{"id":767,"date":"2015-02-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/want-advice-on-being-happy-at-work-talk-with-a-construction-worker\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T05:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T10:39:17","slug":"want-advice-on-being-happy-at-work-talk-with-a-construction-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/want-advice-on-being-happy-at-work-talk-with-a-construction-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"Want advice on being happy at work? Talk with a construction worker!"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/people-leadership\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">People &amp; Leadership<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWant advice on being happy at work? Talk with a construction worker!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2015-02-12T00:00:00-05:00\">February 12, 2015<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Want advice on being happy at work? Talk with a construction worker!\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/want-advice-on-being-happy-at-work-talk-with-a-construction-worker\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/debcarpenterbeck\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/04\/CRE-Deb-Carpenter-Beck.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"CRE Deb Carpenter-Beck\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Deb Carpenter-Beck<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It was confirming to see the recent Fast Company article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3041591\/why-are-construction-workers-the-happiest-employees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">outlining which industries have the happiest employees<\/a>. Construction topped the list! Yet another reason why more people should consider career opportunities in this growing and vital industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The article revolved around the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tinyhr.com\/2015-tinypulse-best-industry-ranking-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TINYPulse 2015 Best Industry Ranking report<\/a>, which mined over 30,000 employee responses from more than 500 companies. According to TINYhr, the company that conducted the research, the report \u201cunearthed startling findings of the happiest (and unhappiest) industries out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I haven\u2019t read the entire report but I can\u2019t say I was \u201cstartled\u201d that construction leads the way for happiest workers. In fact, I wasn\u2019t surprised one bit. Over the years, I\u2019ve talked and worked with lots of people who build\u2014or maintain buildings\u2014for a living. Construction is no walk in the park but those who\u2019ve taken on the challenge are proud of what they do. After all, how many people do you know who can point to a city landmark, new bridge, a popular restaurant, a beautiful home and say, \u201cI built that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to be said about enjoying work that provides a sense of participation and accomplishment. \u201cIn construction, workers are all part of a team involved in the planning and safe execution of the work, said Steve Tenney, CFO of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.storycon.com\/\">Story Construction<\/a>, when I asked him why construction workers are the happiest. \u201cThey are all working towards a common goal and can see the results of the completed project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lydia Dishman, the author of the Fast Company\u2019s article, also brought up two other areas where I believe construction has a happiness advantage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Providing the tools to succeed<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offering opportunity for professional growth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As Dishman points out, the construction industry offers a variety of coaching and career mentorship opportunities to students and has a long history of providing apprenticeships to prepare workers for more challenging work. As I see it, those opportunities will only increase as the industry looks for ways to meet the growing demand for skilled workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I also feel professional growth deserves another check on the plus side for construction. Unlike some other industries, you don\u2019t necessarily have to have a college degree to see a rewarding career path.&nbsp; Construction is an industry that values field experience. &nbsp;And while a college level construction education is a great entry point, trade workers with the right stuff also have a shot at moving up the ladder into the field and even upper management roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happiness in the workplace is a combination of many different factors: from a sense of accomplishment to proper training and career opportunities, to respect of the company leadership and among co-workers. It appears construction offers the package deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why do you think construction workers are the happiest?<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was confirming to see the recent Fast Company article outlining which industries have the happiest employees. Construction topped the list! Yet another reason why more people should consider career opportunities in this growing and vital industry. The article revolved around the TINYPulse 2015 Best Industry Ranking report, which mined over 30,000 employee responses from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":1291,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,178,138],"business_type":[],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[50,411],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[246],"coauthors":[522],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people-leadership","tag-construction","tag-construction-hiring-retention","tag-leadership","industry-construction-and-real-estate","industry-human-resources"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Deb Carpenter-Beck","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/skender-2026_cc-1.jpg","imagine_tags":{"246":"Construction"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35586,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions\/35586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/1291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=767"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}