A woman’s place is in the roofing industry

By Johns Manville. 

Learn how Johns Manville supports the women on their team and in the roofing industry.  

Historically, the roofing industry has been a male-led space. But Megan Keyes has seen that change firsthand over the course of her career at Johns Manville. Megan started her career at Johns Manville in 2003 and was promoted to her current position as their roofing systems preferred accounts leader in 2008. Today, she manages a team of eight, six of which are fellow women in roofing. She shared, “I’ve seen that the hesitancy (of women to seek employment) in sales and sales in the building products industry is fading.” 

The disappearance of this hesitation has not been accidental. It’s thanks to people like Megan and companies like Johns Manville. On her part, Megan has ensured she always has an active role in building out the team’s network and influence in the industry, saying, “I wanted to be involved to better understand which strategies worked best and to keep my team motivated to perform.” Just her presence alone as a female hiring manager has been a factor in lowering the barrier of entry for women applying to work on her team. But it’s not the only reason. She says that she's remarkable success recruiting women into sales roles in the industry thanks to several intentional efforts. 

Megan credits Johns Manville recruiter Megan Adams with helping ensure that the candidate pool for her positions includes as much diversity as possible. And she has aimed to continue Megan A.’s work, “I’ve employed a broader networking strategy that works for me.”  

This strategy centers Megan K. as her own “boots on the ground.” This means she has personally attended trade shows, conferences and conventions, networking and meeting face-to-face with potential candidates and others in the industry. She shared some thoughts on what this strategy has done, “Women in the industry have seen me and gotten to know me outside of my manager/employer role. They have approached me expressing interest in joining the team even before I had open positions to fill.” So, when those opportunities did come up, Megan had candidates “top of mind.” 

Megan cites the success of this strategy in part to the legacy and reputation of Johns Manville. Because Johns Manville is a trusted brand, she can focus on “selling” available positions rather than simultaneously selling candidates on the job and the product. “JM stands on its own in our industry,” she explained. “Because it’s a great brand name and I don’t have to educate about the company. I can focus instead on finding the right fit for my team.” 

Once employees have been onboarded, the group works well together, benefitting from the broadened and more diverse outlook and skillset brought to the team by an increased number of women, Megan said. “Sales is a skill, not a script,” she said. “They appreciate that everyone has different strengths, processes and perspectives. There’s also the fact that more of our customers are women, too... There are more female decision-makers in the industry.” In this way, the changing demographics of the industry are not only benefitting the women who are making careers out of roofing, but also benefitting Johns Manville as a company.  

At the end of the day, whether hiring managers are male or female, the women on Megan’s team value direct feedback and call out microaggressions as barriers to productivity and creativity. This type of teamwork and environment is what Megan sees as the difference between good and great organizations. She summed it up, “I find that the camaraderie and the support of one another have created a dynamic team that is less focused on individual credit and more focused on winning as a team. In my opinion, women bring compassion to sales, and because generally, they listen to the customers’ concerns, they are able to accurately identify the customer’s need and then tailor the solution.”  

Interested in a career at Johns Manville? Visit JM.com/careers to explore current job openings and apply today.