Greater collaboration between house builders and their subcontractors is essential if the industry is to address its skills shortage and continue to increase output in the coming years a new report reveals. ‘The case for collaboration in the supply chain’ goes on to say that providing subcontractors with better visibility on future work; prompt payment; and sharing training resources will help enable them to grow and so increase industry capacity. The report is the first major piece of work to be undertaken for the new Home Building Skills Partnership (HBSP), a pan industry body set up by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Home Builders Federation (HBF) in June to ensure the industry has the skills it needs to deliver. Whilst housing output has increased by around one-third in just two years to around 155k homes a year, following five years of general decline, we are still some way short of the estimated 230k homes a year required – meaning tens of thousands more skilled workers will be required. With the industry reliant on subcontract labour, the report says that to achieve this, house builders need to shift from a ‘procurement’ to a ‘development’ approach to its supply chain. The report is based on research conducted with 20 large UK housebuilders and 204 subcontractors, who in total employ up to 150,000 workers. It reveals that: Two thirds of subcontractors want to grow through house building Builders and subcontractors have mutual objectives – profitable work, positive reputations, safe and productive sites 57% of subcontractors are planning to increase direct employment in the next year Only 50% of subcontractors are confident they can meet house builders needs Critical shortages include ground workers, plumbers, electricians, bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers, roofers and painters Without greater collaboration supply chain capacity increases will be limited The report goes on to make a series of recommendations. These include for; Housebuilders to give greater visibility to their future pipeline of work at regional levels; to reduce the half year and year end pressures; pay promptly; make the training infrastructure they have in place available for subcontractors; consider mandating subcontractor training. Subcontractors to proactively engage with house builders and the HBSP over workloads, recruitment and training. The report calls on the HBSP and CITB to take the recommendations in the report forward and develop solutions that will lead to increased cooperation and more joined -up training processes that will allow the industry to grow, and in particular, increase the number of apprentices. Speaking at the report launch, John Tutte, chair of the HBSP said: “The industry faces a huge challenge in the years ahead as it looks to attract and train the people required to build the homes the country needs. The relationship between homebuilders and subcontractors is absolutely critical in terms of how the industry recruits and delivers and it is imperative we work more closely together. “The report provides some key insight into how we can collaborate more effectively to deliver improved training processes and ultimately increase capacity. We will now work closely with industry stakeholders to act on the recommendations as part of our wider drive to tackle the skills challenge we face.” Steve Radley, Director of Policy at CITB, said: “This research provides new insight into homebuilding supply chains and how they work, which is a critical first step to tackling the skills challenge in homebuilding. “The new partnership and the evidence it has brought together offers the best opportunity in years to foster much closer working in the sector, which will improve skills, help companies become more productive and cost effective, and ultimately help us build the homes we need.” Source link

20 May 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Employees who embrace activity-based working (ABW) report significantly higher levels of workplace productivity (66 per cent) and pride (82 per cent), according to a study of more than 70,000 employees.   The research, conducted by Leesman, also reveals a clear and dramatic increase in satisfaction levels with creative (22 per cent) and collaborative (21 per cent) tasks in activity-based work settings – but only when appropriate mobility behaviours are adopted.    The research states that 66 per cent of employees who use workplaces designed for ABW in an activity-based way say their workspace enables them to work productively, compared with the 43 per cent that admit to being anchored to their workstations.   But three in four workers (73 per cent) within activity-based environments perform most, if not all of their tasks in the same location, despite the variety of workspaces that are provided for them.   The study, conducted in partnership with IFMA Sweden and financially supported by Tenant and Partner Sweden, has revealed a high level of ‘employee inertia’. The data suggests that this apparent inability to adapt to surroundings designed for working in an activity-centric way could be crippling the productivity gains client organisations thought possible.    Tim Oldman, Leesman CEO, said: “Activity-based working is a worthwhile venture but only if the workforce in question is able to adapt their mobility profiles accordingly. Variety and mobility is mission critical when seeking to improve business productivity and performance.” Leesman is one of the organisations involved in the Stoddart Review; a project launched at Wednesday’s ThinkFM conference seeking to ensure business leaders fully understand the contribution of the workplace to organisational performance. Source link

ECA poll finds 8 in 10 businesses see turnover steady or increase in Q2 2016 Published:  01 September, 2016 Almost 78% of electrical and building services firms say turnover increased or remained steady in the second quarter of 2016, according to new research from the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA). The findings cover the period leading up to the EU referendum, and the week following the landmark result. The ECA is currently working on a separate Brexit survey, which is open until 6 September. ECA chief executive Steve Bratt said: “The ECA’s business survey for Q2 indicates that electrical and building services firms have been doing more business, despite potential challenges in the wider economy.” Looking at Q2 2016, the ECA’s Building Engineering Business Survey, conducted in association with Scolmore, also found that small businesses (turnover from £201,000 to £1m) had a positive quarter, with nearly three in four firms reporting turnover remaining steady or increasing, up 7% on the previous quarter. Looking to Q3 2016, the period immediately following the EU referendum result, the outlook from building services firms remained positive. Over 8 out of 10 respondents expected turnover to increase or stay the same compared to Q2, which is similar to forecasts in the previous quarter. ECA members were surveyed for their views in early July this year, with the response rate from members the highest in nearly five years. Source link