6 Ways You Can Overcome The Skills Deficit

If your Building Services or Energy company is constantly on the look out for new talent, you know you’re on the right track, whether or not the search itself is a struggle. Organisations often need to look for new recruits in order to support an expansion or a new project.

That’s why there is a good reason to remain positive, but for many companies, finding individuals with the required skill sets can be tricky in the current climate.

Luckily, there are a few tactics which can help you address the skills deficit in the UK Building Services and Energy sectors at present. Let’s take a look at some of them:

  1. Get involved with grass roots initiatives

    You know the saying that goes ‘if you want something done, do it yourself’? Well this could easily be applied to the skills shortage problems. Companies that are willing to do their bit to help government schemes, training projects within schools, and other vocational training efforts are not only helping their industry in a wider sense, they are also putting themselves at the front of the queue when those trainees are equipped with the right skills and are looking for work. Vocational education is always a good cause to support – plant a seed and watch it grow.

  2. Look for transferable skills

    Don’t be blinkered and only search within your own sector when looking for the right talent. Take the gas and oil industries for example – they employ workers who have many of the same skills needed in building services, especially where system installations on oil and drilling rigs are concerned. So when oil companies are laying off their staff, it is time to pounce. Widen your recruitment drive and reap the benefits.

  3. Make your company an ’employees first’ organisation

    Companies that do everything to improve conditions for their work force – be it through training opportunities, team building and days out, effective mentoring and a big emphasis on health and safety – stand more chance of attracting the candidates they want and need. Make yourself more magnetic to candidates and ensure you are capturing the talent with the skills you need.

  4. Make your expectations realistic

    All too often, we see job specs on advertisements for roles which list as ‘essential’ skills that could really be taught on the job. Review what you are asking from candidates and decide which skills really are ‘essential’ and which could easily be put in the ‘desired’ column. That way you’ll enlarge your ‘candidate net’ and stand more chance of giving yourself a longer candidate list to play with. Don’t miss out on talent with great potential because the requirements in your ads are too stringent.

  5. Consider apprenticeships

    In the same way that you can get involved with graduate and school schemes, starting an apprenticeship scheme can pay dividends. As long as you have the resources to train up talent – and if you don’t, you can develop this capability – there is nothing to stop you working with inexperienced individuals who have more in the way of enthusiasm than experience. Not only might they become valuable employees, they can also benefit from having worked within your organisation from the ground up.

  6. Step up your search

    Despite the skills shortfall, you should work with a recruitment agency that is capable of rooting out suitable candidates, and there are also other ways you can spread the word of a live vacancy within your company. Consider a presence at job fairs, and make sure that not only do you have a vacancies page on your website, but that you are sharing the advertised positions through all the relevant social media channels and networking platforms.

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