We need to raise the respect within the decorating trade.
I feel that we need to raise the respect of our trade within both the eye of the public and construction industry. At times we are classed on the same level as a labourer. How many times have you heard the old adage of “if you can piss, you can paint”, how does that make you feel when you hear it and secondly, what does it actually refer to?
It means that anyone can push a roller around a wall, there’s no skill needed to achieve an acceptable finish. As a long-time served decorator, I take offence to the comment that said I can’t do anything about it as I’m guilty by association.
How did we manage to lose so much respect?
When I started my career, I loved the respect that I got on projects when I turned up to deliver a fantastic finish for the customer. Granted, I heavily focused on my training, doing as much learning from the old masters in the trade as I could. Being over 30yrs ago, I specialised in Decorative Arts and excelled at Marbling & Graining plus Venetian plaster, which was all the rage back then. I made it my mission to perfect my skills.
But over the years, I’ve seen the respect slowly drop off, and we don’t seem to be able to do much about it. I have seen theories as to why and some possible solutions for moving forward, but in my opinion, it will take a new culture and mindset, plus quite a few of us wanting to change for the right reasons.
Any Tosher can call themselves a decorator.
Over the years, more unqualified and unskilled people have picked up a brush, held it high and called themselves a decorator. We see so many so-called painters/decorators turning up onto a job with a Sainsbury’s bag of tools, a few cheap brushes and a roller. They call themselves decorators, and there’s nothing there to stop them. I don’t know many professions, say a Doctor, Pilot, or Solicitor, where you could walk into the workplace and call yourself experienced. I will refer more to these professions later in the blog to make my point valid.
But why do we allow the toshers onto jobs that we all know are slapdash have a go people? The reason is quite simple, they are cheap. In fact very cheap and they are what is bringing down the rate of a qualified skilled decorator. We have trade with low respect the rate will have no choice but to follow.
What do other trades do differently to decorators?
Consider what we call electricians & plumbers. How they are now referred to as qualified electricians or registered plumbers, they have made a concuss move towards qualifications, CPD (continue personal development) and being registered. They can’t operate within their industry without constantly upgrading their qualifications, granted a lot has been put in place by legislation. Still, each trade has raised the respect within the construction industry and placed itself at the top of the price scale. So no wonder they look at decorators with little respect. We don’t care about qualifications or upskilling, it’s only painting after all. Most of us decorators that have worked hard to get to the top of our game are still guilty by association and overshadowed by the masses of have-a-go painters. So can we see a way to start to make a change?
Do you think that your customers focus on qualifications?
Who do you work for? What do the customer do for a living? Look back over the past year and think of what customers you’ve worked for. Maybe a Doctor, Pilot or Solicitor, those that are in a position to afford to pay for your services. The reason is that they make the big bucks because they’re focused on being at the top of their trade with not only respect but with rates.
So how do we think they get there? By having a go? by chance? Honestly, I don’t think so. I think it’s through hard work focusing on their qualifications, CPD and constant upskilling. So we don’t have to look very far to see the clear difference between the trade of a decorator and other better-paying professions. They command the rate with their respect.
So let’s create a new breed of decorators.
Sounds portentous, I know, but what’s the other option? Stay we are to continue working for a rate set decades go and rarely moves. We deserve more respect for how we transform homes and businesses, plus don’t forget “we make everyone look good” with how much work we have to do to put other trades’ work right. We need to work as a collective with a better mindset to start and build a new culture that demands respect for the efforts we deliver daily.
So, how about we begin to focus on our trade, ourselves, and our staff. To lift the bar and raise our qualifications and CPD. To educate everyone about the difference between ourselves and the Toshers? When we stand high with proof of all our hard work rather than just our word, we will be able to separate from those that don’t see the point, from those that create two levels for our industry with two levels of respect and far better rates.
A collective move towards re-education is the plan. We are the guys and gals to do business with because we are constantly striving to improve, to offer better value to the client, and we have the proof to show so we can walk the walk and not just talk.
Where do we start
To start, let’s get involved, and put our collective minds and passion together. Let’s focus on qualifications, training, networking and joining the right groups and forums. We have started at The Decorators Growth Club to focus on attracting both the right mindset from the fellow decorator and specialists within their fields to help teach, advise and support us as we make the change for the better.
We will start to push the message out to attract more like-minded business owners. We make the change by numbers and a clear message “we will raise the respect, we will raise the rate.
