We either learn to adjust to and manage change effectively, or change will make us obsolete. We may not like change. We may not want it. We may not agree with it. But we must learn to manage it.
We are seeing unprecedented cultural and demographic shifts in the U.S. and, as a result, the roofing industry. This is led by exploding Latino population growth.
Consider the following:
Things change. Las cosas cambian.
Change is here
The exploding growth among Latinos is primarily internal in the U.S., not from border crossings, and driven by a younger population. The average Latino in the U.S. is 27 years old. The rest of the U.S. population has an average age of 37. The average Latino couple has 2.8 children. The average non-Latino family has 1.2 children. So younger people having almost triple the children equals a high growth demographic.
In 1995, the average adult Latino immigrant to the U.S. stayed 7.4 years. Now, the average adult Latino immigrant stays 12.7 years. In other words, people are staying longer, and they are putting down roots.
This means most new Latinos entering the workforce were born and raised in the U.S., went to school in the U.S. and learned different attitudes about work and life balance than their parents. Many second-generation Latinos are bilingual. Many prefer Spanish as their language of choice, while others are English language-dominant. They have different expectations and desires and require different leadership approaches to flourish in the construction industry. To succeed with the changing and sometimes confusing Latino demographic, you need to develop sharp and nuanced cultural leadership skills.
The roofing factor
The roofing industry and other service sectors face unprecedented labor challenges, and in light of the projection 74 percent of all new labor force growth will be Latino, owners and leaders must recognize much of their present and certainly much of their future workforces will be Latino.
For the roofing industry, the days of finding, as some say to me, "those hardworking, first-generation Mexicans who will work all day and never complain" are diminishing. In fact, since 2008, when the number of undocumented first-generation Latinos was 12.2 million, the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has dropped to 11.3 million. The U.S. is effectively at negative net-zero population growth because of new people crossing the border "just to work."
In addition, in part of the residential roofing sector, there has been a shift from roofing contractors to, for all practical purposes, roofing brokers. This is a result of the inability or lack of desire among many residential roofing contractors to employ and develop their workforces.
Many residential roofing contractors admit they prefer to simply leverage the Latino workforce through Latino roofing subcontractors who may not be primarily concerned about legal issues. These Latino subcontractors and the non-Latino roofing contractors who depend on them are, I believe, in a race. Either the non-Latinos will learn to recruit, train and develop the Latino workforce themselves or the Latino subcontractors will learn to sell their services directly to consumers, eliminating the need for the non-Latino roofing broker. Clearly, something has to give. This shift already is taking place in significant ways in other service sector business segments such as landscaping, painting and housekeeping, all of which have lower entry costs.
Another thing residential contractors must consider is how quickly Latinos move into homeownership. This will create many future sales opportunities for the residential roofing market. If a residential roofing contractor can learn to effectively recruit, train and sustain a Latino workforce while also learning to sell to the emerging population of Latino homeowners, he or she will be well-positioned for sustainable growth.
However, if Latino subcontractors want to expand, they must be developed as businesspeople and leaders. Many, if not most, Latino subcontractors have not had formal business or leadership development training, but if these are provided to them, they will be a powerful, positive force for the roofing industry.
In the commercial roofing sector, contractors are doing everything possible to sustain and expand their workforces while making sure they are doing so legally. This is driven by the need to use E-Verify on government contracts and by the commitment to doing things, as some say, "the right way." This necessitates the need for commercial contractors to develop effective recruiting and leadership development processes within their organizations if they are to become companies that will attract and retain a significant Latino workforce.
The workers
Many companies have recruited through what I call the friends and family method. They start out with, let's say, Juan, who happens to be a good worker. Then, they ask Juan whether he knows someone else who would like a job, and Juan brings Ramón. Juan and Ramón bring Juancito, and you know the rest. They now have a workforce that is tenuously connected to a family or at least close friends and fellow countrymen. The dangers for the organization here are significant. If Juan leaves, so will many of the rest, and I have seen this happen on many occasions.
To avoid this dynamic, companies must develop effective recruiting processes that allow the workforce to grow without depending on one family or group of people from a particular region.
Many companies also are finding serious resistance from first-generation foremen and superintendents who do not want to work with or don't respect the work ethic of second-generation Latinos. Although these two groups of people share similar ethnic heritages, from a cultural standpoint they are quite different. The key is to develop the first-generation leadership to a point where these two different groups can be properly blended. (Latino recruitment and blending of Latino generations will be subjects of future articles in Professional Roofing.)
Many roofing companies who employ a Latino workforce continue to place the onus of company communications on a few select bilingual Latinos in middle management (usually foremen or superintendents) to communicate with the mass of their labor forces. In many cases, Juan and Ramón are taking company communications to their brothers, uncles and close friends.
This approach isn't good for a company because these interpreters control the communication in the organization. These bilingual middle managers have torn loyalties between company owners and their co-workers. What happens in reality is information going downward and upward is filtered in ways that is not positive for the overall health of the company. Placing responsibility to communicate on go-betweens rather than a company owner or other high-level company leader creates a barrier to the company's overall health, growth and productivity.
A cultural leader
An effective cultural leader can break down the communication and cultural barriers between company leaders and workers by leading with cultural and language relevance. I am amazed how many roofing industry owners and leaders who work with and employ the Latino workforce know so little about the people they are leading and are unable to communicate with them directly in any meaningful way.
It concerns me most roofing professionals have little knowledge of basic political facts, sports figures, famous musical artists, etc., from the countries represented by the people in their organizations. Most roofing professionals do not speak basic Spanish. How can you mentor, lead and encourage people with whom you cannot connect? Communication is the basis of all human and business relationships, and a committed cultural leader will take language and cultural relevance in corporate communications seriously.
Thirty-eight percent of Latinos in the U.S. say they are Spanish language-dominant. Twenty-five percent say they are English language-dominant, and 36 percent say they are bilingual. I have no idea what the other 1 percent speaks.
If you add 38 and 36, you'll see 74 percent of all Latinos in the U.S. speak Spanish. Can you speak with them? Can you reach them? Even if they are bilingual, their emotional trigger points will be in Spanish. This is important because almost all people make decisions, including whether they buy into your vision or employment opportunity, based on emotional, not cognitive factors.
An opportunity
David Gergen, adviser to several U.S. presidents and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said this in an op-ed article he wrote for CNN in 2012 regarding Latinos: "One doesn't have to be Latino to recognize the importance of the Latino population to America's future. With the Latino population in America up 43% during the past decade and projected to comprise nearly one-third of the U.S. population by 2050, our nation's future is increasingly bound up with the fate of Latinos. If Latinos go up, we all go up; if they fall, look out below. The Latino community, despite its rapid growth, is badly underrepresented in the leadership of our nation's government, businesses and non-profits."
And consider these facts: Forty-three percent of Latino children are raised by single mothers, and 32 percent of all people in federal prisons are Latino. The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and 70 percent of these are either African-American or Latino. By the age of 18, 26 percent of all Latino males have been arrested. By the age of 23, 44 percent of Latino males have been arrested.
These statistics are staggering, but they also provide a great opportunity. The roofing industry needs a sustainable workforce. Young Latino men need mentoring and opportunity. The roofing industry can play an instrumental role in creating excellent career opportunities while doing a significant positive service for the communities in which they are located.
A page from history
In 1947, Branch Rickey brought Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball (MLB). Rickey was not a social activist nor was he trying to make a statement about race relations. He was a businessperson who recognized Robinson was more talented than other people on his team. Rickey simply wanted to win. Now, we cannot imagine MLB without Latinos, African-Americans and even players of Asian descent.
In fact, in 2013, more than 28 percent of all MLB players and more than 42 percent in the minor leagues were Latino. The figure is increasing to the point that Tim Keown, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, wrote an article titled "Is Major League Baseball too Latino?"
Perhaps with 74 percent of all new labor force growth being Latino by 2020, some in the roofing industry may share Keown's sentiment. I would submit that rather than asking whether there are too many Latinos, roofing professionals should consider how to lead Latinos with cultural and language relevancy and how to properly develop Latino leadership for the future prosperity of the industry.
Cultural diversity is good for business when properly managed and developed, and the better you get at leading and managing cultural nuances, the more productive and profitable you and your company will be.
Ricardo González is founder and CEO of Bilingual America, Atlanta.
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment. Please log in to leave a comment.