All successful businesses listen to their customers and to the supply chains they form a part of…
Not to do that would be folly right? But it is surprising how many plough on blindly, believing somehow that what worked in the past will continue to serve them into the future.
For 10 years, Ryder have conducted independent client surveys – not tick box or score out of five questionnaires but detailed, probing interviews designed to get under the skin of what clients really think about our business and the construction industry. I’m delighted to confirm that Ryder has consistently fared well – the wider industry, unfortunately less so!
So, in the tenth year we thought it would be interesting to publish a collation of these responses to track how opinions had changed over the intervening decade.
As we assembled the survey data, we were starkly reminded of how little has changed, how often Governments have urged reform and how increasingly frustrated clients and colleagues had become. This galvanised us to turn what was initially a retrospective review into a call to arms for change, not a tinkering around at the edges but wholesale change to create an industry fit for purpose in the 21 Century. Importantly for us, we were determined that this should be bottom up, demonstrating real change and breaking from the prevailing culture of blaming others for industry failure.
The campaign was launched in June 2018 at the Building Centre in London, with support from key industry figures and with a keynote speech from Mark Farmer, author of the most recent government sponsored report, Modernise or Die.
The response was overwhelming and we are engaging with interested parties to address the issues identified in Reinvention, which are around leadership, training and technology with an emphasis on developing an environment of deep collaboration. We aim to bring this to a conclusion in the summer.
Meanwhile we continue with our own initiatives as we develop our approach to Collaborative Project Working.
As the Chinese proverb goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”!
Reinvention is available as a free download. If you are interested in engaging, please contact [email protected]
In May 2019, Ryder gathered a group of 24 industry leaders and experts to discuss data and technology in the construction industry as part of our Reinvention campaign. This report summarises the findings of Reinvention – Data Rich, Data Why?
Reinvention was initiated by Ryder to help create an exceptional construction industry with much improved outcomes for all stakeholders. This publication details the background and aspirations of the campaign.
