Can Employee Ownership Help Solve Construction's Labor Problem?

Groundworks Chief Human Resources Officer Laura Mueller joins the Women at WIRC podcast to discuss employee ownership, workforce development, and the challenge of finding and retaining skilled construction workers. Groundworks, a foundation repair and water management company with roughly 7,000 employees, distributed $31 million to nearly 5,000 employee owners earlier this year. Mueller explains how the company’s ownership program works, why it doesn’t require employees to buy in, and how Groundworks is using it alongside internal training and promotion programs. She also discusses the company’s effort to create its own pipeline of future leaders, the case for skilled trades as an alternative to a four-year degree, and why Groundworks is looking to bring more women into the skilled-trades workforce.