yes, that’s part of it.

I went to a local high school in California that we were doing something with. There was a poster in the hallway on the way out that stopped me. There was a construction worker sweating with his hard hat backward over a shovel. It said: ‘Don’t let this be you.’ Basically, this person is [presented as] a failure. We have to do a much better job messaging.

To illustrate the many benefits of our industry, REMco President Kevin Cadwalader will typically talk about the critical everyday uses of aggregate anytime he interviews a job candidate. Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

To illustrate the many benefits of our industry, REMco President Kevin Cadwalader will typically talk about the critical everyday uses of aggregate anytime he interviews a job candidate. Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

It also starts in the plants. The construction industry is basically the least digitized industry on the planet. We have to make a commitment to get there.

Kevin Cadwalader (REMco): People are the heart of any business in any industry. When we’re interviewing people, I spend a lot of time talking to them [versus] asking them questions.

I’m telling them what the industry is, what it does and how it affects their everyday life because there is that persona out there, especially in high schools, where teachers are forcing them toward college. And if they consider anything else, well, they’re somehow a dunderhead. That’s a disservice.

When you’re telling this person, ‘Look, this industry touches your everyday life – the road you drove on, the car you drove here in, the glass in your house’ – you show them how the industry is attached to the world.

I lose people to Tesla and Google and [companies] like this. Why? ‘Because I want to work for Elon Musk.’ Well, Elon Musk can send something into outer space, but he couldn’t do it without my customers. He couldn’t make his car without my customers. He couldn’t make lithium batteries without my customers. Then [the interviewee] is like, ‘We’re involved with that?’ It changes the dynamic a bit.

Frank Suarez (Vulcan Materials): [Labor] is a challenge in our metro areas here in Florida and might be coming soon to some of your areas, too.

According to Van der Graaf President Alex Kanaris, his company has had hiring successes with military veterans. Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

According to Van der Graaf President Alex Kanaris, his company has had hiring successes with military veterans. Photo by PamElla Lee Photography

We’re losing drivers to Uber. Why? Because they’re self-employed, you work when you work and you don’t worry about a drug-free workplace.

We have to do a better job pitching a career path and hitting them as young as we can with the philosophical approach that what you’re doing makes a difference.

Alex Kanaris (Van Der Graaf): One place where we have had success, especially in Michigan, is with veterans. We get together with a recruiting office. [Veterans] are very disciplined, and a lot of those people find it hard to find a job.

Separately, I had a friend of mine come to me. His son was looking for a job. He had a four-year degree, and he could not find a job. He asked if I could give him a job. I said, ‘What did he study in college?’ He studied philosophy. Well, I’m looking for engineers. I’m not looking for philosophers.


Part 1 of this series

Check out your June 2019 edition of Pit & Quarry for the first part of this series, or visit pitandquarry.com/labor-series-part1.


Comments are closed