February Overview – Kingsley Clarke
A newcomer’s view and the importance of “how”
As one of a small number of new recruits to the CESW board it is with real pleasure I have been asked to give the opening remarks for the February newsletter.
With January now behind us and those ill thought-out resolutions a distant memory, I wanted to focus on some great work that has already been released by CESW and G4CSW.
The “Constructing the Future” report takes a forensic look at how we need to tackle industry recruitment and address the image problem it suffers from. Whilst I can no longer claim to be part of the younger generation (existing in the murkiness between Gen X and a Millennial) I can understand the decisions facing young people considering an industry to enter. For me it was less than 10 years ago I entered the construction industry after (for those that know me) regretfully having to hang up my aviation wings.
My plea to you all is to stop asking “can” we recruit Gen Z, “can” we encourage more women into construction, “can” we improve the diversity of newcomers to the industry….and ask “how”. How are we going to make it happen? Whether it is through media, social media, word of mouth, industry influencers, if we all focus on the “how” we will secure the future talent our industry needs.
With this in mind, make sure you keep an eye out for our theme groups and get involved – the diversity of opinion and thought is what makes these so successful!
Also (because Andrew will never forgive me if I don’t mention it) do take a look at the CESW 2022 awards and the opportunity to associate your brand as a sponsor (it has been a very successful tactic for us at SCF) or submitting an award (we’ve done that too, but being the headline sponsor we’ve held off the last couple of years!). I look forward to getting stuck into the judging and seeing you all in September, if not before.
Finally, I hope for those who had a tough January that February is the tonic you need and those who got off to a good start can continue to build on their successes.
