For the many challenges our industry faced throughout 2020, there are just as many lessons to be taken with us into 2021. One of the most important for me, based on my own experience and conversations I’ve had with customers over the past several months, is the importance of company culture. If you’ve read this blog in the past, that answer probably won’t surprise you. I’m a big believer in the power of culture and how it can contribute to organizational success.

But the uniqueness of 2020 has placed greater strains on companies everywhere and has likely exposed both weaknesses and strengths. How your organization has dealt collectively with the pandemic can tell you a lot about the culture you’ve been cultivating, and might help identify some ways to strengthen it.

Here’s an example: Employee burnout has emerged as a pressing crisis facing the American workforce as we continue adjusting to pandemic life. It’s likely we’re going to be working this way for at least several more months. Essential workers may be feeling overburdened, between COVID-19 precautions and increased workloads, while those who have had the privilege of working remotely may be feeling the lines increasingly blurred between their work and home lives.

We’ve seen this in the fenestration industry. As demand crept back up to normal over the summer, the pandemic made our ongoing labor shortage more acute. Circumstances changed for many, and not everyone was able to return to the workplace easily, necessitating more long shifts for plant floor workers. Meanwhile, raw materials supply has remained a challenge, creating ongoing headaches for logistics teams everywhere.

These are just a few conditions that could contribute to employee burnout—and your culture has a lot to do with how big of a problem it could become. Does a stressed plant floor worker feel empowered to speak to management about being overworked and open a conversation about how that stress can be alleviated? Or is he or she more likely to walk out and look for other work? Hopefully, your culture is one where your teams would choose the former option.

It’s important to remember, here, that culture isn’t just something you build once—it’s something you must be doing actively every day. Staying in tune with your people, now more than ever, can go a long way toward understanding individuals’ needs and doing what you can to meet them. Listen, be flexible and, of course, put safety at the heart of everything.

I think we’ve had a lot to learn about ourselves, our businesses and our culture this year, and I’d love to hear some of the ways you plan to carry some of that positive momentum with us into 2021. Drop me a line at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.

Thanks for reading Commercial Commentary this year. I hope you enjoy a restful holiday season and I’ll see you right here in January!

Joe Erb is commercial sales specialist for Quanex Building Products.

2021 is right around the corner, and with it will likely come some change for the building and construction industry.

Though we’re still in the thick of things, the pandemic will eventually recede at some point in the coming year. There’s been some promising news on the vaccine front in recent weeks, which I hope will ease the burden the pandemic has placed on our world. However, some longer-term ramifications are to be expected. A recent piece in Construction Dive, for example, explores how new office construction could change post-pandemic, including potential features such as density monitoring and outdoor workspaces. This is just one possible way we might see trends shift next year and beyond.

January will likely bring a change in the U.S. presidential administration, and any time this kind of shift takes place at the top levels of government, it’s worth considering what changes might be in store for the coming years. It takes just a quick scan of the headlines to see projections of how a Biden presidency might influence the market. But political preferences aside, there are some practical ramifications that our industry needs to prepare itself for.

For many, the potential for our industry to see new efficiency and emissions regulations immediately comes to mind. In the Trump era, we’ve seen an absence of federally-legislated emissions targets—but that can and likely will change under a new administration. What’s striking to me, however, is that over the past four years, the commercial glass market has only become more interested in high-performance, thermally efficient solutions—not less.

There are a few reasons for this, many of them market driven. Architects and designers today seek to create indoor environments that offer the highest levels of occupancy comfort—this means achieving outstanding thermal performance and other new benefits like acoustic and soundproofing performance. Elsewhere, American corporations increasingly have their own aggressive sustainability goals—and none of them are intent on building a big, inefficient new corporate office, for example. Finally, many individual states have taken sustainability targets into their own hands through stringent building codes, as any commercial professional operating in New York or California could tell you. Put more simply, there is significant demand for high-performance products and the progressive technologies that make them possible, no matter what the federal government may have to do with it.

And, if we do see some bolder legislation from the new administration, I think our industry is well prepared. Many commercial glass professionals have realized in the past several years that offering high performance via progressive technology is a competitive advantage. Warm edge spacer systems for large-scale commercial glass, high-performance vinyl systems—these aren’t just technologies that can satisfy a greener legislative agenda. They’re reliable, in-demand and have proven their value in the marketplace.

Finally, while we’ve seen the residential market booming in the past few months, the outlook for the commercial space is a bit less clear. Some economists have predicted a bit of a tightening into 2021, and under such circumstances, providing value and performance is even more important. Keeping your competitive edge as sharp as possible can be a key to success. But for now, let’s finish this unprecedented year as strong as we can.

Joe Erb is commercial sales specialist at Quanex Building Products.

In my conversations with commercial fabricators and architects, there still seems to be a sense of optimism about market health amid the pandemic. While jobs have decreased in size and there has been some softening, work is steady.

Regardless of current circumstances, it pays to stay optimistic and keep moving forward because times of adversity often springboard us toward something greater down the road. We’re learning a lot about ourselves as individuals and as companies. And we’re learning about our own resiliency and how to act quickly to turn perceived challenges into long-term opportunities.

I’m lucky enough to get to work with a wide range of companies serving commercial construction—and here are three ways I’ve seen for us to take advantage of the times in which we live:

1. Widen your virtual circle. In 2019, which seemed like a century ago now, we had to go through approvals to schedule in-person meetings. For some, travel costs or time made it prohibitive to get together with colleagues or suppliers, limiting our interactions to a smaller circle. Unless there was an association meeting or tradeshow, it was rare to have suppliers, architects and glazing contractors all together in the same place.

   One of the many things that 2020 has taught us is how to use remote collaboration systems out of necessity. We’ve become experts in this technology, removing the barriers to collaboration that might have once existed. This is the perfect time to widen your circle of collaborators online and facilitate conversations across the supply chain not only to meet the needs of projects, but to look proactively for ways to share ideas that will help us shape the future of the industry.

   The architectural and design community is also settling into a new norm of remote work—and many are using it as a chance to earn their needed CE credits. Now is a great time to reach out, educate and help them fulfill their educational needs virtually.

2. Take steps toward automation. If implemented correctly, automation has the power to improve quality, efficiency and product consistency. It can also help to offset the effects of the labor challenge and facilitate the physical distancing needed in plants and in the workplace. However, a move to full automation might not be feasible in this economic climate. If it’s not in the cards at the moment, companies can take more cost-effective steps toward realizing their automation goals.

   It’s a good time to explore options to gain efficiencies whether it’s through manual means, semi-automation or full automation. This is not an all or nothing deal. There are “in between” steps that can be made and added to as the future allows. The best thing is to reach out to your suppliers, discuss your goals with them and find incremental means that will help you with whatever challenge you are having now and prepare you for what comes next—think of it as an opportunity to explore solutions that you can grow into.

3. Enrich your company culture. The labor issue isn’t going to go away anytime soon, so retaining your current employee base has become paramount. For most—if not all—companies, health and safety have been top priorities for years before the pandemic hit. We’ve all implemented measures that reduce or eliminate threats of personal injury in the workplace. But in today’s world, we must take them a step further to include ensuring a proper work-life balance.

   Everyone has been affected by the pandemic differently, either directly or indirectly. Like many of us, employees are playing the role of parent, partner, caregiver, teacher, chef—and so much more. Providing balance and flexibility when possible can mean more to them than any other benefit that can be provided. So, when it comes to retention, be sure to build balance into your culture in some way. It can make a big difference and go a long way in keeping your existing workforce intact and ready to tackle the next challenge that comes your way.

Take the time—it will be worth it.

If you’re like most professionals out there, you’re thinking that a lot of this is easier said than done. Every day you are presented with a new set of challenges that keep you from thinking beyond the day, the week or the month. But, as the old saying goes, if you do that you won’t be able to see the forest for the trees. The biggest thing you can do right now is step back and look at the big picture and see what small steps you can take now to create a more sustainable future for your company.

And if you don’t know where to start, reach out to your suppliers and colleagues for inspiration and to see how other companies are flipping the script in 2020.

What challenges have you turned into opportunities this year? Let’s talk about it. Email me directly at Joe.Erb@Quanex.com.