Winning the talent war

By Jonny Suchor. 

Highlighting the importance of building a positive company culture to attract and retain top talent. 

In a recent MetalCoffeeShop® MetalTalk™ hosted by Heidi J. Ellsworth, expert recruiter Luke McCormack from McCormack Partners shared his insights on winning the talent war in the roofing industry, highlighting strategies for recruiting and retaining professionals.  

Growing up, Luke’s dad had a contracting firm and then worked in supply, so Luke had an understanding and appreciation for what makes a contracting business work.  

The idea of forming McCormack Partners came from identifying a need in the industry to help supply companies with labor. "I noticed a gap in the market that there's all these roofing companies that they want to grow, they want to get to the next level, but there was no company set up as an ethical specialist provider that could assist them in doing that by supplying them staff members,” Luke said. “So what I'd basically done was carved out this niche in the roofing industry. And for almost 10 years now, we've been helping contractors, distributors, manufacturers grow by supplying them with managerial to executive level talent across sales, marketing, operations and finance.” 

Recruiting isn’t without its challenges, and Luke highlighted some of the industry's challenges, including outdated perceptions and a significant skill shortage. "Obviously within the roofing industry itself, we do have a generation gap. We do have a skill shortage. We do have a decrease in new blood joining in the industry. I believe the status for every 10 people that leave, only one person joins,” he shared. “There are extremely outdated perception issues about what roofing is. That stops not just new labor coming into the market, but also people from other professions that can come into, estimator, project manager, sales positions.” 

Luke passionately spoke about his initiative, the People Make Roofing campaign, which aims to improve the industry's image and attract new workers by highlighting career paths in roofing. “The purpose of People Make Roofing is to shine a light on the money that can get made in roofing, the career paths, but most importantly the people that make this roofing so great,” he shared. 

A significant part of the conversation focused on what companies can do to attract and recruit labor. One thing Luke emphasized was the need for roofing companies to be proactive in hiring. He argued that understanding market dynamics and creating a positive work environment is crucial to attracting and retaining top talent in the competitive roofing industry. Another element Luke highlighted was the importance of company culture in recruitment. Luke advised that companies must foster a culture of growth and opportunity. He stated, "The number one reason is stagnation. If people aren't growing, they're leaving."  

Read the transcript, listen to the podcast or watch the webinar to learn more about McCormack Partners and gain insights into winning the talent war in the roofing industry.