46 | AUGUST 2020
Skills
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
INSTALLING
SKILLS FOR
THE FUTURE
Umer Mansoor, CEO of Construction
Helpline, looks at the industry changes post
Covid-19 and how tradespeople can recruit,
upskill, and retrain for the future.
Following the Covid-19
lockdown, many businesses are
starting to get back on their feet.
As tradespeople up and down the
country are exploring new ways
of working while maintaining
social distancing, focus is now
being placed on how they can
recruit, upskill and train employees
safely.
Returning to work
The Construction Leadership
Council (CLC) has issued guidance
every step of the way. It is worth
reading their recommendations for
safe working practice post-covid.
The need for PPE, social
distancing, and regular hand
washing feature heavily in the
advice. However, the guidance
also explains how to carry out
jobs where more than one person
is required. This involves minimising
the time spent together and
working side-by-side rather than
face-to-face. One-way systems are
recommended to stop paths crossing
and if hands free technology
can be used to sign in and out of
sites, then even better.
The number or size of rest areas
need to be considered too with
staggered breaks and limits on the
number of people allowed in each
breakout area to ensure that social
distancing is maintained.
What skills are needed?
Installers are required to have
a broad range of skills to meet
the requirements of the job including
good customer service,
in-depth product knowledge,
technical skill and competency,
and an understanding of relevant
health and safety requirements.
Finding skilled individuals
and upskilling current staff
can be a challenge even in the
best of times. So, where should
companies and self-employed
tradespeople start in the new
post-lockdown environment?
Carrying out a skills audit is a
good starting point to see what
new skills are required in the
business and what training is required.
There have been a lot of
changes lately and likely more
to come, so it is worth bringing
all staff up to date on what the
new normal involves. Even if
some are still on furlough they
are still able to take part in
training. When time is available
why not put it to good use?
Bridging the skills gap
With an aging workforce and
the impact of Brexit reducing
the number of EU migrants the
every-increasing skills gap is a
well-known fact within the construction
industry.
During the Summer economic
update on 8 July the chancellor
announced that the Government
would provide £111 million in
funding. The aim is to triple the
scale of traineeships between
2020 and 2021 to ensure that
more young people have access
to high quality training. This is
a welcome intervention that will
hopefully attract more people
into our industry.
Recruiting the next
generation
The economic impact of Covid-19
and the subsequent job
losses now means that there are
a significant number of people
looking for work. Attracting
these people into the industry
will not only provide much
needed jobs and a boost to the
economy, but it will also help
to plug gaps in the industry
caused by an ageing workforce
that is slowly but surely
retiring.
One of the key elements of
the summer economic update
was the announcement of a
new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme
which will create hundreds of
thousands of new, fully subsidised
six-month work placements
for young people aged
between 16 and 24 across the
country. The scheme is aimed at
those who are currently
receiving Universal Credit
and who are at risk of
long-term unemployment.
The virtual future
of training
To attract the next generation
into the industry the construction
sector must embrace and
incorporate new technologies
into training.
For example, the use of augmented
reality and virtual reality
tools to safely train new and
existing employees is becoming
much more commonplace.
Immersive learning experiences
are an attractive and exciting
addition to the traditional classroom
environment, and it is also
beneficial to the construction
industry as a whole, offering a
new opportunity for learning.
It allows students to experience
potential real-life scenarios
and learn new skills in a safe
environment. As well as boosting
confidence, it also saves money
in the long run as it helps to
reduce the likelihood of costly
mistakes later down the line.
Coventry University’s construction
site simulator is an example
of how augmented reality is
helping to train the site managers
of the future. The students
learn
in a safe 3D digital environment
using interactive screens, actors,
and real-life scenarios. This gives
students and trainees exposure
to potential situations that they
might encounter throughout
their career while in a safe environment.
Embrace digital
change to boost skills
and recruitment
The country has embraced
technology during the lockdown
period finding new ways
of working, learning and communicating
with others. This is
likely to continue and the construction
sector must follow suit
by embracing and utilising the
various technologies available to
make sure that it is not left behind
when it comes to attracting
the next batch of talent.
https://www.
constructionhelpline.com/