New report identifies skills need for contractors
Contractors are major employers in the energy and utility sector as many large network and distributor owners outsource construction, maintenance, management and delivery services. Contractors views and requirements are therefore an important consideration in addressing future skill needs in this sector.
There is a general consensus amongst the contractor community that there is a need for an increase in workforce numbers and skills.
Energy & Utility Skills the Sector Skills Council for the electricity, gas, waste management and water industries, has undertaken an extensive consultation and research programme as part of its Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) activities during 2006 to identify and quantify this need. The research has involved senior management from the major network construction contracting companies, in all the nations and regions.
A key finding from the research is the need to improve frontline supervision, management and leadership skills, and the number of people employed in these roles, to ensure the industry has adequate manpower resources to meet its future requirements.
To analyse these needs Energy & Utility Skills hosted two intensive workshops, engaging with contractors, to consider the major issues emerging from the research. The workshops, attended by senior managers in contracting organisations and training providers, clearly reinforced the research findings and charged Energy & Utility Skills with developing action plans including an industry working group to develop solutions to resolve the skills issues.
The workshop agreed in principal to a nationally recognised occupational standards and qualification programme to embrace the utility sector, with a common core plus sector specific additional modules.
Energy & Utility Skills has already established a basis of these core modules and is actively working towards specific modules for the electricity, gas and water industries. This framework is to be employer led and is to put particular emphasis on management, technical and leadership competencies. It will also recognise existing qualifications and the need for both 'off the job'/ and 'on the job' training active learning and assessment. The programme will seek to develop existing employees and to recruit those with related skills from outside the utilities sector.
The workshop also identified the need to raise the profile of the industry and to establish recruitment routes and career pathways in order to make it more attractive to potential and existing employees and to make those about to set out on their careers aware of the opportunities in contracting.
Other specific issues identified included the need to avoid over complication, to give supervisors the skills to control costs and budgets, the effects of change and the environment, the need for the industry to establish a tone for training and supervisory levels as well as the fact that current training often lacks people and communications skills.
With this recognition by the industry of the urgency of the skills issue and confirmation of the key industry priorities, Energy & Utility Skills is moving forward on behalf of, and in conjunction with, the industry.
Working with employers, it is responding to the identified skills needs and developing solutions to the problems faced by the industry.
