Mark Rayfield, newly named CEO, Saint-Gobain North America

MALVERN, PA—Creating an attractive narrative about manufacturing and construction employment opportunities will be a major challenge, says Mark Rayfield, newly appointed as chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain North America, one of the world's largest building materials companies and manufacturer of innovative material solutions.

In an exclusive video interview with GlobeSt.com, Rayfield says one way to build interest among prospective workers is the company's involvement in the Philadelphia region's communities. In Philadelphia, the company has contributed specialized window glass and construction products to the redevelopment of the Philadelphia Visitor's Center at iconic Love Park.

Watch the video interview with Mark Rayfield in the player below. If you don't see a player below, click here to watch the video.

“If we can engage our senior leaders with the local communities, with the up and coming next generation workforce, we've got to win,” Rayfield says. “We can really connect, and not only show off our products, but help the community in general. It means a lot to us as a business. It means a lot to our people. We can get involved with our senior executives, with our products, and really show them tangibly what a career in construction can mean.”

Rayfield will oversee Saint-Gobain's transformative efforts to increase agility and drive the growth of the company's building solutions businesses in the United States and Canada. He will continue to serve as CEO of CertainTeed, Saint-Gobain's leading manufacturer of building materials for commercial and residential construction.

The manufacturing and construction industries face significant challenges related to waste and a tight labor market, and Rayfield plans to address these issues in his new role by increasing sustainability and building tomorrow's manufacturing and construction workforce.

The company has partnered with residential builder Unity Homes to learn more about prefabricated home construction and how to plan for sustainability and reduce waste, Rayfield says.

“We can't make everything that makes a house or commercial building, so we have to work with other partners in that process,” he says. “So the overall process is how to make more efficient building processes, how to minimize waste, because it is a big part of the downstream of building that we have to take a look at, and do so in a wildly sustainable way, where we build the best, ideally carbon-neutral, homes.”

With nearly 20 years of experience within the Saint-Gobain family of brands, Rayfield will build upon past success in the United States and UK to increase collaboration across the North American organization and focus more on using consumer insights to inform his business strategy. His vision for leading the growth of Saint-Gobain in North America revolves around breaking down silos to build innovative and integrated solutions that deliver more value for customers, setting the example for what lean construction means for the rest of the world.

“We're in the middle of something called 'Transform and Grow' right now,” Rayfield says. “It drives more empowerment down into the businesses, into the regions into the folks that are closest to the customer. It's taking the customer intimacy and the feedback we get from our customers and aligning our strong technical background in R&D with what the customer says, to grow the business. It's a big change for a company like Saint-Gobain, which has been more matrixed and hierarchal in the past.”

Rayfield succeeds Tom Kinisky, who now takes on the role of chairman of Saint-Gobain in North America and chief innovation officer globally for the company. Kinisky will drive the strategy and application of Saint-Gobain's global innovation efforts across a wide range of disciplines, including R&D and the company's external ventures.

“As a leader, I know two things: employees are the key to every success we have as a company at every level, and listening to our customers is the only way to ensure those employees are working on the right things. I'm excited to be leading a team doing just that – Saint-Gobain North America is focused on combining consumer insights with building science to create products and solutions that make homes and buildings more livable and dynamic,” said Rayfield. “This strategy allows us to be more aligned with our customers, more agile and more synergistic.”