Creating Diversity Means Engaging with and Educating Local and Regional Demographics

RCS Influencer Rudy Gutierrez says that underrepresented groups are the future of the roofing industry.

In today’s business environment adopting a diversity strategy is very import to the future of an organization. Organizations must take the time to understand their local and regional changing demographics, all with diverse cultures.

There is a real opportunity. Underrepresented groups such as, Latinos, Women and Millennials are vital to the future of the roofing industry as a whole. Latinos represent 60% of the labor force in roofing, women represent only 9% of the workforce and Millennials are not signing up to be roofers. The opportunity is to develop our current Latino workforce, take advantage of the tremendous opportunity with women in roofing and engage with young talented men and women to fill in the growth opportunities in roofing.

Creating diversity in an organization must include, engagement of the local and regional demographics, developing resources to educate the roofing staff and creating opportunities in leadership roles.

Learning from the diverse cultures and understanding the cultural practices of ourselves and others is essential to advancing diversity in an origination and the roofing industry.

Rudy Gutierrez is president and CEO of Shell Roofing Solutions. See his full bio here.