THE OTTICIAL AUsTRALIAN

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?II With the present drastic skills shortage and

constantly evolving technology, experts areurging construction companies to focus ondeveloping and training their employees.

BY SARAH LINNFY

he Off icial Australian Construction Magaztne spoke toClair Coutt ie, f ibreHR's HR Business Partner, and LeanneFaraday-Brash, Principal of Brash Consult ing and author of

Vulture Cultures: How to stop them ravaging your performance,people, profit and public rmage, aboul how companies can

encourage staff to improve their ski l ls

The OAC Magazine:Why is i t important for employeesto upski l l?

Clair: This is vi tal lv important for a number of reasons, including

the retention of ski l ls and knowledge. A business can retainmore employees by offering opportunit ies for advancement

through upski l l ing and training. This not only saves the business

recruitment costs, but also ensures that the organisationalknowledge that employees already have is retained within the

organisation, rather than being lost to possible external

competitors who may offer them opportunit ies.

Upski l l ing also increases f lexibi l i ty. By being proactive about

upski l l ing based on future business needs and strategy, a business

can move quickly to f i l l ski l l gaps internal ly and achieve goals,

rather than having to go through lengthy recruitment processes )

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NEw coNSTRucrroN TECHNoLocIESAND BUILDING MATERIALS ARE BEINGDEVELOPED ALL THE TIME. EMPLOYEESMUST BE WILLING TO IMPROVE SKILLSAND KNOWLEDGE TO BE ABLE TO MEETPROJECT DEMANDS." - Leanne Faraday-Brash

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Once new hires have the required ski l ls; they then need t imeto learn about their new environment. This can take a numberof months and create lag-t ime in meeting a business's needs.By offering these opportunit ies to employees, turnover wil laddit ional ly decrease as employees feel their needs are beingmet internal ly.

Leanne: l t is cr i t ical ly important to employers thatemployees upski l l . New construct ion technologies andbui ld ing mater ia ls are being developed al l the t ime.Employees must be wi l l ing to improve their ski l ls andknowledge to be able to meet project demands, otherwisethey become less relevant and their companV becomesless competit ive.

Many employees wil l natural ly want to grow and develop;the human way is to str ive. Only a small minority ofemployees are l ikely to adopt and maintain a bare-minrmummental i ty. Those who refuse to make an eifort are simplvstunting their own growth. This is a learnt response and oftenreflects a culture of complacency, a fear of making mistakes,resentment or enti t lement. l t 's a regressive att i tude, but i t 'snot fair to blame employees for this i f unsupport ive, overlydemanding or authoritarian management has al lowed such aculture to take root and f lourish.

How can employees take the in i t iat ive and improve theirown ski l ls?

Clair; Sometimes the best way is to start with creatingopportunit ies for feedback from their manager on wheretheir ski l l gaps l ie. Addit ional ly, employees should be askingquestions about the direct ion of the business to identi fywhich ski l ls might lend themselves to new opportunit ies.This requires an employee to have a strong idea of theircareer path, so talking to as many stakeholders as possibleto gather information and put themselves on others' radarsfor new opportunit ies is very important. By recognising theseopportunit ies and bui lding networks, employees wil l be werrplaced for promotional opportunit ies.

Leanne: Support ive organisations wil l invest in their staff inthe form of training and classroom learning. Workers coulddo their own out-of-hours study or ask for f inancial support todo short courses. Employees could also swailow their prideand ask for assistance'and guidance f rom riature workerswho are well regarded for their work ethic and ski l ls.

Well-chosen mentors wil l be f lattered, gracious and wil l ing.Anyone who won't share for fear of becoming lessrndispensable won't be well regarded in modernorganisations. Companies are grateful to those whoenthusiast ical ly share their knowledge and ski l l wi th an'abundance' mental i ty and generosity of spir i t .

How can managers encourage and support employeesto upski l l?

Clair: Organisations need to encourage employees to beresponsible for their own development; however,development must be supported by the organisation and theemployee's manager, Managers can assist employees byproviding clari ty and feedback on any ski l l gaps that needdevelopment, or new ski l ls that need to be acquired. From

there, they can create a plan with the employeeto start upski i l ing. Managers can provide ideasor opportunit ies for employees in l ine withthese plans and be their advocate within theorganisation when opportunit ies arise.

Leanne: Managers need to work to developand maintain a culture of continuous improvement so thatthis becomes ingrained within the company. Managementneeds to treat workers with respect, share information withthem, and make them feel l ike part of a team, l f the

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ffiffi-,*"oNrsArroNSNEED TO ENCOURAGEEMPLOYEES TO BERESPONSIBLE FORTHEIR OWNDEVELOPMENT;HOWEVER,DEVELOPMENT MUSTBE SUPPOdTED BY THEORGANISATION ANDTHE EMPLOYEE'SM A NAG ER." - Ctair Coutr ie

company is prof i table, there should besome way for workers to benef i t and shareIn that success.

Management must toleraie mistakes thathave been well- thought-out to encourageinit iat ive, providing safety isn't compromised.A healthy culture of elperimentation, debateand the brainstorming of ideas keepseveryone fresh and doesn't al low them tosl ip into 'cruise' mode.

What are some concerns that managersand employees encounter when tryingto upski l l?

Clair: Sometimes a costly formal trainingcourse is not the answer for somedevelopmental needs. Employers can look ata l ternative low-cost developmentopportunit ies such as mentoring, researchassignments, working on cross-functionteams, taking on internal stretchassignments, shadowing an employee whohas the desired ski l l set, and rotat ionsthrough other business uni ts.

Leanne: Fear can be a big hurdle. Workersmay camouflage the fear of fai lure withexcuses, blame ineffectual training or boringtrarners, or cry 'exploi tat ionl ' when whatthey real ly may be feel ing is discomfort atbeing asked to do stuff they've notpreviously known how to do. Some workersmay be knowledgeable on part icularmachrnes, processes or the use of part icularconstruction rraterials. when companiesreplace these processes, materials ormachines with new ones, the comfort baseis immediately eroded and workers can beleft feel ing they have to start from scratch.

In my experience, the vocal opposit ion tochange, the no-shows to training courses, or

delay in incorporating new processes iswhite noise that signals a fear of fai lure inthose who got too comfortable and don'twant to look stupid or feel l ike novices.

Another hurdle is Austral ia's ski l ls shortage.There is a genuine r isk of spreading workerstoo thinly across a range of tasks andprocesses because there aren't enoughpeople to do the job. Diff icult economict imes, the propensity of Aussie workers toret ire quite young, and lean manufacturing-they are al l factors that have already forcedcompanies to do more qith less.

How can ibnstruction companies dealwith Austral ia's ski l ls shortage, both nowand in the future?

Clair: Organisations need to deal with theirski l ls shortages by looking at the rnatter inl ine with their business strategy. What are theorganisational goals over the coming planningperiod? What Tesol lrces are required To meetthese needs? What ski l ls do these resourcesrequire to meet the business strategy? Oncethese matters are ascertatned, then planningcan begin to source the r ight candidates fromthe r ight channels.

Leanne: Construct ion companies wi l l haveto become well-versed in optimising eachworker's performance without anyonefeel ing exploi ted. The ski l ls shortage shouldmean that workers feel more secure;however, the current econorricenvironment doesn' t a l low that.Construction f i rms may also have to takeless experienced workers and putexcept ional t ra in ing programs in place thatbr ing them up to speed quickly; accelerat ingtheir development as ooposed to learningon the job. *

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