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In recent weeks there has been a lot of press surrounding the reduction of available skilled workers in the Construction Industry in the UK. This is impacting all corners of the industry and poses the question - Where else can companies look to resource talent?

Focusing solely on the Project Management market, our Managing Director, James, has seen a fluctuation in the technical and professional backgrounds of candidates joining Project Management consultancies.

We asked James about the challenges that companies face attracting talent in todays marketplace, the solutions that some clients have been implementing and the benefits of having a diverse workforce. Here is what he had to say:

The Project Management recruitment market has changed significantly in recent years due to a number of different reasons both from within the industry and external factors such as Brexit and the recent Pandemic.

There has always been a constant flow of candidates relocating from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Americas who have wanted to be involved in the UK Construction industry given it's global status. Brexit has made the move more complicated due to restriction in "Free Movement" and those now trying to enter the market require sponsorship, which only a handful of Consultants offer in the UK given the associated costs. We have started to see a strong return from Australia and New Zealand due to the post pandemic era and also the change in the Youth Visa for those aged 30 or younger who can now spend 3 years in the UK without requiring sponsorship from a UK entity.

COVID introduced the "Hybrid Working" model and this remains a strong topic for debate. The general workforce has now adopted to the "New Normal" of being able to work 2 days per week from home. Whilst some firms believe in this model, most of which are SME and Boutique consultancies, the leading players in the Project Management market have started to reduce this flexibility and encouraged staff back to the office as they have seen a slow down in career progression and direct impact on company culture. Although the industry is slowing moving back to what we had been used to for many years, the younger people working in the industry seem to be a little more reluctant to return having only known office life post-covid.

The rising cost of living in London has also had an impact with general wages not rising quickly enough and forcing part of the work force to look at more lucrative opportunities in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

With approximately 140 Project Management Consultancies operating in London, the talent pool is relatively small and highly competitive for those entering the recruitment market.

Over the last 2 years, 1 in 3 candidates placed in Project Management consultanices have come from an alternate part of the Property and Construction Industry - Architects, Engineering Consultancies, Main Contractors, Planning Consultants, Sub Contractors, Public Sector Bodies and specialist Design Management firms. This is something that I anticipate to continue with the ratio becoming closer to 50:50. Consultancies have become a lot more diverse in terms of skillset and clients are now appointing Consultants at earlier stages of projects. Rather than being one dimensional in their delivery they now have very well equipped teams that can cover all areas of the consultant teams appointed on schemes.

One of the biggest issues is that areas such as Contracting have typically paid more than Consultancy, the same goes for the Developer world, however the Architect, Engineering and Public Sector seem to be behind in average pay making a move to a Consultant a more attractive proposition.

A longstanding client made the point recently that, personality and people skills are equally as important as technical ability. Having a diverse workforce not only makes your business more adaptable to the range of clients we deal with, but it also gives balance across the team where everybody is able to continue learning. This can't be taught, but the technical element of Project Management can.

With the second half of the year looming and with Interest rate levels looking to fall, there seems to be optimism that firms will get back to hiring strategically as opposed to reactionary. I won't mention the General Election, that's a different discussion altogether!

Firms, need to start to look at the value add that those in alternate parts of the industry can bring with them. We would all love to be able to hire the perfect candidate that is MRICS, MCIOB, MAPM and having worked across every sector but in this market being open to the idea that other corners of the industry are full of talented people, it may be that firms start to look at these industries closely to attract talent. Waiting too long to hire will only cause you issues internally and put you at the risk of losing staff.

My advice is to be open to meeting candidates with different career paths and think about how diverse the skill set is across your team and lastly where your own clients may be benefit from a more diverse workforce.

Everyone has their own formula to success but at Huntsman we ensure that we advise businesses on a streamlined process that works for them and how to increase their probability of a successful campaign.

Having worked with several firms over the last decade, the one's that have been successful in hiring "Top Talent" have all had one thing in common - A very efficient and proactive recruitment process where everyone involved knows their role!

We have all seen the posts on LinkedIn about Steve who had 15 interviews and never heard back, or the time Mary got a job offer three months after her last interview only to have accepted another job elsewhere, or when the company decided to pull the role at the last minute due to a restructure.

Recruitment is as simple as it sounds, but only if you have a good process in place and have the right people working both for your firm and externally in support.

We advise clients on the following 10 steps:

1. Have a clear hiring process from a Vacancy being live and signed off to a candidate starting on Day1.
2. Everyone needs to know their role from Internal Talent / HR to the Hiring Manager and the Agency.
3. Letting the decision maker make the decision! The old analogy of too many cooks.
4. Don't saturate the role or your Company Brand by using a huge amount of external Agencies.
5. Be clear and definitive around timescales.
6. Communication is Key - Feedback, Next steps of Process and How the back office process works regarding paperwork (Offer & Accceptance)
7. Be efficient and don't be afraid to make your intent known about your preferred candidate.
8. Be honest about where you are in the process.
9. Provide a detailed Job Brief that can be shared with Candidates.
10. Provide your companies Benefits to a Recruiter before the role goes out to market.

There are many more areas that can be scrutinised but the above can form a good check list to ensure that the process is in place, the right people supporting the process are in place and that the success rate of Offer to Acceptance increases.

Clear and timely communication is one of, if not, the most important factor in recruitment. Taking time to provide detailed feedback not only educated the candidate for further stages or in their search elsewhere, but also speak volumes of your business. Far too many firms reject without reason and this leaves a sour taste for future job opportunities.

We have worked with several companies in improving the Recruitment Process and unsurprisingly they are now attracting a better calibre of candidate and have a higher success rate in attracting industry talent. Please contact our Managing Director, James to find out more about how we operate and where we can help.