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Developing a Sector Skills Strategy

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Identifying issues

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Consultation• Focus groups with individuals in the sector

in late 2010

• A focus group of ITO and industry stakeholders in November 2010

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Content of a strategy• Sector issues

• Workforce issues

• Skills and qualification issues

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Outcomes of a strategy• A more regular training and economic cycle for

the sector• Improved productivity as measured by the

industry-agreed definition• A better integrated vocational education and

training (VET) system• Higher quality skills training and a recognition

of that quality• People within the sector having a better

understanding of how their work effects others

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Finding solutions for key issues

1. Boom-Bust nature of the industry

2. Role of management/supervisory skills

3. Focusing on issues facing SMEs

4. Collaboration across the tertiary sector

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1. Boom-Bust nature of the industry • Built Environment industry is particularly

prone to economic cycles leading to boom and bust periods

• Solutions have focused on trying to remove or smooth cycles

• The industry will always be at least somewhat cyclical so it is important to think about how to respond

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1. Boom-Bust solutions:• Ensuring workers are multi-skilled

• Have a small core number of workers and bring extra people into the industry as necessary.

• Create pathways for careers in the industry including between sub-sectors

• Allow worker trainees to flexibly flow between different parts of the education and training network

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2. Role of Management/Supervisory skills

• Ongoing issue with management and supervisory skills

• These skills are necessary to ensure that businesses and workers are productive and are better placed to handle changes and fluctuations

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2. Management/Supervisory skills solutions:

• Managers are able to supervise staff effectively to ensure they are productive

• Management training (with incentives) is developed and provided for all completing trade apprentices

• Quality project management practices are in place across the industry at all levels.

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2. Management/Supervisory skills solutions:

• Succession planning is considered by all businesses, especially SMEs, to ensure businesses are long lasting.

• Management of SMEs is particularly considered as they do not generally have specialist managers.

• A new licensing class in the LBP programme is created which recognises a building contractor with the broader construction qualifications and/or experience

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3. Focusing on issues facing SMEs• The majority of businesses in the Built

Environment sector are SMEs with either sole traders or owner-operators with a small number of staff.

• SMEs face different issues than their larger counterparts and are often more vulnerable to changes including economic cycles.

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3. Issues facing SMEs solutions: • Ensuring higher levels of financial literacy

• Best practice models for HR focusing on hiring the right people and ensuring they are adequately trained.

• Recognising that people in SMEs, need to spend time on their business as well as in their business.

• Ensuring business owners and managers have training in contract management and pricing of projects.

• Overcoming issues of scale and lack of capital structure by a different form of collaboration between SMEs and larger firms.

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4. Collaboration across the tertiary sector

• The whole tertiary education sector, including training organisations and providers, needs to work collaboratively to ensure that people are trained with the right skills to work in the industry

• This will reduce proliferation of qualifications and give people in training confidence that the skills they are learning will be relevant in to their future employment.

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4. Collaboration across the sector solutions:

• Developing and providing broad school based pathways into the industry

• Developing and providing generic entry level qualifications to replace the current multiple pre-trades and which can be accessed in schools as well as in providers and workplaces

• Shared qualification development and review of qualifications.

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4. Collaboration across the sector solutions:

• Putting in place shared/stair-cased delivery.

• Creating clear pathways between qualifications and programmes being offered in different parts of the sector.

• ITOs and providers working together to promote the industry and recruit people into training for careers in the industry.