Who wants to be a millionaire?

While the list of MBA holders working for dotcoms and other dynamic businesses is long, the list for the construction industry is short. A few high-flyers take it upon themselves to spend weekends and evenings grinding through part-time MBAs, but the majority of managers and directors in construction do not regard MBAs as essential.

However, dotcom companies, management consultancies and conglomerates such as Unilever all regard MBAs as essential. They argue that when faced with rapidly changing markets, management of change, benchmarking and marketing are all essential skills that need to be learned before you plunge into real-world decisions.

MBAs for scaffolders

Post-Egan, the construction industry has also recognised that sophisticated marketing, change management and benchmarking are all key skills, but where is the drive to proliferate MBAs in construction? Scaffolding is the unlikely answer to this question.

Mitie, a service provider best known in construction for its scaffolding business, has set up an MBA course at Henley College in west London specifically for its managers. And 20 managers a year are joining the part-time course now in its second year.

John Clifford, the 57-year-old Scots boss of Mitie's building services division, explains that in 1997, he and group chairman David Telling realised that the company needed to start thinking about who would be the next main board members. Both Telling and Clifford had already retired, but both of them came out of retirement to run the business.

"I explained to the board that the education of our managers was incomplete. If you like, their primary education was done within the individual companies of Mitie, secondary education was done at group level, but their university education was blank," says gravel-voiced Clifford.

The board decided that the best way to provide top management training was through an MBA run especially for the company. Clifford interviewed six colleges including Cranfield and Ashridge, but plumped for Henley, which is close to the company's Maidenhead headquarters.

The initial batch of 22 students are taking their first-year exams and the second batch of 20 are starting term now. The first two years of the three-year course cover a diploma in management and Mitie has been allowed to influence the course so that students are tackling problems faced by Mitie. But, according to Clifford, Henley sets the agenda for the final year studies without any interference from Mitie.

The MBA course is a hard grind for the students. Grant Woodward, who works in the powered access division, is one of the 42 Mitie students. He estimates the course takes up about 20 hours a week. And that's on top of his existing job. Woodward, who is married without children, says that the extra work isn't a problem. "It's all about managing your time. I have plenty of time when I'm away on business in my hotel on an evening."

Woodward, 32, was identified as a high-flyer by the management and interviewed by Clifford before he was allowed to join the course. The benefits have been great for Woodward, who joined Mitie from the computer industry in January 2000. His first assignment was a strategic analysis of the powered access business. "It was great because I was new to the company and needed to look at the business anyway," he says. This module, like the others, takes 10-12 weeks to complete.

The review is already benefiting the business, claims Woodward, who wants to be a main board member of the group. "It revealed that we need to move away from traditional construction markets a bit into areas like the leisure industry," he says.

The MBA is a big investment for Mitie. Clifford estimates that the course costs £10,000 a year per student. That doesn't include indirect costs such as the time lost travelling and a three-week residential course each year, he says.

No ties for students

The biggest risk is that students will take the training and run. Woodward says that there are no ties that compel him to stay during or after the course.

But staff retention is not a worry for Mitie. It has one of the best records in the industry. This is because the group expects management to develop and invest in each business. Clifford explains: "If managers from an individual company come with an idea to grow the business in a core area, we encourage them to approach the board with a business plan. If we think it is a good plan, the group makes an investment and takes a minimum 51% share of the company and encourages the senior manager to buy the rest of the shares.

Millionaires by the dozen

"After five to 10 years of success, the group buys out the company entirely and makes the equity holders into shareholders of the group," continues Clifford. It is estimated that 40 Mitie employees are now paper millionaires because of this system.

It comes as no surprise to learn that Mitie is aiming to become an Investor in People. The aim is to have every company in the group accredited by 31 December 2000. Clifford admits that a few companies have slipped and that only 85% are likely to hit this mark. Still, it is further proof that Mitie is a company that looks after its people.

As Clifford puts it: "In Mitie people are everything, you can only paint the walls the same as everyone else [referring to the company's facilities management business], but to get an edge you have to have people who care." What Clifford leaves unsaid is that if the company cares about the people, then the people will care about the customers.