Windmill insight solutions is here to help you understand and address the big issues affecting your business. Arguably issues don’t come any bigger than the water industry turning over around 60% of its workforce in the next three to five years.
The Problem
Post privatisation the gas, electricity and water industries all scaled back their recruitment to reduce costs. The result was the average age of utility employees increasing and a shortage of technically competent people to replace them when they retire.
Evidence from EU Skills shows that the water industry intends to fill 87% of its vacancies by external recruitment. That’s intending to bring nearly 35,000 new people into the industry from a diminishing talent pool in the face of competition from the gas and electricity industries.
A diminishing talent pool? Evidence from the Office of national Statistics shows that the number of 18-year olds in the population is falling while evidence from the ROSE project, a 20 country 5-year study, shows that young people in the more developed countries are less engaged with science and, by implication STEM. Not a good combination
The solution
The water industry needs to maximise the potential of its existing staff and become more attractive to new candidates. Apprenticeships will be a key route, offering potential candidates a route to degree qualifications without the burden of massive student debts.
Our principal, Bob Windmill, has just completed a management succession planning project for a major utility company. Using a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques, key real-world skills and skills gaps were identified and an apprenticeship based solutions developed.
Might something like that work for you?
Contact details
M: 07554 994855
E: bob@windmillinsights.co.uk
Me in a nutshell
• 40 years Water Industry Experience
• Science, Operation, Management
• Water and Wastewater
• MSC, MBA, CSCi CMIOW
