The first meeting of a new construction community – the Future Innovation Group (TFIG) – brought together fresh talent and established industry professionals to tackle futureproofing the construction sector. Gerard Toplass, group chief executive officer at The 55 Group and Pagabo, discusses the crucial role that younger industry talent will
As issues around attracting diverse talent and the digitisation of processes come to the fore, construction needs its “black box moment” to spark transformation that can be harnessed by true collaboration.
Statistics have shown that younger generations have perceptions of the construction industry as being male-dominated, lacking in digital skill development and poorly paid – all of which can be barriers to winning over newcomers to the sector. Meanwhile, various challenges see the sector losing young talent quickly, including a lack of uptake in digitisation and new modern ways of working.
When speaking to people within the industry typically over the age of 50, the attitude is often more negative, focusing on potential holes in new ideas based on how things have always been done, rather than embracing changing ideas. On the other hand, young people want change, have ideals, as well as ideas, that will drive transformation for the betterment of all – and they are positive in their attitude towards creating that actionable change.
Future Innovation Group brings together young professionals from a variety of construction-related sectors
So-called domain experts rarely generate proper innovation. They are still part of the solution as they will continue to be the best people to identify the challenges that need to be met – but they need to support the disruptors who come up with the solutions. More often than not, disruptions are generated by outsiders who have a fresh perspective, aren’t pinned into narrow specialism and are not restrained by fixed mindsets.
That’s why the Future Innovation Group brings together young professionals from a variety of construction-related sectors and roles – from project managers to marketeers. This young talent then engages with key industry figures to identify how to best implement new ways of working or new innovations within organisations – and across the wider sector.
The need is to give construction its “black box moment” and create something as transformational as the black box was for aviation in the 1950s. As well as creating an actual device that made things better, the culture that surrounded the invention was the truly powerful tool – harnessing the power of open data sharing to identify problems, implement improvements and avoid further issues in the future.
This open attitude is what we need in construction. Currently, the industry is dragging hundreds of years of experience like an anchor, and not using that experience as the innovation platform it should be. Data will be king, and so the industry has to move away from the existing closed loop thinking and innovations must centre around the idea of open access to create the best solutions.
With their more open-minded, digital-first and positive attitudes, young people will be the key to unlocking this future – and the Future Innovation Group brings those professionals together to work towards that common goal.
Tech and retention revolution
The Future Innovation Group’s first industry-wise event was a ‘hackathon’, which took place over two days and saw participants from 13 industry leaders including Pagabo, Morgan Sindall, Pick Everard, ISG and Fathiful+Gould. It featured interactive discussion groups and presentations from experts in the construction sector. These talks established the scale of the challenges facing businesses today, with attendees sharing their experiences and ideas to break down working barriers.
The attendees focused on workshopping solutions to key issues: improving diversity within the recruitment process, retaining younger talent and ways to promote data-driven decision-making in the industry.
The proposed solutions were then opened to the floor and discussed in an open conversation. Ideas were considered, analysed and enhanced in order to establish a direct route to implementing change and transformation.
Attending business sponsors will take all the pivotal learnings from this event, present them to their internal management teams and take steps towards putting these ideas into practice. And we will be planning more events in the future to focus finding new and actionable solutions for our industry’s biggest challenges.
Collaboration is key
If the construction sector is to thrive in the face of modern challenges and changes to working practices, there will need to be a collaborative effort between well-established voices and those just entering the industry, as well as industry giants and smaller companies.
Enterprises such as the hackathon bridge not only the generational divide but also areas with different working cultures, such as those who work onsite and those with office roles. The younger voices of the Future Innovation Group will be central in gathering insights and driving industry change that has a meaningful impact for an industry they will one day lead.
If you would like to get involved with The Future Innovation Group, contact: Jamie Davison, Abigail Riddle or Rebecca Rennie.
Gerard Toplass
Group chief executive officer
The 55 Group & Pagabo
Tel: +44 (0)1482 975883
