There’s no universal cure for the construction trainer and assessor shortage we’re experiencing. I really wish there was, and I bet I’m not alone there.
The challenge is complex, with sticky issues like pay and working conditions in construction and education.
You might have a picture in your head of what a construction trainer is, where they work and what they do for a living – but that image is probably different to mine.
The variety of sector specialisms and qualifications makes generalised observations about the problem and potential solutions unhelpful. To solve the challenge, we first need to understand it.
A training provider’s ability to overcome the problem also varies. Some larger commercial providers are better able to offer competitive wages or flexible forms of employment. Construction firms with a training arm may be better placed to identify candidates from their own workforce who may make suitable trainers. Micro providers likely face similar recruitment challenges to micro construction companies, such as reaching the best candidates and ensuring profitability.
If we accept there is no cure-all solution, we need to stop looking for one and begin breaking the problem down into manageable pieces.
Here are three pieces we’re considering at CITB:
Making it easier for people at different stages of their career to become trainers or assessors
The role of older construction workers embarking on a second career is, quite rightly, considered of paramount importance. However, often a second career is shorter than the first. Helping the right skilled people make a change earlier on in their career offers a whole host of benefits.
Action Sustainability’s diversity benchmarking survey indicates a peak in construction workers leaving the industry aged 25–34. Typically, this isn’t the age group that comes to mind when we think about recruiting trainers and assessors, but it could be an area of untapped potential.
Many of these people will have started their construction career in their teenage years, meaning they could be looking for a change of career but still have over a decade of construction experience. If we are losing them from construction, can we make a transition to education easier? This will be an area we explore more closely at CITB this year.
Fostering greater industry collaboration to prevent short-termism
Trying to find a trainer can lead to short-term periods of panic – someone has resigned and you have to replace them. These short-term problems can suck up time and resources, but it’s important to have an eye on long-term solutions and collaborations that may help. Building recruitment pipelines from industry takes time, as does training up a great teacher.
There are some fantastic examples of collaborative partnerships between construction companies and training providers. CITB can invest up to £500,000 through the industry impact fund for innovative collaborations led by employers that address any aspect of the trainer and assessor challenge.
CITB will be trialling approaches to build construction employer and provider collaborations this year and next, exploring how this can drive improvements in a learner’s experience and potentially bridge teaching shortages.
We must retain and support existing trainers and assessors
Lastly, we must not forget the construction trainer and assessors we already have. Supporting them to stay in education is vital. Providers themselves, and of course the government, will play an important part in this.
There is a role for CITB to support continuous professional development and keep the conversation going on this issue with providers, representative bodies and awarding bodies.
Ultimately, without more trainers and assessors, we will struggle to train the number of people we need to join the construction industry.
By making it easier for more construction workers to make a switch at any point in their careers, building collaborations between construction and education and looking after the trainers and assessors we already have, we can make serious inroads.
“Helping the right skilled people make a change earlier on in their career offers a whole host of benefits.”
But we shouldn’t fall into the trap of a singular focus on realising the benefits then ignoring the disbenefits. Take people out of the trades earlier and you need more people to backfill into those already understaffed occupations.
Take them too early and they may not have gained enough experience to teach effectively. It’s not clear cut.
There are risks associated with a robbing Peter to pay Paul approach. If Peter & Paul only have £100 between them but need to buy something for £200, then it’s not worth agonising over what proportion of the £100 each one of them has…The important bit is how to handle the £100 shortfall!
Thanks and I completely take the point- but at the end of the day we have a shortages in construction and for construction trainers and assessors. If we are losing skilled construction workers at a younger age than we might like, I think it’s right we look at how we can make that group more aware of the trainer and assessor route. The point for me if that we need to think creatively on this. Drop me a line if you’d like to share your thoughts.
Great article Wendy & a real challenge for providers!
Thanks Jackie- it’s a massive challenge- I really hope we can do something that helps.