Coach on the ground: Why graduates struggle – and what leaders can do to help them thrive

The built environment has always been demanding, but today it is more uncertain, interdisciplinary, and digitally enabled than ever. Artificial intelligence, new delivery models, and shifting commercial pressures have made the workplace far more complex than the one I entered in the late 1990s.

Back then, we sent drawings by fax, and tender packages could take a full day to print in reprographics rooms. The tools have changed dramatically, but the human experience of entering the industry has not.

The jump from school or university into professional practice still hits hard. Graduates suddenly navigate complex office dynamics, hierarchies, client deadlines, shifting programmes, budgets and constant project change; all while carrying the pressure of never having worked on a live project before.

Universities provide foundations, but the realities of budgets, risk, programmes, and commercial decisions can only truly be experienced once inside the industry.

Many graduates feel they lack technical knowledge, industry jargon or confidence, and hold back, not from a lack of effort, but out of a desire to avoid exposure

What also hasn’t changed is the sinking feeling that many graduates may feel: staying quiet in meetings, worrying about looking foolish, and being unsure when or how to contribute. Add to that an industry full of acronyms, which can feel like a foreign language.

On a large development project I ran with 30-plus cross-discipline consultants, we even created an internal “acronym buster” to help graduates to decode and understand us!

I see this pattern repeatedly with the graduates I coach. While today’s early-career professionals may approach work slightly differently to older generations and have more options beyond the traditional 9-to-5, the fundamentals remain the same when they start their first role in the built environment. Many feel they lack technical knowledge, industry jargon or confidence, and hold back, not from a lack of effort, but out of a desire to avoid exposure.

Why this matters now

The consequences are serious. With an ageing workforce and shortage of workers to meet UK housing targets, it is more important than ever to strengthen the future workforce from the bottom up. Yet the future talent pipeline is at risk, with graduates leaving within months, and employers struggling to fill graduate roles. The data tells the story:

• Graduate attrition: 30-40% of built environment graduates are not in the sector six months after graduating (construction-voices)
• Recruitment challenges: 82% of construction and engineering firms report difficulty filling roles (Brapners)
• Skills gap: Nearly half of graduate employers say resilience and soft skills are lacking, and 34% perceive a lack of work readiness (Open University and Wikipedia)

This is not just a next-gen technical knowledge issue; it is about behavioural readiness. And, in a future shaped by automation and new technologies, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report emphasises that behavioural soft skills – like resilience, agility, creative thinking and emotional intelligence – will be essential to thrive.

Building behavioural readiness

In an industry where goalposts constantly move, next-gen talent needs adaptability and resilience to navigate shifting challenges. Being agile, emotionally aware and confident enough to contribute early can make a real difference. At the same time, companies may benefit from creating environments which accelerate graduate learning, helping to attract and retain them.

From my work running masterclasses and coaching graduates and senior leaders, progress comes fastest when both sides take action: graduates strengthening core soft skills, and leaders creating company cultures that allow these skills to be practised safely, with agency and minimal fear of failure.

Try these behaviourally informed tools to strengthen the next-generation talent pipeline from both sides:

Graduates: Five ways to strengthen soft skills

1. Problem-solving, not problem parking: Not knowing the answer is not the issue, but leaving it there is. Instead research and present informed solutions (even if not perfect) to demonstrate initiative.

Example: A graduate engineer reviews a clash report and isn’t sure which issues are critical. Rather than staying stuck, they group the most likely high-impact clashes using past project insights and share their thinking with their manager.

2. Initiative through small contributions: If your workload is light, look for where your boss and colleagues are stretched, and offer “small favours” to lighten their load, improve efficiency and build trust.

Example: A graduate project manager offers to update trackers and research a new AI tool to help their busy manager and improve project admin efficiency for the wider team.

3. Resilience through observation: Ask to shadow senior colleagues during difficult situations to view how they stay calm and resolve conflict with both resilience and empathy.

Example: A young apprentice observes a senior site manager de-escalate a tense site incident with calm focus- keeping everyone’s safety front and centre.

4. Emotional intelligence in feedback: Treat feedback as information, not personal failure. It offers an opportunity to improve, not a measure of your ability.

Example: A graduate architect receives heavily red-lined drawings. Instead of taking this as personal failure, they review an example documentation package to learn and improve for the next time.

5. Adaptability through learning and sharing: Volunteer to learn new systems and share knowledge. Becoming the in-house champion for a new platform positions you as a contributor, not a passenger.

Example: A graduate QS volunteers to learn a new cost platform and runs learning seminars with their team, as it is rolled out.

Leaders: Five ways to foster next-gen growth

1. Psychological safety: Encourage questions and learning from mistakes.

Example: After milestones, hold open team discussions on what worked and what didn’t- where all voices count, no matter of experience level.

2. Fail fast, learn fast culture: Allow experimentation from the bottom up to spark innovation and learning.

Example: Invite graduates to trial a new tool or process in a safe environment and share pro/con outcomes, so the team can refine ideas quickly.

3. Agency and exposure: Involve graduates in real decisions to ‘learn in action’.

Example: Ask graduates to help compile bid submissions or attend client meetings to build real-world project context.

4. Reciprocal learning: Encourage knowledge to flow both ways for diversity of thought.

Example: Design reviews where juniors and seniors critique each other’s work to combine experience with fresh ideas.

5. Critical thinking: Encourage a culture from early career level that takes the outside view and tests assumptions against past projects for wider perspective and growth.

Example: Encourage juniors to scenario-plan potential critical incidents on site and compare them with lessons from previous projects to anticipate and prevent problems.

The built environment shapes how we live and work, but it depends on people at every stage of their careers. Building a resilient, future-ready workforce means working together from both sides; helping graduates develop core soft skills to stay, grow, and succeed, while encouraging leaders and organisations to evolve how they nurture, develop, and empower them.

When uncertainty is the norm, confidence doesn’t come from having all the answers; it comes from knowing how to learn, adapt, and contribute under pressure. That is how we help close the next-gen gap to future-proof our industry collectively together.