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Accidents in the Workplace: Is the Employer Responsible?

Posted: 17 Sep 2019 01:00 PM PDT

Workplace accidents are very common and employers must be very protective toward workplace accidents. Workers must always ensure that they're following all provided guidelines to the dot, but when something goes wrong, they should pursue their rights to the full extent provided by the law.

Reasonable expectations of safety

Every employer has a responsibility to provide safe, reasonable working conditions for their employees. It's why things like OSHA exist in the first place, and why these regulations are so strictly enforced in many places. It can be difficult to define these conditions in a universal manner, which is why each industry has their own specific guidelines, which you should do your best to familiarize yourself with, both as an employer as well as an employee.

If you're an employer, it can pay to hire someone to go through your facilities and verify that they are in an adequate condition for the kind of work that will be performed in them. It can cost a bit, but it's only a one-time investment, and it can be a very worthwhile in the long run.

The employer always bears some responsibility

That said, no matter what happens, the employer can always be painted in a negative light in a courtroom. Even if an employee blatantly violated policies and did something out of the ordinary, a good attorney can successfully argue their case in court. For example, they could claim that the company could have done a better job explaining the specific safety guidelines that were violated. Or, they could accuse the company of not providing enough oversight on hazardous processes, which has allowed a less experienced worker to harm themselves.

The point is, an employer must always be prepared to take some portion of the hit, even in cases where they're clearly in the right. Malicious self-harm can still be proven, but it's going to take some time and effort.

Employee responsibility

Every employee has a strict responsibility to comply with the company's safety guidelines, and to report any violations. These circumstances can severely reduce the case an employee might have against their workplace in case of an accident that results in injury. But even if the court does agree that the employee was at least partly responsible for the incident, they will still likely place a lot of the blame on the employer themselves.

It can't hurt to remind your employees of their own duties and responsibilities from time to time though, especially with regards to safety and other similar issues. In the least, this will make your stance on the situation clear and will let everyone know that you're serious about safety.

Promoting a strong safety culture

That's why it's so important to educate workers on the various aspects of workplace safety, and to ensure that all relevant guidelines are strictly enforced across all levels of the organization. In other words, an employer must not be afraid to dish out punishments to people who're found violating their safety policies. This can degrade morale when the rules are first enforced, but in the long run, it will have the opposite effect.

As workers start to realize that the company actually does care about their safety, they will be much more inclined to actually follow the guidelines set out by the employer, and will also be more responsible in things like reporting violations and consulting the company when they are feeling confused on certain issues. A strong safety culture is something that every organization can benefit from, not just those working with the most dangerous types of materials and processes.

Make sure that you have a clear outline of your expectations in this regard though. Always communicate safety regulations clearly, and don't favor any of your employees over others in case something goes wrong or someone is found to be in violation. The last thing you want to do is to promote favoritism and other similar ideologies, which will quickly undermine any effort you might have made on the safety front.

Adapting rules as the company evolves

The safety guidelines that you had in place when you first started the company might not be adequate at some point in its future, especially if the workforce grows at a rapid rate. This is even truer in cases where a company adopts new technological solutions quickly and requires their workers to learn lots of new details related to operating them properly. It's important to adapt the various safety guidelines that you have in place to these changes and ensure that the entire company is always on board with any modifications you may have made to the rules.

To this end, it's not a bad idea to consider something like regular – monthly, weekly or so – meetings where you discuss current concerns with organizational safety and other related topics. You'd be surprised how often people have something to say in these situations, and giving them a good platform to express their concerns is one of the most important duties of a responsible leader.

Out of the workplace, but on the clock

Sometimes, work accidents can happen outside of the company's offices. This is common in companies that employ drivers, for example. When someone is involved in a driving accident while on the clock, this can complicate the resolution of the legal problems that will follow. It's very important that an employer protects the rights of not only their company, but their employees as well in these cases. Hiring external legal representation that specializes in driving accidents is one of the best things an employer can do in a situation like this.

That's because these incidents usually evolve external parties, not just the company's own workers. And when your employee was at fault, this could not only paint the company in a negative light, but it can even have some actual legal repercussions for the entire organization. It's a good idea to have the contact details of a good attorney that specializes in cases of this type so that you're prepared when something eventually goes wrong.

Larger issues

Sometimes a workplace accident will have wide-reaching consequences, and they might even extend through the entire organization and outside of it. An accident which results in environmental pollution is one example. In these cases, your priorities should be slightly different. Resolving the legal dispute that follows afterward is not the most important thing – you should be focused on minimizing the fallout from the incident, both for the company and for those close to it.

This is another area where a good attorney is pretty much mandatory. They will be able to guide you through your response to the incident, and will lend their expertise to ensure a proper resolution. You may also have to consult other types of experts to ensure that you have a full overview of what's going on and the kinds of actions that you need to take.

Internal assistance

Whenever someone is involved in an accident without any consequences other than for themselves, it's important to address this on a more personal level, and provide that employee with proper assistance and guidance through their difficult times. They will likely need some time before they can get back on their feet, and you should facilitate that as best as possible. Even if the incident wasn't your fault in any way, it's still good to show employees that they are treated like human beings in this organization.

Of course, everything within reasonable limits. An employee who's showing clear disregard for internal policies and safety precautions will likely not care too much about your help afterwards either, so judge the situation and take action as you deem fit. But remember that your response to this incident will reflect on your reputation as a leader in the long run, and might have some unexpected consequences.

Adequate reporting systems

Last but not least, it's important to not only prevent workplace accidents but to also ensure that the company is properly equipped for dealing with those situations from the very beginning. One of the most critical areas in this regard is reporting. Every organization must have a clearly laid out process for reporting workplace accidents and safety protocol violations. This process must be communicated to employees properly, and everyone must be on the same page with regards to what they need to do following an accident.

Encourage employees to follow up on this by actually reporting the issues they observe, and penalize those who don't in an appropriate manner. Make sure that you make it clear that these punishments are for the better of the whole company, because otherwise you risk decreasing morale across the board to some extent.

The responsibility of an employer in a workplace accident does not end with what they could have done to prevent the issue. It also involves the actions the employer takes after the accident, both to help those affected and to minimize the risk of the same accident happening again in the future. And situations like these can have some serious implications on the development of your company, whether you like it or not. It's important to take matters into your own hands and ensure that you see through the full resolution of this situation.

3 Best Productivity Hacks for Remote Teams

Posted: 17 Sep 2019 11:30 AM PDT

How do you build a successful remote team? This is a question my clients often ask me. They want to take the plunge and hire from a global pool of talent, but they don't know where to begin or what this team would need to be productive. 

How can you know that your people are making the most of their day? That they're correctly prioritizing their work and getting answers to their questions in a timely fashion? That they're able to access and upload business documents into a secure portal? It's not about simply answering these questions, but having tools and technology in place to facilitate this process.

The luxury of an office environment is that you have face-to-face access with your people throughout the workday. Arranging an internal meeting is quick because all your people are present and accounted for. 

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for your remote team, and yet, this doesn't need to impact their productivity negatively.

These three life hacks can help to maximize the productivity of your remote team:

1. Use online tools to create the structure of an office environment. 

Centralized offices allow us to interact with our people continually, which builds camaraderie. Arranging a quick team huddle or organizing a meeting requires little effort, and can be done at a moment's notice. 

Unfortunately, the same can't be said for remote workers. We don't have the luxury of gathering at the water cooler to catch up on the day's deliverables. We can't lean over to a colleague's desk to request that all-important file or pop into a conference room to whiteboard ideas.

We have to rely on communication tools like email, instant messaging, conferencing software and cloud computing to do our job. 

Here are three online tools that have paved the way for my remote team:

1. Find the right project management tool.

Gone are the days of writing out to-do lists on scrap paper. Technology has changed how we do business, and every company should invest in a project management tool. Astoundingly, only 22% of organizations use one, which is insane. If you want to build a productive remote team, you need to be able to delegate tasks to your people and track the progress of each project. Tools such as Asana, ClickUp and Trello give you an overview of what's in your system. It allows you to prioritize work, upload and access documents, add due dates, ask questions about tasks – should I go on? So really it's key to building an efficient team.

2. Organize a central communication hub.

Security is a non-negotiable when working with remote teams. You need to know that your business documents are only accessible to your people. That's why I like to use G Suite. It's the center of our team communication. It gives us calendar and email capability, the ability to create and share documents, but most importantly, it provides a central place of authentication.

3. Invest in instant messaging for your business.

How often do you step out of your office cubicle to ask a colleague a question? At least a couple of times a day I'd guess. Remote workers need to feel like they can reach out to you and receive a response quickly. I get hundreds of emails a day, and I don't have time to sift through and identify emails from my team. With Slack, they can drop me a quick message. I get a notification immediately and can attend to it. We can also share documents or links to videos, which everyone can see and comment on. So, it's a great way to build strong connections and maximize productivity.

2. Make goal-setting a collaborative approach.

Too often, managers or business owners set unachievable goals for their teams. This can be frustrating for you, but for your people, it's completely demoralizing – especially if increments, bonuses, or commissions are tied to their goals.

Goals need to be clear, relevant, measurable and trackable, but most importantly, they need to be achievable. 

If you continuously set ridiculous goals without input from your team members, your people will become unmotivated. Here's where the domino effect comes into play. Their productivity plummets and they don't put in the extra time they would have if their goal was within their grasp.

This is when people stop caring and start looking for work elsewhere. Finding people who are good at what they do and great to work with is tough. So, if you don't want to lose them, you need to make goal-setting collaborative. 

Here's what I've found to work best:

1. Involve your team in setting their goals.

Ask each individual in your team to share what they believe their goals should be. If you've hired good people who are honest and who know what they're doing, they'll set reasonable goals. Some might be a little overambitious, but in general, you'll receive thoughtful responses that might require slight adjustments.

2. Review their goals.

Ask yourself, Is this achievable? Believe me when I say that you want your people to hit their targets. It needs to be a bit of a stretch, but attainable. This motivates them and drives them to succeed.

3. Circle back to goals once a quarter.

It's essential that you continually review goals because a missed goal may be the result of extenuating circumstances. Perhaps there is a bottleneck holding up the process, or maybe the timing was off. On reflection, you might find that the initial scope of work was lacking, so you need to be flexible when it comes to goal setting. 

3. Check in regularly.

Communication is essential to the success of a remote team, and this is evident in Igloo's 2019 State of the Digital Workplace report which noted that 70% of remote employees feel left out of the workplace. 

Before you tell me that email is a means of communicating, it's not the same as meeting face-to-face with your people. It can be quite cold and instructive, and it's also challenging to convey personality in an email or build relationships.

That's why I recommend a virtual team meeting at least once a week, even if it's only for a quick check in. My team uses Zoom but there are others such as Skype, join.me, Team Viewer and GoToMeeting, to name a few. Online conferencing allows you to assess the overall health of your team. Pay close attention to their body language and tone of voice. If they're upbeat, you know things are going well. If they avoid eye contact and seem like there's nobody home, then you have a problem that needs to be addressed – and quickly. Remember, unless someone tells you in an email that they're not coping, you won't know.

Here's how I keep my team motivated and happy:

1. Celebrate successes, no matter how small.

It could be onboarding a new client, getting a brief mention in a publication, adding 100 LinkedIn connections, whatever. Celebrating our wins builds team morale and strengthens bonds.

2. Create a fun and positive work culture.

As a leader, your attitude and energy set the tone for the rest of your team – it can positively or negatively impact work produced. If you want to build a happy and productive team, encourage your people to share their ideas and tackle new challenges. Believe in their abilities, listen to their concerns, and make sure they're not overwhelmed by their deliverables. You don't want your people to be chronically stressed out.

3. Help your people to level up.

For me, I want the people who make my entrepreneurial vision a reality and to take away more than just a paycheck at the end of each month. I want them to take away the skills and experiences they'll carry with them for the rest of their lives. That's why creating a culture of learning is so important. By upskilling your people, you improve the capability of your team, but you also give them a reason to stay. Not many companies invest in their people, and it's such a shame, because most workers want to expand their knowledge, they want to grow. I find it incredibly satisfying to be mentioned in someone's success story, and so should you.  

The bottom line

There's no doubt about it. A happy team is a more productive team. So focus on building camaraderie. Give your people the tools they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively and invest in their success. Upskilling your team will benefit your business in the long run.

 

How Outsourcing Software Development Can Help Fintech Businesses

Posted: 17 Sep 2019 07:00 AM PDT

The financial services industry is quickly becoming a leader in software development. Research shows that investments in financial technology, or fintech, reached $34 billion in 2018. Much of this growth is attributed to the rise of emerging technologies like blockchain, data analytics and cloud computing.

These new technologies are expected to revolutionize the way payments are made and transactions tracked. In addition, they will help banks increase profits through data analytics and protect their customers' valuable data through software security.

Many of these financial services organizations are turning to offshore software outsourcing to build custom software while maintaining a lean in-house development team. That's because these companies come with decades of invaluable experience from working with big tech and other Fortune 500 companies to develop custom software.

Banks are turning to offshore development services to access the best talent. This is especially important given the stranglehold that big tech has over software development talent and the historically low unemployment rate enjoyed by software developers, which has increased salaries and competition for the entire industry. 

In addition, offshore development teams are being used to shorten the development cycle and improve the quality of data analytics in the industry. Read on to learn more about how software outsourcing is shaping the future of fintech and helping companies grow.

1. Access to in-demand experts

Offshore software outsourcing companies help financial service organizations find the right talent for their development needs. This is especially important given the current hiring market – software engineers have an ultralow unemployment rate of just 1.9%. 

This candidate-driven job market means that more companies are competing to hire a limited number of experienced software engineers. Hiring for the fintech industry is even more difficult, since working in finance has historically been viewed as less prestigious than working for well-recognized tech companies like Google or Facebook. Furthermore, while the tech talent crisis may have started in the United States, it's beginning to affect companies across the world, including ones in Western Europe and Canada. 

That's why businesses across the globe are turning to offshore development companies to avoid the tough American hiring market and secure the right talent for their needs. Many of these companies are located in regions like Latin America and Asia, which have an excess of experienced software developers with the same education and experience levels as their American counterparts. Software engineers in Latin America are also valued for their advanced fluency in English and understanding of American tech culture. Developers in this region also work the same business hours as their in-house colleagues, making collaboration seamless.

2. Faster project completion

Fintech companies are working with offshore software development firms in order to start projects quicker and complete them in less time.

Financial service firms have long used traditional hiring processes to staff their software development projects. This involves finding candidates through traditional hiring channels and training those new employees to company standards. However, offshore development services have a range of experienced developers on staff who can start a project on cue, eliminating the time-consuming hiring process.

These specialists can also shorten the development lifecycle. That's because these developers have years of experience as contractors and have worked on a wide variety of projects over their careers. They can apply this experience to quickly resolve common problems, streamline the most complex parts of the development cycle and reduce the overall length of the project.

Finally, the type of multidisciplinary development teams favored by outsourcing companies allow for the rapid development of high-quality software. That's because they include important considerations like user design, quality assurance and data privacy in every step of the development process. This eliminates much of the workload at the tail end of the project and results in a superior final product. 

3. Increased profits through data analytics

The finance industry is a leader in data collection and analytics. Investment banks like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have long employed specialists who analyze data to reduce risk when underwriting loans, issuing securities or trading futures.

These same financial service organizations are now analyzing consumer data to increase sales and promote customer loyalty. They use credit scores, spending habits, and demographic data to analyze creditworthiness and offer tailored services to each consumer.

Both small credit unions and large multinational banks are utilizing a combination of in-house engineers and offshore development services to improve their analytics. In particular, these offshore software outsourcing services help financial institutions build data analytics software with the popular Python programming language. They also help companies protect valuable consumer data by providing experienced software security experts as needed.

4. Reduced server load through cloud computing

The banking and finance industry has been reluctant to implement cloud computing technology, largely because web-based storage is vulnerable to hackers. However, recent improvements in data privacy protections have led some banks to begin integrating the technology into their core business.

Financial institutions love cloud computing because it reduces the need for physical infrastructure. Rather than maintaining fleets of expensive servers, banks can now store information offsite with a third party through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) arrangement. That's one reason researchers estimate that banks are cutting technology costs by 25% using cloud computing, saving more than $15 billion. 

Banks are already using cloud computing to store information related to communications, human resources and accounting. In fact, one of the most popular SaaS models is Microsoft Office 365, which allows companies to store documents, emails, calendars, contact lists and other sensitive information online.

5. Protection of valuable consumer data

One of the most important challenges facing financial executives today is how to reduce the number of data breaches, which increases each year. Furthermore, savvy cybercriminals levy an outsized portion of their attacks against the finance industry, attempting data breaches against banks 300 times more frequently than companies in other industries – with each American financial service firm withstanding an estimated 1 billion attacks every year. 

This problem is even more important when you consider the type of information. Banks store incredibly sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, credit card information, salaries, purchase habits and home addresses. This is valuable information that criminals can use for profit.

Banks are responding to this crisis by increasing investments in their cybersecurity defenses and by hiring software security experts in droves. In fact, research has found that financial institutions currently spend roughly $2,300 per person on cybersecurity every year. This spending accounts for nearly 15% of their information technology budgets. 

The U.S. government has released new regulations dictating how banks should secure their information. This means that banks of all sizes must continue to increase investments in data privacy and shore up their defenses against increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals.

In summary

The financial services industry is investing billions of dollars a year to develop the type of custom software that their businesses need to survive in the new data-driven marketplace. Many of these organizations are turning to offshore software outsourcing to accomplish this goal without distracting from their core missions.

These offshore development services help banks develop well-crafted software without committing to large and unnecessary in-house engineering teams. In addition, outsourcing partners help businesses start projects quicker and shorten the overall development lifecycle.

Finally, these offshore developers are improving the quality of data analytics for fintech. This will enable banks to offer targeted services to their customers and increase the quality of their investment banking operations.

5 Ways to Become an Inclusive Leader

Posted: 17 Sep 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Being an inclusive leader isn't simply a matter of hiring people from diverse ethnic backgrounds and a range of genders. It's more about mindset: being someone who genuinely cares about inclusion – someone who recognizes that disconnection hurts your people and your company. 

Research shows that manager-led inclusion matters. A Deloitte Insights study indicates that groups led by inclusive managers are 17% more likely to perceive themselves as high-performing, 29% more willing to believe they collaborate, and 20% more likely to feel strongly about their collective decision-making. However, managers need to truly commit to inclusivity – not merely claim to think nice thoughts about diversity.

So what does it mean to become an inclusive leader? It means going beyond hiring across the gender spectrum or recruiting candidates from underrepresented areas, ethnicities and experiences. It's taking the practice of inclusion down from the company or group level to the individual level. Comprehensive inclusion reaches past visible signs of inclusiveness to consider hidden ones such as sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic background and even extroversion versus introversion. It's only when leaders authentically connect with each individual employee that they can honor those "invisible" traits. In this way, an authentic connection "solves" inclusion by putting the focus on a leader's relationship with the people around her. 

Leaders, then, should put their efforts toward making authentic connections and fostering holistic inclusivity. That means accepting everyone's voice – especially when the voice comes from an unexpected place. 

Inclusion goes beyond skin deep. Leaders are currently training to make space for visible differences, which they absolutely should learn to do. But often, the aspects of a person's life or personality that aren't visible have the biggest impact on who they are and how they want to be treated in a business environment.

Employees will feel safe to speak up if they feel respected and included. And that's what you want: a team that is empowered to share their authentic thoughts, feelings and ideas. Diversity of thinking is the ultimate outcome of an inclusive workplace; it enhances creativity and innovation, reduces risk and facilitates decision implementation. Leveraging that diversity of thought requires encouraging participation from everyone, while also keeping in mind that multiple factors affect how employees work on a team.

Leaders tend to spend a lot of time thinking through the differences between men and women in the workplace, but gender similarities theory holds that the psychological distinctions between genders are small. Men and women are actually significantly more similar than they are different. Visible categories like gender don't inform "hidden" categories like shyness, so it's unfair to assume that a woman will be more soft-spoken just by virtue of her gender. If leaders know this, they can focus on differences that really do need attention in the workplace rather than make gender-based assumptions. Again, this requires looking beyond visible features and gaining an understanding of each individual's unique traits and talents.

Culture and upbringing, for example, can affect how gregarious or soft-spoken, assertive or retiring an employee may act. Mental health can affect how an employee relates to the workplace. And personality has perhaps the biggest effect on how employees act, want to be treated, prefer to be managed and interact in meetings. 

In reality, leaders can only see "hidden categories" that affect an employee's freedom to share – like shyness or extroversion – when they build those authentic connections with their employees. If they don't work to include employees with all personality types and perspectives, they don't gain employees' trust, don't hear some of their best ideas and may ultimately lose them.

Taking the time to make individual, authentic connections – rather than attempting to create inclusivity at the group level – is difficult. But leaders who do so can learn their employees' needs, help make them feel included in whatever way works for them and promote an atmosphere where everyone's unique contributions matter.

If the notion of leading a team from a place of inclusivity excites you, take these steps to enhance and inspire your evolving leadership style:

 1. Practice self-awareness

Building self-awareness takes time and thought, but it helps you learn to share more about yourself. Knowing yourself helps you understand and empathize with others around you, too. If you don't know where to start, share with your team members about times you've felt excluded, overwhelmed, or unhappy, even if those instances occurred outside of work.

When you share, you create a baseline for vulnerability in the community, and other people feel empowered to share as a result. By modeling honest self-reflection, you give others permission to also authentically share what they feel comfortable with. In my experience, this type of practice can help employees feel psychologically safe at work.

2. Acknowledge employees' feelings and needs

Have you heard rumors about rising levels of stress or frustration in your company? Don't ignore them. Rather, introduce the topic at an all-hands meeting or invite people to a roundtable to discuss frustrations openly. While you should be mindful of which feelings to discuss at which meetings, dedicating open, respectful space to talk about what's happening is the best way to make sure no one feels excluded or alienated.

Start by listening to the issues employees indicate need the most attention. After hearing employees' concerns, evaluate their perceptions against objective data points. You may uncover challenges you wouldn't have otherwise known about, which will give you the chance to correct what's going wrong. You'll also help them feel trusted and respected by hearing them out. Thoughtfully making space for authentic emotion is one of the biggest steps you can take toward fostering an inclusive culture at your company, small or large. 

3. Engage willingly to form connections


Give your employees some one-on-one time with you so they feel included and involved. Ask them questions — about their passions, their rhythms, their tendencies, their preferences, their personality quirks — to learn what makes them feel connected as an individual.

These touchpoints will also help you learn about employees' personalities and how to understand their behavior. In meetings and brainstorming sessions, for example, you'll remember that although the extrovert thinks aloud, the introvert may be silently coming to conclusions. Consequently, you can give the introverted employees time to process their solutions, rather than supporting extroverts' concepts without hearing from everyone in the room. By adjusting for those personality differences, you ensure that each voice is included.

4. Avoid assumptions based on cultural affiliations

Before making assumptions about someone based on their visible diversity (race, religion, gender, sexuality, ability, age), get to know each person as an individual and learn what really cranks his or her inclusion engine.

It's about learning what they need to do their best work according to who they are, not in which demographic they fit. For example, do they feel like they have to hide their culture or preferred lifestyle? Are they engaging in uncomfortable code-switching – changing their language to better fit in – throughout the day? Once you've pinpointed these difficulties, you can work with the individual and your team to fight them – but you often can't find them unless you know your employees on a personal level.

5. Foster an open, vulnerable culture

You never want your employees to feel like they have to lead separate work and personal lives because of who they are. Whether it's socioeconomic status, race, sexual orientation, or something else, create a space for emotional connection. Foster an open culture that welcomes people regardless of their identity and invites employees to share their feelings. This gives employees permission to be vulnerable even as professionals, and it creates a wider space for everyone to learn and grow. If you allow your employees to share how they're feeling, you're creating space for connection that they might never have had elsewhere and making sure they're included emotionally.

A positive effect of including all employees through these practices is the high degree of trust that it creates among employees. By treating everyone fairly at our company, we allow individuals to bring their ideas and energy to the table without fear of repercussions and create trust that boosts morale and enables change. One study of workplace performance concluded that workers who felt trusted by management performed better than those who lacked employee-employer loyalty bonds.

Finally, our employees exhibit a deeper connection with our goals and objectives because we've built real relationships with them. That connection means that when hard times come, they rally instead of leaving. Creating real inclusion from the top keeps talented employees engaged and employed longer-term.

It's time for business leaders to stop thinking of inclusion in terms of recruiting and hiring a team that appears diverse and making employees just comfortable enough that they're willing to stick around. Instead, leaders should start modeling authentic leadership and inclusivity on the individual level. By staying attuned to each employee's individuality, leaders can view all employees from a place of reverence and acceptance and can create real inclusion.

 

Construction Industry Certification Guide: Everything You Need to Know

Posted: 17 Sep 2019 05:30 AM PDT

A certification can be a great asset to a construction worker's resume, and it shows an employer that you're serious about keeping your skills and knowledge current. Beyond the potential career advancement benefits, certifications are required in some instances. Today, many local and national building codes and project owners require certified personnel on job sites.

Let's look at several construction industry certifications – such as those for management, engineering, concrete and safety – that workers often seek and employers prefer.

Construction Manager Certification Institute (CMCI)

The CMCI, a subsidiary of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), offers the Certified Construction Manager (CCM) credential. Widely considered the pinnacle certification in construction management, the CCM recognizes construction managers who are experts in all phases of a construction project, from planning and design through construction and completion.

Eligibility requirements are hefty. Candidates must have at least four years of responsible-in-charge (RIC) experience in the domains of knowledge and skills established by CMAA and provide at least two client/owner references. It requires an additional eight years of experience in construction or general design, which may be substituted with an undergraduate or master's degree in construction management, construction science, architecture, or one of several engineering disciplines. CCMs must also recertify every three years by completing qualified training or volunteer work and paying a $200 recertification fee, or by passing the current CCM exam.

The CCM exam features 175 multiple-choice questions and takes up to four hours to complete. CMCI charges a $325 application fee ($425 for non-CMAA members), and the exam itself costs $275.

American Institute of Constructors (AIC)

Another good source of general certifications is the AIC Constructor Certification Program, which administers the Associate Constructor (AC) and Certified Professional Constructor (CPC) certifications.

The AC aims at candidates who have completed an accredited four-year construction management degree program or have four years of qualifying experience; AIC also accepts a combination of education and experience. The AC exam has 300 multiple-choice questions, is administered in two four-hour sessions over the course of a day and costs $165.

After achieving the AC certification, constructors who have accrued another four years of experience (with two of those years managing projects) can sit for the CPC exam. Without the AC certification, a candidate needs eight years of experience and/or education. The CPC exam is available only twice per year, has 175 questions, takes up to four hours to complete and costs $575 ($675 for nonmembers).

Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI)

Green building continues to be a hot area of the construction industry, for both commercial and residential projects. The GBCI's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) professional certification program starts with the Green Associate credential, which validates a person's understanding of current green building principles and practices.

From there, candidates can pursue one or more LEED Accredited Professional (AP) certifications in building design and operations (LEED AP BD+C), operations and maintenance (LEED AP O+M), interior design and construction (LEED AP ID+C), neighborhood development (LEED AP ND) and residential homes (LEED AP Homes).

The Green Associate exam costs $200 ($100 for students, $250 for nonmembers), and each specialty exam is $250 ($350 for nonmembers).

National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET)

NICET has certified more than 148,000 engineering technicians and technologists since the organization was founded in 1961. Its technician certification programs cover civil engineering (construction materials testing and transportation construction) and electrical and mechanical systems engineering (power, fire protection, security systems, etc.).

Each certification has four levels. Level I is for those with minimal experience, and Level IV requires at least 10 years of experience. A candidate must pass a single exam for each desired certification and get a letter from a supervisor that verifies their competency to sit for the exam (at certain levels but not all). Exam prices vary but are typically between $225 and $400.

A technologist certification requires a four-year engineering technology degree; no certification test is required. The Associate Engineering Technologist (AT) certification costs $155. The Certified Engineering Technologist (CT) requires a minimum of five years of related work experience in addition to a degree, as well a detailed work history and endorsements. The cost of the CT is $185.

American Concrete Institute (ACI)

While a layman might view concrete as simply mixing water and cement and then flowing it into a form, those who work in construction know the process involves a certain amount of science to get it right. ACI certifications help to ensure that technicians and inspectors are current on various facets of concrete manufacturing, such as anchoring, proportioning, testing and finishing methods.

ACI offers more than 20 certifications, each with various requirements, which usually include a written exam and a practical or performance-based exam. Exam fees vary, but typical costs are $250 for the written exam only ($300 for nonmembers) and $400 for the full exam ($450 for nonmembers).

National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER)

The NCCER is the organization behind the National Craft Assessment and Certification Program (NCACP) and the Pipeline Training and Assessment Program. There are more than 70 craft areas to choose from, including boilermaking, carpentry, construction technology, mobile crane operation and plumbing. Each credential requires the candidate to pass a written exam and agree to performance verification. Visit the NCCER program fees and costs page for details on expected out-of-pocket expenses or training and assessments.

NCCER tracks the credentials for people who have completed NCCER-approved training and received a certificate of completion. In turn, organizations can verify the qualifications of those professionals, whether looking at a new hire or someone already involved with a project.

National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE)

NACE is a member-driven organization that advocates for corrosion awareness and action, and offers certifications relevant to corrosion control. More than 36,000 people have earned NACE certifications to date. The organization's certification programs include Cathodic Protection (CP), Coating Inspector (CIP), General Coatings, General Corrosion, Pipeline, and a specialty program that covers certifications for carbon steel, chemical treatments and protective coatings.

For each certification, candidates must complete one or more training courses, meet minimum experience requirements, or both. They must then pass a written exam that costs $265 ($475 for nonmembers), and some certifications require a practical exam as well (which is part of the required training course).

Safety certifications

Construction is often dangerous work, so safety is a major undertaking throughout the industry. In fact, many construction certifications include a component on safety because of its industrywide importance.

The National Association of Safety Professionals (NASP) has several certifications aimed at managers, trainers and other safety professionals. Check out the organization's website to learn about the Licensed Safety Professional (LSP), Certified Safety Manager (CSM) and Certified Safety Director (CSD), as well as some environmental credentials.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) delivers general training and certificate programs through its education centers. The agency's Construction Outreach Training Program offers 10-hour courses for entry-level workers and 30-hour courses for construction managers. Visit the certificate and degree programs webpage and search for "construction" to see certificate programs relevant to the industry.
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