Providing a Path for Latino Roofing Industry Members

RCS Influencer Trent Cotney says that it's important for companies to provide a path for Latino workers beyond just labor.

Editor’s note: The following consists of a conversation between RCS Multimedia Producer Megan Ellsworth and Trent Cotney. You can listen to the podcast or read the transcript below.  

Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone. We are back again. My name is Megan Ellsworth at RoofersCoffeeShop.com, and I'm here with Trent Cotney for the March Influencer Response. Hi Trent, how you doing?

Trent Cotney: Good to see you again.

Megan Ellsworth: Good to see you too. This month's topic is Latino culture and the question is, how should contractors be growing a strong inclusive culture including training in Spanish? I'm excited to hear what you have to say.

Trent Cotney: Yeah, I think diversity, DEI, policies, things like that are incredibly important not only internally for employees but also for purposes of attracting clients and customers. Given how heavily influenced our labor is, especially the Latino population, it's important to have policies that help promote and encourage movement up the ranks. One of the things that we had talked to a lot of different roofing contractors about was creating advancement policies within the company so that someone that's a crew member now has the comfortability and capability to enter into management. Obviously, you want to make sure that all of your documentation, your safety policies, procedures, manuals, your employee policies, procedures, manuals, all that kind of stuff is in Spanish as well so that they have the opportunity to understand. That you engage in training courses and any kind of study efforts in Spanish as well as English so that it feels more inclusive. I think it's really going to help not only attract additional work to the workforce, but help maintain the existing workforce that you've got it.

It's important that you provide a path that they can see that it goes just beyond being labor. I've seen when that's done, when they promote a foreman to a managerial position, then the other people that were working for that foreman see that it's possible for them as well. So instead of bouncing from roofing company to roofing company and working a week at one roofing company, on the weekend, a different. They're staying with one because they realize that there's a possibility to actually grow some roots, some stability, and that's important. I definitely think that's something that any contractor, regardless of whether it's roofing or outside, should consider having as part of its internal policies and procedures.

Megan Ellsworth: Well said. That was great. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Any pieces of advice?

Trent Cotney: Obviously sub labor is a huge topic. The use of subcontractor labor dominates the industry. A lot of the subcontractor labor, at least that I've worked with in the past and I've talked to you in the past, speak Spanish, is Latino. And we have done the same thing. I have looked to hire and make sure that we are trying to be as inclusive as possible. So we have a variety of lawyers and staff that speak fluently in Spanish. I think it's very important to be able to communicate in the same language so that you're conveying information properly. And you have that respect. A lot of it's about respect, and that's the key thing. If I went overseas somewhere and I'm traveling the country, I try to speak the language. Even if I'm not very good, I try to speak it. Because I think there's some respect there. And I think anybody that is coming into our workforce, that we should be mindful of that as a way to help retain. I think that's the key thing is, again, fostering and retaining that sense of inclusiveness.

Megan Ellsworth: That was great. Totally. I definitely agree with learning another country's language when you go visit. That would be very polite and respectful. Well said. Great answer this month, and we will see you in April.

Trent Cotney: Sounds good. Thank you so much.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.