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Social Housing: on Target for a Decent Standard?
In July 2000, the government announced a significant increase in resources for social housing and a target was set to bring all social housing up to a ‘decent standard’ by 2010. Intended to improve the conditions of those who face severe housing problems as well as to tackle the general problems more commonly experienced, such as the difficulties that can be encountered in selling and buying a home; this government initiative has generated an abundance of work for the construction industry within the North West, which has led to an increase in career opportunities for skilled professionals.
The challenges
As with any rapidly growing construction sector, especially where there are a large number of companies within the same region; the main challenges faced by key players within social housing in the North West relate to finding adequately qualified staff to fill vacancies that arise. These have been encountered across the region and the outlook for the future is that a continued struggle will be experienced within the sector unless changes to current recruitment practices take place.
At junior level, school and college leavers lack enthusiasm towards choosing construction as a career path, which means that insufficient numbers of trainees are entering the profession. There is an obvious need here for promotion in schools and colleges of the sector and the opportunities available within it so that interest is generated at an early age, increasing the numbers of students considering a career in the industry. Campaigns such as Women into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE), which aim to attract women into these traditionally male-dominated industries, are another way to widen the pool of potential candidates and overcome skills shortages.
Record numbers of applications for full time university courses such as quantity surveying are not necessarily providing a solution to this problem either, as companies have encountered the unfavourable attitude from recent graduates that qualifications alone can command a certain level of salary, whereas for them, on-site experience is of greater value. Ideally graduates should be entering the marketplace with a sound theoretical knowledge but with the additional enthusiasm to develop their practical skills from there, so without a change in attitude of the recently qualified graduate, construction companies will be reluctant to consider large numbers when salary demands often outweigh capabilities.
At a more senior level, companies are recognising the value of their staff and are rewarding them accordingly, offering substantial salary and benefits packages, in some cases accompanied by generous annual bonuses that create company loyalty and therefore prevent these highly sought after personnel from re-entering the marketplace. For social housing, this has forced companies to look outside the sector to commercial, house building, civil engineering or term maintenance for the skills that are needed. However, even when the desired skills are found, a certain amount of retraining is required in order for these individuals to fully understand the unique challenges of the sector.
One challenge specific to social housing includes large-scale partnering arrangements that are currently being delivered to meet the government’s decent homes standard by 2010, which can mean working in partnership not just with the client but with other main contracting organisations.
Another difficulty illustrated by Oliver Nuttall, managing quantity surveyor at Bramall Construction Ltd is the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that is often made between the higher management of the relevant contractors not to poach each other’s staff, which can be contrary to the aims of the partnership and damages delivery for the client. Says Oliver: “These types of agreements effectively mean that companies could be in the position of seeing a candidate they would like to approach but are prevented from doing so until a particular partnership arrangement ends.”
The solutions
Construction companies have applied a number of creative solutions in order to address the recruitment challenges they are facing. The employment of mature candidates at trainee level who have previously held positions outside of construction but have the desire to re-train for positions within the industry has been successful for one key player within the North West, with the benefits of a more mature attitude when introducing these candidates into the business highly apparent.
The provision of work experience for interested candidates who are still at school to allow employees and companies to establish effective working relationships has also proved to be beneficial in a number of cases. The use of recruitment agencies, placement of adverts and word of mouth connection are more common and more effective at senior level.
The training
The notable reluctance of social housing contractors to recruit graduates – paying a higher salary to individuals who ultimately require the same on-site training as non-graduates – means that the favoured route is to hire school or college leavers or mature trainees who are looking to change their career path and provide training, development and sponsorship where applicable for the relevant college course alongside practical experience.
Mentors are another popular support mechanism for trainees, as the guidance of an experienced individual can encourage professional progression and serve as an example of what can be achieved with commitment and perseverance. Mentors also ensure that trainees are working at the right level to be able to achieve their goals within the timescale they have set themselves.
The provision of personal development plans and appraisal systems in order to facilitate career progression for those working in the social housing sector is another way in which companies have been creating loyalty, illustrating the possibilities available from a career in the industry. Indeed, most of the key players favour the promotion of employees internally to recruiting from outside, but without a supply of suitable candidates alternative practices have to be considered.
The support
Construction companies working in the social housing sector tend to request the assistance of a large number of recruitment agencies in order to reach the greatest number of potential applicants, but in reality conduct the majority of their business through a much smaller number of agencies. Oliver Nuttall of Bramall Construction Ltd says: “The current status of the market necessitates contact with as many recruitment companies as possible to avoid missing out on potentially suitable candidates, but this does result in the inevitable submission of completely inappropriate CVs from agencies who are more concerned with speed than they are with considering our individual hiring requirements.”
Construction companies that operate a tiered system for the recruitment agencies, selecting agencies to approach in the first instance based on previous performance, often see the benefit of working more closely with these consultancies and are able to create a greater understanding of the kinds of skills they require, which results in more accurate matches between candidates and vacancies.
The competition
Competition within the marketplace has added pressure to salary levels and has led to a major increase over the last few years. However, construction companies working within the social housing sector are prepared to offer salaries and packages that reflect the true value of the employees they hire and can only avoid missing out on candidates by meeting their expectations.
The change that must prevail is that junior level personnel develop an accurate understanding of what they are worth to their employers. Qualifications alone have never been enough to satisfy the requirements of construction companies, as practical experience and training is always required in addition. It would seem as though senior level staff have a more realistic expectation of what level of salary they can expect, possibly due to a better understanding of market conditions. This now needs to transfer to trainee level to ensure that interest in construction, and more specifically, in the social housing sector, is increased.
The outlook
With major construction companies within the social housing sector planning future expansion, challenges are not expected to get any easier and the main solution suggested by these companies is that the industry as a whole needs to be working in schools and colleges to demonstrate that it is a viable market sector, using specific case studies to illustrate incidences in which individuals who have joined at junior level have become highly influential senior management figures within their professions through dedication and hard work, leading to the inevitable financial rewards that accompany such achievements.
Key players within the social housing sector in the North West appear to be fully committed and are determined to continue to deliver innovative solutions to providing homes and communities that people want to live in through close liaison with their partner clients and fellow social housing contractors, both now and in the future.
About the Author
NES is a leading global technical recruitment business providing professionally qualified contract staff to blue chip clients across the world in the oil and gas, infrastructure, rail, power and IT sectors. Founded in 1978, a committed workforce has facilitated the company's success and continues to ensure that NES experiences ongoing growth in terms of customers, geography and sector.