Press Release
Release date: 21stJuly 2014
External training can fill the skills gap, claims surveyors
External advice and training could be the answer to resolving the ongoing skills shortage in the construction sector, according to a growing firm of chartered surveyors.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) expert Severn Partnership is urging fellow construction companies to seek external training and support in order to supplement existing skillsets and grow their staff, at a time when the industry is urgently looking for 180,000 more workers by 2018.
The startling figure was announced recently by Business Secretary Vince Cable as he was called on to hold a crunch summit to address the acute skills crisis in the construction industry, which lost 400,000 jobs during the recession. Little talent is currently available to the industry with government figures showing that the sector started training only 13,700 apprentices in 2012-13, down 39 per cent from the year before. According to Mark Combes, Managing Director of Severn Partnership, the solution lies in external training.
"With a lack of skilled Surveyors & Engineers at all levels from apprentices, quality graduates, trainee managers through to skilled managers, the best way to ensure talent remains in the sector is to invest in the existing workforce by combining internal schemes with specialist external training providers with tailored programmes and encourage them to expand their own skillsets and move into other areas of the business," he suggested.
The company is speaking from experience after recently embarking upon a bespoke change management programme with Midlands-based consultancy Clare Hall Organisational Development. The company wanted to up skill its surveying team and give them the people management skills they require to adopt a more formal project management role within the business. This would free the directors up to concentrate on the future growth of the business and to innovate its services, without immediately having to take on additional resources. The result has been a 12% increase in staff productivity, and the training has enabled the company to release a number of new innovations to the market including its SEEABLE brand, which allows non-technical access to complex 3D data on desktops, smartphones and tablets through innovative apps.
Recent research from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) states that businesses that seek external training and information are 14% more ambitious and 50% more successful than those that do not. This is no more important than in the construction industry, which the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed is dealing with its biggest workload since its quarterly surveys began in 1994, with a lack of new talent coming through the industry.
Clare Hall, Managing Director of Clare Hall Organisational Development said: "Sometimes it can be difficult to step outside of a business and dedicate time to simple but important management tasks, but as Severn Partnership experienced, it can bring lasting long term benefits. There is a lot of project work in construction but by taking field based surveyors and giving them the leadership and management skills they need to adopt more of a project management role, you can experience increases in productivity, morale, and ultimately, profitability, without having to embark on a recruitment drive at a time when the industry is struggling to cope with a skills shortage."
Mark Combes added: "We really benefitted from external training and have helped our team to develop their existing skills as well as learn new ones. This has really helped us to grow as a firm without having to embark on a big recruitment drive and has ensured that we both retain and develop the existing talent within our company."
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About Clare Hall Organisational Development
Clare Hall Organisational Development is a change management consultancy which believes in using proven tools and techniques to manage change, manage people, and grow organisations.
Clare Hall has two decades of experience working in construction, housing and the private sector and is passionate about delivering tangible benefits to her clients. Devising solutions that are bespoke, effective and realistic, Clare Hall Organisational Development looks at businesses through a fresh pair of eyes, constructively challenging thoughts, processes and viewpoints.
About Severn Partnership
Severn Partnership is a firm of Chartered Geospatial Surveyors with offices in London and Shropshire. The company has a reputation established over 30 years for providing a high quality professional service. The company surveys, measures and monitors to produce high quality plans, sections, elevations - all the way to 3D and Building Information Models (BIM). It works throughout the UK and overseas, utilising the latest robotic survey equipment, 3D laser scanning technology & 3D modelling software, backed up by a wealth of survey expertise and experience. Severn Partnership's mission is to deliver a professional and personal service, regulated at all times by RICS standards and underpinned by strong ethical standards.
For more information contact John Edden, Bridge PR & Media Services on 02476520025, or email john@bridgepr.co.uk