Recruiting our future

摘要

Mention training to anyone in the construction industry and the reaction is similar to saying "health and safety". Everybody thinks it is a good idea, but how best to do it and how to actually put it into practice are different things altogether. The clearest example of the construction industry's diffidence over training is the link between training and the ongoing concern over the sector's skills shortage. Although it has been widely reported that construction needs another 380,000 employees over the next four years just to keep up with natural wastage, training remains a mantra preached by many but practised well by only the enlightened few. Nevertheless, if newcomers of the calibre necessary for construction to thrive are to be successfully recruited, the industry must have, and be seen to have, a clear and effective route for people to train and fulfil their potential. This has not always been the case, partly because of the industry's diversity and vast size. Coupled with this lack of focus has been the problem of the image conveyed by construction to a public aware of cowboy builders, but who are not so well informed about the industry's strengths and successes.