Leaders in the sheet metal industry are offering training on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and they believe it’s helping to educate and improve the workplace as individuals learn about their implicit biases.
The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ Association, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers and the International Training Institute partnered to roll out the training last summer, according to a March 3 news release shared with Construction Dive.
The three-hour program introduces participants to the science of implicit bias and uses real-world scenarios to explore how those biases can be a detriment to the workplace.
“We talk about how an apprentice may show up late to a class, for example,” course facilitator Dushaw Hockett, founder and executive director of Safe Places for the Advancement of Community and Equity, said in the release. “A coordinator may perceive that the person is not committed to work. But there may be something happening in their life that has nothing to do with their commitment. We cannot rush to judgment.”
Course background
The course is the most recent initiative for the SMACNA- and SMART-funded Belonging and Excellence for All program and is available for any leader in the group participating in leadership training through the ITI. Each group utilizes and offers the training a little differently.
For example, the educational department at SMART International has included the three-hour bias training in its 12- to 15-week-long leadership courses.
Meanwhile, the ITI provides the training in two ways to joint apprenticeship training coordinators and instructors: through the three-hour Bias and Belonging sessions and as Train the Trainer classes, which are three-day, in-person programs leaders can take back to their training centers.
Finally, SMACA has conducted training for chapters and contractors called “Respectful Workplace Training,” which includes education on implicit bias, antidiscrimination and anti-harassment.
“The goal of this program is to help contractors understand the importance of addressing implicit bias, recognize its impact on their organization and harness the benefits of aninclusive environment, which will ultimately drive success and profitability in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” Jennifer Squirewell, SMACNA director of chapter management, said in the release.
The organizations claim that the effort has been effective and participants have gotten a satisfactory response.
“Once we get past the hurdle of explaining that no one is being called out and that the training is about how to move forward and be more accepting of everyone, it has been very well received,” Sam White, director of education for SMART International, said in the release. “We still have a long way to go. Once it becomes part of all apprentices’ training and given that we are doing it inevery leadership class, this will get a lot better over time.”
