Brogan, our Marketing Manager, managed to book a meeting with Emma Davis, HR at LBS Builders Merchants to have a chat with her about her career in the Construction Industry. The chat was recorded and transcribed to give you an insight in her experience being a women in the industry.
Brogan: So first off, how long have you worked in the industry?
Emma: I joined the company in 2019 so coming up to just about 6 years
Brogan: What does your role entail?
Emma: So as an HR advisor I obviously, we’re quite a small team for the size of the business that we’ve grown to. There is a team of 3 and half of us really and we have kind of around 480 employees across South Wales.
Brogan: Wow
Emma: Yeah so, my role really is as a support to the branch managers and the department managers in teams of advising them, how to deal with situations involving the staff could be anything from you know disciplinary grievances performance management as well as hiring recruitment and dismissing so its really the whole employee lifecycle. Were there to basically guide and support them to make sure that they’re staying on the right side of the law.
Brogan: Is it something that you enjoy?
Emma: I do yeah, I mean it has its days like with anything with any industry you’re going to get that I do enjoy it. Its very varied its quite challenging, some of the situations are quite complex. And some of the things you just can’t believe are happening you know when you’re dealing with people and all sorts of different types of people you know anything can happen so you know one day is never the same as another and you need to be quite tough as well you know it’s a thing we need to be quite reactive the phone could go one day and all of a sudden there’s a massive emergency or situation happened somewhere and they need our support on or advice/guidance and we may need to go on site if needs be. It can be very as I say a lot of variation and a lot of challenges but overall, I enjoy it yes.
Brogan: Good, it’s good that you’re doing something you’re enjoying.
Emma: Its never boring put it that way
Brogan: How did you get into your current role? Was it something that you fell into or was it something that you just saw, and you thought you know what I’ll give it a shot and go for it.
Emma: Id say yeah initially I started off life as a recruiter, I was a recruitment consultant at an agency and then I became an agency manager for a few years and then I was made redundant this was a while back now and I thought I’ll go for a different change of direction so I went into a private sector firm nothing to do with this industry at the time I was lucky enough that they out my through my CIPD qualification and the role with them sort of evolved into a HR position and that then gave me a bit of a platform to see what else was in the area and in the market I saw the role for LBS, I live locally obviously coming from the area they’re a very well-known company in this area and very well thought of you see the lorries and vans everywhere I didn’t know much about them or the industry as such but I thought you know I’ll give it ago and apply for the job and go from there really so I was lucky enough, I did my research and obviously came and met them in head office and learnt a bit more about the industry and about the challenges that they face and it sounded like a really gritty job to get your teeth into because you know being still sort of family run there is a lot of scope for us to put out stamp on and to sort of help to drive the business forward and drive the people function forward it something that they were quite keen to focus on and that strategy sounded like something like I could get my teeth into and I’ve been here since.
Brogan: What is something you enjoy about working in this sector?
Emma: I would say probably the main thing is the people, I think you have to be quite thick skinned to a certain extent we do come across all type of characters from you delaying with a yard assistant and a LGB driver, the next minute you know where probably recruiting for a sales rep or a marketing manager so its very much needing to be dealing with those different levels with the different personalities and positions that these people have. I do find everybody that I’ve met in this role and that I work with, I can only say this is very down the earth, very friendly, everybody is very approachable with good team spirit. It’s what I’ve always found in this industry. Its also handy to know people who can help the house.
Brogan: Were you ever hesitant on coming into the industry as a woman?
Emma: I don’t think I was, I knew it was going to be more of a male dominated industry and I think I’ve always felt quite confident that id be able to handle myself in any situation when I initially had the interview for the job my line manager, Amanda, she’s been here for about 16+ years now so I knew that shed established herself as the HR manager so I knew that there was a women already there in that role it was a case of coming in and taking some lead from her as well. I think you do need to be asserting kind of person to perhaps have the confidence to go into a role full of predominantly men and perhaps be giving a presentation to the branch managers or even if were needed to kind of you know sort of get them brief them on new policies or get them on board to what we’re trying to achieve as a company as part of the HR function. That’s not daunted my I think I had enough confidence to come across and do that, but it wouldn’t be everybody, and I get that.
Brogan: Is there any advice you’d give to someone wanting to get into the industry?
Emma: It’s not going anywhere. Whether it’s going into working for a merchant like I do or whether it’s working for, you know, suppliers or, you know, even, like, developers and construction companies, I do think there’s a place for women in this industry. I think it would be to just, you know, look sort of be a bit more pragmatic and think, you know, there’s no reason why you can’t do that. I mean, I’ve seen it grow in this, you know, just in our company over the last, you know, six years that I’ve been here. And I’ve, you know, I’ve seen predominantly a lot of senior roles have got you know, are being sort of, you know, given to women in the industry, and it’s great to see.
I think if you can establish yourself and earn the respect of your peers and your, you know, your colleagues, there’s no reason why you should be put off it being a male dominated industry because it certainly is changing. So, and I think attitudes in general in the world of work are changing. You know? I think I think it’s a lot more of an open market now. So yeah.
Brogan: It is good. This is more of a not to do with your role, not really to do with the industry. It’s more to just show that, obviously, perspectives change. And from what you wanted to be when you were younger to what you are now, it’s obviously very varied.
I wanted to be a princess when I was little. And then I wanted to be a forensic scientist, and now I’m a marketing manager. It’s very, very different.
So, my question is, is what did you want to be when you were younger and how does it obviously really differ from where you are now?
Emma: Massively probably. It’s interesting really because I’ve got, a 20 year old daughter now who’s kind of trying to find her way, and I’m trying to sort of explain to her that, you know, if you end up doing a job now, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be the career that you find yourself in in in maybe, you know, five, ten, fifteen years’ time. But, yeah, I would say probably in school, I was more kind of wanting to be like a kind of hairdresser, beautician type of thing. Very much, you know, you’re sort of, you know, classic kind of girly type of thing.
I then, became interested in becoming a teacher. Yeah. That didn’t really pan out. And then I ended up getting a job in you know, I went to Uni and everything, did a generic kind of business course, because I didn’t really know what it was, I wanted to do. And then got into the recruitment industry, and then obviously, its kind of, you know, HR sort of evolved out of that then.
So, but yeah. As you said, it was never ever on my radar to work in recruitment, to work in HR, to work in, you know, a builder’s merchant. It literally is just I think it is just a case of you fall into these things and, you know, these opportunities come up and, you know they lead to other opportunities and that’s where you find your path sometimes. So yeah. No.
Brogan: That’s good. Have you seen the industry change from a woman’s perspective?
Emma: Probably for the better, I think, a little bit. I’m probably, you know, having only been in the industry for six years, I do think, you know, in terms of sort of a lot of the attitudes are changing a little bit more. There’s always going to be the old school element, and we have them.
Don’t get me wrong. We have them in LBS, you know. The quite sort of traditional, this is this is a man’s world type of thing. And but I do think that it’s become a lot more, open to, you know, sort of a lot of other kind of, groups, you know, sort of catering for disabilities, ethnic minorities, more opportunities for women. I think it’s, you know, become a little bit more of a of a sort of an open playing field, whereas it’s, you know, not and I think as well with kind of the sort of millennials and gen z and their sort of attitude as well.
I think, you know, things like hybrid working and a lot of, you know, those kinds of changes that a lot of industries have seen have been able to be kind of implemented into the merchant industry and the construction industry to a certain point. So, I think, you know, it’s all for the better if anything. I do think it’s a lot more kind of people focused. Yeah.
Brogan: Lastly, would you recommend joining the industry?
Emma: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I wouldn’t still be here otherwise.
You know, I’ve as you said, I came in with it in a little bit apprehensive, a new industry to me. I have found, as I said, nothing but the people being welcoming. Everybody, you know, really, you know, opportunities. There there’s a lot of opportunities within the industry, for especially for women, I think, and women, you know, as senior leaders in in the industry, I see no issue with that. There are so many angles that perhaps you don’t think about.
Like, you know, you’ve got your HR, your marketing, your finance, your procurement. So, it isn’t just necessarily your traditional thinking, oh, I don’t wanna work in a merchant. I know nothing about the product or whatever. There’s so much more to it. So, I would recommend, people to consider it as a, you know, a serious career option.
Brogan: Yes. Yeah. Perfect. That’s all my questions, regarding Women in Construction Month.
