We must seize this opportunity or construction will fall further behind

These students are among the first in the UK to sign up for the new Construction and Built Environment Diploma which begins in September.

You may think that if these teenagers have already opted for construction, I’ll be preaching to the converted. But I want them to have a really good experience so that they tell their friends and siblings about how interesting and how much fun construction is.

This has to be our aim for the whole of the first year this new diploma is running. Construction, in being one of the first five diplomas to be rolled out, has been handed an advantage. We have a small window of opportunity to demonstrate to students, their parents and their teachers that the construction diploma is a worthwhile qualification and that our industry is a great place to build a career.

For the first time in this country, students will have an opportunity to be challenged academically and gain vocational and industry experience. This is our chance to change the perception that construction is only for the less academically gifted and attract a wide range of talent to the industry.

If we don’t get this right, and if employers don’t get involved, students’ experience will not be as rich as it could be and fewer will sign up next year. We will have created a doom loop.

Lovell is not getting involved for purely altruistic reasons. Corporate social responsibility is important to us, but the diploma provides direct business benefits too. For larger companies like us, it’s about meeting young people, getting to know them and inviting them to apply for training programmes, therefore cutting recruitment and marketing costs. I see the students who gain a foundation level diploma feeding into our apprenticeships and those with advanced level diplomas becoming management trainees or being sponsored through university so we can recruit them upon graduation. At each of these entry points, participation in the diploma will help us find tomorrow’s talented employees.

The diploma will also be good for the staff who get involved because it will develop confidence, public speaking skills and the ability to communicate effectively. They might be going in to talk about their roles, delivering insight on topics such as sustainability or modern methods of construction, or taking students to see projects.

The diploma allows companies to choose the level at which they engage with the qualification. If your firm is smaller, then just link up with one school near your office or a particular project. It could have a direct impact on your business in terms of recruitment or marketing.

Even sole traders can get involved. If all you can do is go into a school once and talk about what it’s like being self-employed in the construction industry, that will be a valuable contribution.

There is plenty of support. ConstructionSkills is assembling a library of resources, such as activity plans, which employers will be able to draw on. And every local Education Business Partnership (EBP) will be able to advise on what you can do.

If you do get involved, there will be benefits to your company’s brand and reputation. You will build a perception that your firm plays a role in the local community, that you are committed to developing people and are an employer of choice. This is an opportunity to build an advantage over the companies that do not get involved.

We all complain about the lack of skills, and the dearth of good candidates. We have to work harder and harder to attract our share of talent. At the same time, wage inflation driven by the skills shortage has a direct effect on the bottom line. There is no sign that these issues will resolve themselves in the foreseeable future.

The diploma has the potential to fundamentally change the image of construction, and draw a new generation of employees to our industry. We must seize this opportunity. If we don’t, you can be assured that the other sectors will, and construction will fall still further behind. Either way, we will reap what we sow.