“Each Person That Comes in is Making it Better and Easier for the Next Person After Them”
This article was written by FTMA’s Kat Welsh
It was International Women’s Day 2024 on the 8th March. To celebrate. throughout the month, FTMA is releasing an article and podcast each week highlighting the journey of 4 women into the industry and the achievements they have accomplished. If you haven’t already, you can catch up on reading the first 2 features – Carly Timperley, and Shelena Serrano, on how they have invested in themselves.
This year’s theme for the UN International Women’s Day is Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress. Globally, the gender pay gap and women living in poverty, is disproportionally in men’s favour. In Australia, the most recent data shows that women earn on average 78c, for every $1 that men earn. Many of the tasks in the workforce that traditionally have been filled by women, are low paid jobs – cleaning, childcare, admin and reception roles, teaching, retail, hospitality. Internationally, women face huge economic issues due to gender. Things are slowly starting to shift, with more recognition and support for women being just as capable and equal to the abilities of men, and valued for the work they do – but it’s not something that can happen overnight. Generally, more women are being employed into what are seen as male industries. In Australia, construction is still the most male populated area, with 12% women retained in the workforce.
According to the Victorian Government Women in Construction Strategy even though there are more women enrolling in courses within construction, the percentages of women maintaining a career, have stayed about the same since the 1980’s. One of the defined barriers is lack of role models within the industry. There’s been a push to attract women into the trades, with campaigns like tradie ladies and Women in Construction, focusing on the industry being a rewarding place for women to be. This is what FTMA is promoting for our sector by sharing these focused articles on women in frame and truss, and their successes.
Jenny Binnie, Estimator and Office Supervisor for MCM Frame and Truss, has been with the business for 22 years. What’s worked out to be a rewarding career in frame and truss, started with the owner, Mark Hull, approaching Jenny to work for them. Mark’s focus, was the right person for the job. Jenny’s previous work was in finance, but when both her and her husband were retrenched, she was offered a job by Mark. She came into the role with transferable skills, skills that can’t be taught – people skills and team management, dealing with deadlines and pressures.
The estimating and detailing that followed was something that Jenny picked up, and picked up well. “Having very little experience with it though [the industry], or exposure to it, when I started here at MCM, I was doing the production, coordinating the logistics, doing the estimating, dealing with our guys out in the factory. Because we were just a smaller company it was one person to handle everything. So, the quotes came in, I dealt with the customers, prepared the quote, once it became a job… booking in the transport, making sure the factory had the work at the right time.” The list went on!
When Jenny began, MCM was a smaller business. It required a positive focus on working well together. That focus prevails with the expanded business today, regardless of peoples’ skills – will they be a good fit to the established team? “It was a little bit daunting to start with, not having had any exposure to the industry. I was grateful to Mark, the owner of the business and general manager at the time, he had the confidence and the faith in me, that I could do it, and supported me through the transition period and it went from there.”
“We’re Pryda fabricators, we’re using the software to provide our estimates and our quotes. Training was provided with those. That was a big learning curve. I didn’t know what frames and trusses were when I started. And now I know more than my husband,” Jenny joked. She talked about how if trips to Bunnings ever involve wood, building, or renovations, her husband takes the back seat – Jenny deals with the technical details. “By osmosis almost, you absorb all the jargon, and the terms, and the knowledge.”
Jenny talked about the structure of staff at MCM, and how cross-training throughout the business has been essential, so people are “jumping in wherever needed.” She reiterated that the hiring of new staff always focuses on someone’s personality and their ability to get along with the team, not necessarily direct skills. It’s better to get a character fit, and teach the technical aspects. Any women thinking about applying for work within the sector, should always consider this, and not be put off.
Jenny talked about how it would be great to see more promotions for product estimating, designing, and traineeships – specifically for drawing women into frame and truss. It can include promoting roles to single mums, or women that have to consider timings around children. These roles can be flexible. Work can be done from home, or remotely, it can suit family commitments, and it can be rewarding.
Jenny talked about that divide, as a mum with small children. Even when you share the care 50/50 with a partner, the pressure to tick that archetypal mum box and having a career isn’t always easy. Especially when they’re little and often get sick. We have an extra layer of guilt to contend with about prioritising our own aspirations and careers, even though we can have both. “Quite often when the kids are young, they’re at home just because the day care centre or the school says you’ve got to keep them home for 24 hours. If you can work from home while they’re there, you can monitor them, it would help everyone. It would help us to feel that we’re being valued, and you don’t feel like you’re letting down your work.” Jenny talked about when many women reach the point when kids start school, trying to find that “unicorn” job is the ultimate mum win. The school hours fit, is something that this sector could definitely accommodate. “Having that flexibility around hours and working conditions, will help women a lot,” Jenny said.
For Jenny’s journey of investing in her career, “the main thing for me, having someone have the faith in me when I first started… and knowing that I didn’t necessarily have the qualifications to do the role, but having the faith that I could do it, allowed me to have the confidence to believe that I could,” Jenny said.
Having that initial support gave Jenny the open door to take on the role and everything it demanded, build her technical skills, become accomplished, and continue to grow in any direction she needed to. It set the ball rolling for Jenny, and for the business to have a highly valued and talented long-term employee.
In spite of frame and truss being male dominated, gender issues have not been a problem for Jenny from within the business. The issues have been external. Jenny talked about times where she has had to deal with builders or carpenters, who subsequently request to deal with a man. Over time Jenny has built positive relationships – paving the way for other women coming in. “Sometimes it can be quite confrontational,” Jenny said about dealing with tradesmen, who behave harshly when they get a female on the phone. Having a thick skin was part of the role, but, “why do we promote that? That message? And, why do we say that it’s ok to have a thick skin? Probably in the last 10 years or so, there has been a shift with what’s out in the market, people are more accepting. They know that if they ring up and talk to a woman, they will take her word for it. She does know what she is doing.” Jenny’s noticed the change over the time she has been there – there is now more respect and acceptance to women being in the industry. Things are improving culturally with gender biases over time, which will help to retain women in the industry work force heading into the future.
Jenny’s love for what she does is clear. “It’s the variety of the job, and dealing with the clientele.” Many clients, Jenny has been dealing with since the day she started. Having those connections and relationships, make you feel a part of something good.
“Don’t ever be frightened,” Jenny said, regarding women contemplating coming into construction or frame and truss. “Don’t be afraid to come into a male dominated industry, because, each person that comes in is making it better and easier for the next person after them. If you get in with the right team of people, it won’t matter. In my group here, I don’t feel that I’m in a male dominated environment, because we treat everyone equally… have faith, believe in yourself and we can do everything just as well, if not better!”
Jenny, it was fantastic to hear about your experiences of coming into frame and truss, some of the barriers you faced, and how you overcame them. The future is about publicising the amazing benefits and rewarding roles that women can achieve in the sector – something that you are exemplifying. Thanks so much for your time! Congratulations on your 22 years with MCM!
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