Mentors in the construction industry are kind of like the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot - there are plenty of stories, but when it comes to actual sightings, the list becomes short and very questionable.
However, unlike Bigfoot and the Lock Ness Monster, mentors in the construction industry did, in fact exist at one time. This is according to Don L. Short II, a blogger for the Engineering News Record website. Mr. Short wrote an excel piece titled, The Gradual Decline of Mentoring, In Every Area of Construction. He discusses the phasing out of mentoring programs in construction organizations due to an effort to cut cost and increase profits all in the short term - shocking, I know.
Note: After an exhaustive fifteen minute research session on Wikipedia, I'm afraid that Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are both myths. I'm very sorry for this, but I think it's time we all move on.
Don says"
"One of these days the industry will need to go back to the 1960’s (my experience basis) to learn profit is not a dirty word. Profit is needed to provide for the “cost” of mentoring and training craft, staff and management. This provides better employees.Better employees provide better productivity. Better productivity leads to better projects. Better projects lead to profits. This would seem to be a winning proposition for anyone involved in the construction industry – owners, architects, vendors and contractors alike."Don, I don't think companies today think profit is a dirty word, but it's more the investment of profits on human resources that makes them cringe.
Nowadays, going to work for a construction company is like joining a new series of Survivor, except everyone else has been on the island for twenty years and you don't know jack about how to do any of the physical challenges that could give you immunity for another episode.
So you scratch and claw and build every alliance possible, preferably with higher-ups, so you may be able to survive until the end of the project. At which time, you may or may not be granted permission to return for the next season due to budget cuts by the producers in the main office.
Construction companies kind of have a "you take care of your own" mentality. Meaning, the folks that have formed relationships on past projects look out for each other down the road. And I imagine that mentors look out for their mentees, but I wouldn't know for sure because, you know, I've never had one.
But honestly, at this point, I think the mentoring philosophy may be a little outdated. I would like it to instead be a mutual understanding relationship between older and younger folks in an organization. Because not only does a younger person have a lot to learn from the older, but the opposite is true as well. This is not a question of authority or an attempt at pushing the older folk out before their time, but rather an effort at becoming a more educated and cohesive organization.
So you scratch and claw and build every alliance possible, preferably with higher-ups, so you may be able to survive until the end of the project. At which time, you may or may not be granted permission to return for the next season due to budget cuts by the producers in the main office.
Construction companies kind of have a "you take care of your own" mentality. Meaning, the folks that have formed relationships on past projects look out for each other down the road. And I imagine that mentors look out for their mentees, but I wouldn't know for sure because, you know, I've never had one.
But honestly, at this point, I think the mentoring philosophy may be a little outdated. I would like it to instead be a mutual understanding relationship between older and younger folks in an organization. Because not only does a younger person have a lot to learn from the older, but the opposite is true as well. This is not a question of authority or an attempt at pushing the older folk out before their time, but rather an effort at becoming a more educated and cohesive organization.
But of course, this would take time, which would cost money, which would eat into short-term profits. So perhaps we'll have to wait.
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I've been very lucky. I've had many mentors. I admit, some of them didn't know they were my mentors. I simply listened and paid attention. Maybe, the mentors didn't stop offering. Maybe we just weren't listening. Funny thing happened, actually. As I listened, over time, they (mostly) became more interested in my suggestions, my observations. Which comes first? the chicken or the egg?
ReplyDeleteWhich leads me to another question.
I agree 100% that "short term profits" are the goal and driving force of construction, of every industry. I don't argue that it's a requirement of staying in business. But do short term profits necessarily lead to long term profits?
Not in my experience.
Short term profits are the driving force of the entire global economy, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteMy best mentors were the ones that weren't assigned. We just gravitated. They were happy to share their knowledge and I was happy to share my enthusiasm.
The assigned mentors I've had were total crap, so I think that concept is mostly outdated.
They are out there and in abundance.
ReplyDeleteLook and you will find. I have mentored and had been mentored.
When the student is ready the teacher will appear.
One of the biggest issues is the loss of effort... You Mentor a person for 1-3 projects, they begin to understand and they feel that they have learned enough and seek employment elsewhere for a raise in pay, only to find that though they have a basic understanding they haven't really learned enough to be successful. That is the NOW life we reside in today.
ReplyDeleteSo why should a company invest in mentoring when the problem is in keeping them once they have begun to learn. As with Human nature the young feel they are entitled to more than they are actually worth and they have been raised with no patience.
So we now have no replacements for our aging work force because the learning isn't in an instant formula to keep the attention of todays youth
Ahhh, the age old debate between the yound and the seasoned. However Hank, we need to be careful in assuming that the tendancy of young people to switch companies is the cause of the problem and not a result of something else. Management is reluctant to invest in younger people because they think they are going to leave which may make them more likely to leave. It's a chicken and egg situation.
ReplyDeleteWhen company pensions were disolved and replace by the very mobile 401k programs it didn't give much fanancial incentive to stay with a company. This saved companies money, but allowed workers to be much more mobile. I think there are ways around this, but the culture and attitude of organization needs to be shifted.