The importance of skills and recruitment in meeting the massive increase in water industry investment in AMP8 was underscored by the presence of four government ministers at the Water Skills Summit, hosted by Water UK in July. By Lila Thompson, chief executive, British Water.
Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) was clear that now is the opportunity for a government and sector reset in what he called “the start of a new partnership” to unlock the sector’s potential.
With the understanding that water is an essential priority to grow the economy and meet the demands of a growing population and resilient environment.
Reed was joined by Defra Water Minister Emma Hardy, Baroness Jacqui Smith, Minister for Skills, and Pensions Minister Torsten Bell, both from the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP).
Defra and the DWP have pledged to collaborate with water companies on workforce development and to support recruitment expansion. It is important that the sector keeps government minds focused on the scale of the skills and recruitment challenges and the need for a joined-up strategy.
The pledge aligns with the delivery of the £100bn investment programme in AMP8 over the next five years, and includes:
An increase of 5,000 apprenticeship placements by 2030
Helping over 100,000 ex-offenders, long-term unemployed, ex-armed forces, and care leavers join the utilities and supply chain
The creation of a £25,000 Watershot Prize for graduate scientists to develop the technologies of the future and bring expertise to the water sector
Progressing Water Skills Bootcamps – 16-week courses offering a guaranteed interview upon completion
Companies offering work experience for up to 1,000 students annually to encourage early career outreach
Attendees, including many British Water members, were encouraged by the passion in the room and a sincerity around the reset of government engagement. The sector is the economy’s second largest source of private investment and, along with building more positive relationships, ministers expressed their commitment during this period of unprecedented growth.
Workforce snapshot
This could not be timelier. According to the latest data from Energy & Utility Skills, around 210,000 people are employed directly and indirectly in the sector.
As we heard at the Summit, AMP8 will require around 43,000 new recruits, rising to as many as 277,000 over 10 years to both deliver targets and replace retirees. The skill sets in greatest demand are civil and process engineers, leakage and network technicians, digital and data analysts, cybersecurity experts, and project managers with regulatory specialism.
Attracting new entrants
It is important that employers in the wider water sector feed into the government strategy to ensure the best possible outcomes. Breaking down traditional qualifying boundaries and looking more broadly at backgrounds will help ensure the best and brightest talent have opportunities.
Mark Hanrahan, business development director of British Water member Galliford Try, has over 25 years of experience in recruitment. He told me: “Employers, including Galliford Try, are shifting away from strict selection criteria such as the need for specific degrees, to look at candidates’ innate ability, transferable skills, and lived experiences, as well as the potential they have to succeed in the industry from non-conventional backgrounds such as ex-military and ex-offenders.”
During a panel I chaired at the Summit on the water workforce challenge, it was clear the challenge is not necessarily that there aren’t enough people out there to meet the scale of AMP8 work or that the sector isn’t a reputable place to be employed.
The bigger challenge is the need for much clearer communications around routes into the sector and the wide range of roles available, as well as making known the skills and experience that are relevant and required. This needs to be achieved alongside recruitment support for smaller companies to open up more apprenticeship and graduate opportunities.
Northumbrian Water chief executive Heidi Mottram described regional recruitment ecosystems to help distribute talent between water companies and the supply chain. Sector-wide jobs boards would also be beneficial to help more people find their place.
Energy & Utility Skills reports that 26-35 years represent many leaders in the sector, which is encouraging. However, Louise Parry, director of people and organisational development at the organisation, told the Summit: “We’re doing a great job at attracting talent but not a fantastic job at keeping them.”
Workplace retention
The sector must ensure it is an attractive place to work and stay, especially as it has to compete with sectors such as renewable energy and other national infrastructure projects.
Hanrahan says: “Gone are the days when people work 60-hour weeks and stay with a company for decades. Employees need more and it is crucial that workplace policies and company culture retain, nurture, and grow employees.”
At a basic level this should include competitive salaries, flexible and hybrid working, health care schemes, and generous employer pension contributions. A positive and inclusive company culture in modern offices with facilities such as prayer rooms, crèches, and even yoga studios is now where people expect to work.
Failing to meet these expectations in a competitive jobs market could discourage many to stay long-term – especially parents, under 35s, and employees from minority backgrounds.
Investing and supporting employee training and skills progression too will be more important than ever to meet the demands of AMP8.
Moving away from rigid and short-sighted key performance indicators to adaptable, employee led, development plans, based on employee interests as well company need, will have to become the norm.
Knowledge transfer
The recruitment challenge is underscored by the anticipated loss of nearly 43% of water sector employees forecast to retire by 2035. This represents a potential 40,000–46,000 retirement wave in the AMP8 delivery window and into AMP9, and a significant loss of expertise, tacit knowledge, and long-term experience.
Graduates and new entrants also have valuable knowledge to offer, being digital natives with instinctive understanding of the latest technological possibilities and sector trends.
Capturing and sharing this diverse knowledge across generations can bring extraordinary benefits to companies, says Hanrahan.
“Galliford Try has an initiative partnering older and younger employees for a significant period of time to exchange understanding and skills while digitally capturing tacit knowledge in a learning bank that can be accessed for years to come, leaving an invaluable legacy while new entrants continue to learn,” he told me.
Critical juncture
Bridging the skills, training and knowledge gap is no longer an individual company challenge. It underpins the sustainability and resilience of the entire sector.
For decades, British Water has helped its members’ growth and resilience, and fully intends to rise to these new challenges, holding Government to account to ensure that pledges on skills and opportunities are realised not only for the water companies, but throughout the supply chain.
Recruiting, retaining, and training enough skilled people to deliver the full AMP8 agenda will be enormously challenging, but it is no longer being ignored and the collaborative plan between the government and the sector is ripe for development.
