While the skills gap is still in the construction spotlight, the discussion on how best to approach it remains at the forefront. Tom Ravenscroft, founder and chief executive at Skills Builder Partnership, discusses how these gaps may be filled
The UK labour market is currently undergoing a critical transformation, with employers across sectors calling for greater investment in essential and technical skills to ensure we develop a skilled workforce fit for the future and combat the skills gap.
The government recently published its industrial strategy, where the focus on skills was rightly front and centre in achieving Britain’s economic ambitions. Yet despite the government recognising skills as a driver of growth, many sectors, including construction, continue to face considerable skills challenges.
Skills are crucial for employment
The construction industry is central to achieving the government’s objectives to improve Britain’s national infrastructure and develop new housing. Yet as Labour announces the Get Britain Building Again initiative, which includes the introduction of ‘Homebuilding Skills Hubs’ and additional apprenticeships in construction, the sector continues to grapple with severe skills shortages. The Construction Industry Training Board, for example, reported that 251,000 additional construction workers are needed over the next four years to meet growing demand in the sector.
While there is a considerable discussion on technical skills and qualifications, the critical issue of essential skills is often overlooked. This is despite the role of essential skills in ensuring the construction workforce is resilient and adaptable to economic developments and the potential for skills-based recruitment to unlock a wider talent pool of skilled workers.
What exactly are essential skills?
Sometimes called ‘soft skills’, essential skills are those highly transferable skills that are needed for almost any job. These include creative problem-solving, collaboration, communication and self-management skills.
These essential skills are not just ‘nice-to-have’ attributes, but are critical to ensuring individuals can communicate effectively, resolve conflict within teams, find solutions to complex challenges and overcome setbacks to achieve goals.
For individuals, higher levels of essential skills support social mobility, employment outcomes, and increase potential earnings and overall job and life satisfaction. These skills serve as a platform for acquiring basic skills like literacy and numeracy, and advanced technical skills like bricklaying or surveying.
There is also a social mobility rationale behind developing essential skills. Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds report fewer opportunities to develop their essential skills and report lower levels of essential skills.
Beyond the benefits for individuals and employers, there is a significant national economic impact. In 2022 the economic cost of low essential skills was a staggering £22.2 billion in the UK. Therefore, to achieve the government’s missions we need a fundamental step change to how we develop these essential skills in education and employment, to achieve national economic growth.
What can employers do?
To unlock the benefits of higher essential skills, employers can adapt their approach to recruitment and employee development. Leading construction and infrastructure businesses like Morgan Sindall and Amey are already realising the benefits of a skills-based approach to hiring and developing the essential skills of their existing workforce.
These companies have demonstrated success and impact as a result of using the Skills Builder’s Universal Framework to help identify, assess and develop essential skills.
Incorporating essential skills into staff development
Amey, an infrastructure and engineering company, recognised the need to strengthen essential skills within its workforce to improve staff development. In 2022, Amey introduced the Universal Framework into its apprenticeship and graduate programme.
This framework, which focuses on the development of essential skills, provided a structured approach to training new recruits. Skills Builder Partnership supported Amey to design a series of ten workshops to help its employees understand essential skills, identify their strengths and weaknesses and set actionable goals for improvement.
The initiative proved highly successful: feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive with employees reporting significant improvements in creative problem-solving, communication, self-management and collaboration skills.
After launching the workshops, Amey trained its line managers to support their teams in ongoing skill development by incorporating reflective practices into regular performance reviews. Amey ensured essential skills were not just a one-off training experience but a continual part of the organisation’s operations and culture.
Amey’s investment in essential skills development has ensured their workforce is more adaptable and resilient. With an evolving economic climate, the ability of individuals to adapt to emerging opportunities and risks is crucial. Through this programme Amey is addressing both immediate skills gaps and preparing for future industry skill needs.
Incorporating essential skills into recruitment processes
To fill skills gaps and open up the talent pool, businesses need to take a more rounded approach to recruitment, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure used the Universal Framework to take a skills-based approach to its recruitment process for early-career roles.
Skills Builder Partnership worked with Morgan Sindall Infrastructure to use the Universal Framework to clarify requirements for essential skills in job descriptions, to communicate information on essential skills prior to interview, and objectively assess applicants throughout the process.
For job descriptions this meant identifying the essential skills required for success across 40 roles and reframing descriptions accordingly. As a result of focusing on essential skills, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure attracted a broader and more diverse pool of applicants, experiencing a 170 per cent increase in the number of suitable candidates.
Throughout the recruitment process, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure used the Universal Framework to guide group exercises, presentations and interview questions. This consistent approach to evaluation ensured that all candidates were assessed on the same criteria, leading to more objective decisions, and great quality hires.
Investing in essential skills for the long-term
The challenge of skills shortages in the construction and infrastructure industries is not one that can be solved overnight. As the government seeks to enhance the UK’s infrastructure and meet its housing and national infrastructure objectives, employers must invest in building and nurturing a skilled workforce.
The UK government’s recent initiatives, including the Get Britain Building Again campaign and the introduction of new Homebuilding Skills Hubs are a positive step in the right direction. However, these efforts will only be successful if accompanied by long-term investment in the development of essential skills.
One way for construction and infrastructure businesses to do this is through using the Universal Framework in their staff development, to support their employees to develop their essential skills.
In addition, by embedding essential skills into recruitment processes, businesses can tap into a wider and more diverse talent pool which ultimately helps them to close skills gaps. Unlocking the skills of a wider talent pool will help the construction industry meet their targets, and realise Britain’s ambitions for economic growth.
Addressing these skills gaps requires a multifaceted approach that goes beyond merely increasing the number of apprenticeships and technical training opportunities. It requires a concerted effort to develop essential skills across the entire workforce.
By using tools like the Universal Framework and integrating essential skills into staff development and recruitment, construction companies can increase workforce adaptability, drive productivity, while supporting social mobility and contributing to their social value goals.
Through investing in essential skills, alongside technical skills, the construction industry can ensure they can recruit the skilled workers they need to deliver immediate projects, while supporting the resilience and adaptability of the workforce to thrive in the evolving economic climate.
