Construction Professions - Employability Skills – A Key Element of Undergraduate Education

I have heard many working in the construction professions comment that they do not think that Universities provide the depth of knowledge and skills necessary to prepare graduates for the rigours of the professional world. But is this a fair assessment?

Source: http://www.tailoredrecruitmentservices.co.uk

During my many years in professional practice, I have worked with numerous graduate construction professionals, fresh from University and ready to enter the professional world, in many cases armed with little more than the knowledge they had gained from University.  When employing graduates in practice we were looking for potential in terms of attitude, drive, entusiasm etc and we would not have unrealistic expectations in terms of technical knowledge at this point (although this would be assessed through the recruitment process). I have heard many working in the construction professions comment that they do not think that Universities provide the depth of knowledge and skills necessary to prepare graduates for the rigours of the professional world. But is this a fair assessment? At University we try our very best to ensure that the content of our courses is continually updated and importantly relevant to the various built environment professions. Infact 75% to 80% of the content of built enviroment courses is determined by what our accrediting bodies require and expect.  We also try wherever possible to allow students to apply this knowledge in practically based, industry relevant assessments wherever possible.  In truth, and I am sure most would agree, the real learning/experience of each particular profession actually starts in the workplace.  Although we try our utmost to arm our students with relevant up to date knowledge and as many practical skills as possible there will always be limitations to what can be achieved in an academic environment. 

Most people will be aware of the significant changes to University funding over the last few years and in particular the significant increase in the amount a student is required to pay if they want to come to University.  In reality the cost of most undergraduate courses has not changed, what has changed is that the government no longer subsidise a large percentage of the fee (for the student) which they used too.  The outcome is that students are now faced with tuition fees of between £8,000 and £9,000 per year (fees vary between universities), resulting in an investment of between £24,000 and £27,000 for a three year course without even thinking about living costs and other expenses. Although a low interest loan can be sought to cover tuition fees, in addition to thier degree, most graduating students will leave University with a large debt.  All of this has resulted in students thinking very carefully about the type of courses they will undertake or whether they will go to university at all.  Nowadays, students should expect and demand a high level of service, high quality teaching, a modern learning environment and an overall positive experience throughout their time at University, which will ultimately provide them with good career prospects and good earning potential.  This is something our University has worked very hard to achieve. In fact Coventry University have recently leapt up 10 places in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2014; putting us 45th in the overall rankings. This is the highest listing for a modern university in the history of these guides; sealing our title as the UK’s top modern university. We still however have room for improvement and we will work hard to make further positive enhancement/improvement to the University, our courses and to the student experience.

Source: http://www.sqa.org.uk

As an Admissions Tutor and Senior Lecturer, teaching on RICS, CIAT, CIOB and CIBSE accredited courses I have noticed a significant increase in the amount of enquiries and questions that applicant’s and in particular thier parents ask, especially at open days.  Many of these questions, revolve around career opportunites available once they graduate, and not just focussing on questions relating to the course itself.  This has highlighted a very interesting and important point, as it appears that applicant’s are now thinking much more about the likely return on their (increased) investment and how their academic studies will translate into employability. 

In order to ensure the continued supply of construction professionals it is extremely important that undergradate teaching is underpinned with employability skills, to help ensure that graduates are as prepared as much as possible for the rigors of the professional world.  At Coventry University we adopt our own ‘activity led learning’ method of teaching and delivery, where our students are given practical, industry relevant activities, as often as possible, by providing them with projects that reflect as closely as possible situations that they will undertake in professional practice once they graduate. We try to move away from a traditional ‘chalk and talk’ style of teaching and learning wherever we can.  In adopting this style of delivery we are supported by a number of employers within the West Midlands area, who are happy to provide our students with projects and to give them the opportunity to present their findings and recieve feedback from those working in the industry.  One such employer is Severn Trent.  For the last three years they have provided our second year building surveyors with access to one of their buildings.  The assessment brief requires a professionally presented building survey report, with an analysis and explanation of defects and an option appraisal of what the client could do with the building.  Students then present thier findings to members of Severn Trent’s Property and Asset Managment Team, at their headquarters in Coventry, where they were challenged and questioned on their proposals. This is just one example of how we try to engage our students with industry partners in order to improve their employability skills.

A combined approach of undergraduate teaching and professional experience is fundamental to ensuring a continued stream of high quality graduates into the built environemnt professions. Our students are very popular with employers, particuarly in the Midlands area.  We encourage our students to secure a year out placement opportunity during their studies and we have some excellent students, some who will soon be starting the process of applying for positions for 2013.   If you are employer, who is thinking about placement or graduate positions now or in the future, please contact me at Coventry University. 

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Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

Do Consultants (Really) take the time to understand the needs of their Clients?

Guest article from Richard Davies - Project  Manager, Capital Projects, Property Services – Severn Trent Water 

When organisations are looking to rationalise, their first port of call is often an external consultant.  In my experience, where the consultant fails is not getting to grips with the culture of the organisation that has instructed them.....  This leads to wasted time and recommendations that cannot be implemented

 

Severn Trent Centre - Google Images

In these increasingly uncertain economic climates, all organisations are looking to minimise their cost base and gain maximum efficiencies.  This can lead to many actions for example reducing staff and an increased focus on outgoings.  This is as true for large organisations regardless of size.  It is a fact that one of the areas of focus, particularly for large organisations is the use and amount of operational space they hold, particularly if they have recently rationalised their staffing levels.

Until a few years ago, property was just something a company had to have in order to operate.  In most cases was treated as an unavoidable overhead, not a key part of the business, however it is increasingly becoming an important part of the cost base as companies look to minimise their overheads.   With modern technology allowing people to work from home, in most cases reduced work force sizes, and most companies adopting open plan rather than cellular office space companies are finding that they have more space than they need and a rationalisation is required.

Having more space than you need leads to not only more rent, rates etc, but the space needs to be heated, lit, secured and managed, all of which is a strain which organisations can ill afford in these austere times.  In addition, there has been an increased tendency to move to open plan and hot desks from cellular office due to the amount of space taken up by offices.  Consequently this reduction in space can lead to savings in many areas: - energy bills, FM, security etc.



Severn Trent Centre  - Under Construction

My work over the past 3 year at Severn Trent Water has been centred on these types of activity.  The business has an aging, dilapidated estate which is in need of significant investment.  The first part of this was a new Operational Centre in Coventry, which allows the workforce to work in a much more flexible way.  It promotes the open plan and hot desking philosophy with an IT solution that allows working from home and other places to be as productive as the office.  By creating this building (Severn Trent Centre) it allowed us to close 7 other buildings, all of which were old and inefficient.  An illustration of this can be seen in the carbon footprint as the new building uses far less energy than any one of the buildings closed on, which is another important aspect for Severn Trent Water.


Many organisations are going through similar processors at present and this rationalisation exercise should provide opportunities for property professionals across the spectrum, with re-design of space, fit out, review of leases, enacting of breaks in leases etc.  However this opportunity must not be squandered. When organisations are looking to rationalise their first port of call is often an external consultant.  In my experience, where the consultant fails is not getting to grips with the culture of the organisation that has instructed them.   Their advice is restricted to analysis of headcount, square meterage and cost thereof, without really understanding how the organisation works.  This leads to wasted time and recommendations that cannot be implemented. 

It is vital that any advice provided must be considered in the context of the culture and operations of the organisation and therefore consequently there is an increasing need for large organisations to have a resident property expert that understands both the property world and the nuances of the organisation.  Only then, can they help steer the consultant and apply the advice provided by external bodies to gain the most savings. It is, however true to say that professionals on the outside remain closer to the cutting edge and new thinking than those within client bodies as there is a certain level of insulation that comes with working within a client body.  There is not the daily interaction with other similar professionals which can lead to a lag in implementing new industry best practice.

As long as the economic climate remains in its current state of health, companies will increasingly review their property costs, which will in turn result in opportunities for consultants, either as the resident expert within a client body, or as a consultant providing advice.

Richard Davies  - Project Manager, Capital Projects, Property Services – Severn Trent Water 

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.

 

E-mail – Beware! - Once You Press Send - You Can’t Amend!

The content of an email will tell the recipient a great deal about the individual who sent it, the organisation they work for and also act as barometer for measuring competence and professionalism of both. Therefore a swiftly drafted email with spelling mistakes, other grammatical errors and poorly worded sentences will undoubtedly not inspire a Client to have confidence in other services you may be providing for them.



Source: Google Images

How many times have you pressed ‘send’ on an email, then immediately had that sinking feeling when you realise that you have included something that is incorrect or of a sensitive nature or you have send it to someone you shouldn’t?  In the professional world this can often lead to embarrassing situations, damage to reputations, loss of work, or ultimately legal action. Nowadays many of us both use and rely upon email as the main form of correspondence in our professional lives.  This is because it is instant.  Technology means that we no longer have to hand write things, proof read and amend, put them in an envelope, add a stamp and post, and then wait a day or two for it to be delivered to our recipient.  All we need to do now is type a new email as quickly as we can or reply to an e-mail we receive, press send and job done!  Sounds easy and indeed it is easy, however this high speed approach also comes with a high element of risk.

Whilst working in professional practice I can remember numerous occasions when I was under pressure to meet deadlines or respond to clients or to deal with staff related issues. I also remember feeling that there was just not enough hours in the day to meet all of these demands.  It was always at these very moments that a little message would flash up in the bottom right hand corner of my screen and I would catch a brief glimpse of the sender and the first line of a new email before it would fade away.  I would sometimes know, just by either the sender or the short text that the content was not going to be good, so then I had the dilemma of either opening it immediately, or ignoring it until I had finished dealing with the latest crisis!  Many of you will know that the second you open an email, your plans for the day can change in an instant.  Just a few moments ago, what you considered as a priority or urgent suddenly seems less so because the email you have just opened presents you with a whole new situation or set of circumstances that must be dealt with now!  This really sums up how we often become slaves to email, and how we also let email dictate our lives, rather than use it in a more appropriate and positive way.

Source: Google Images

As we are considering correspondence in the professional world, the content of an email received will tell the recipient a great deal about the individual who sent it, the organisation they work for and also act as barometer for measuring competence and professionalism of both.  Therefore a swiftly drafted email with spelling mistakes, other grammatical errors and poorly worded sentences will undoubtedly not inspire a Client to have confidence in other services you may be providing for them. Robust quality assurance of all communication that leaves the office is a fundamental part for most successful organisations.  Letter, drawings and most hard copy communications are much easier to control and these procedures usually require hard copy correspondence to be ‘signed off’ or at least checked by a more senior member of staff, before they leave the office.  Email is much harder to control, as all staff members will have an individual account and will be free to receive and send emails as often as they want.  In most cases there will be no quality assurance procedure for this form of communication and this could prove to be an ‘Achilles heel’ if incorrect advice or information is given via email.  
  

Although most organisations will have an email policy, I wonder if questioned, how many of their staff will have read the policy, or indeed how many will know that one existed?  Typical wording in an email policy will state: ‘It is strictly prohibited to send or forward emails containing libellous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks’, the wording generally covers the content of an email, but does not consider the quality.  So what can an organisation do to monitor and control the quality of an email before it leaves the office?  Well, this is obviously not easy, however if staff are ‘educated’ to adopt a number of good practices when drafting emails then quality is likely to improve and problems are likely to reduce.  Below I offer a few suggestions which may help: 

Never respond to an emotive email immediately – Sometimes it is very tempting to response to an aggressive or emotive email instantly, and ‘give it to them with both barrels’. This however is a very dangerous approach and one on reflection in the cold light of day you may regret.  Always be professional! Take a few moments to calm yourself down and then respond appropriately. 

Write well-structured emails and use short, descriptive subjects  - Emails should not be lengthy.  If the email starts to grow as you are writing it, then consider whether a letter may be a better option, one that you can attach to an email if urgent.  This again is about taking a professional approach in everything you do. 

Always check your grammar and use a spell checker before you send out an email - It is so important to check grammar and spelling because a simple mistake can change the tone or indeed the content of an email. Also, spelling mistakes are lazy and unnecessary and leave a lasting negative impression. Ask yourself what you think about someone who has sent you an email with poor grammar and spelling mistakes all over it.  Always take the time to read through your email before you press send. 

Attachments – Make sure you do not send unnecessary or the wrong attachments with you email.  How many times have you received an email, quickly followed by another email stating ‘here is the attachment’? For certain documents you may want to consider converting to PDF format before attaching them to your email.  This will ensure that there is no doubt about the content of the attachment and removes the opportunity for amendments to be made by the recipient.



Ensure that the email is sent to the correct recipients - The content of some emails may be private and confidential or of a sensitive nature.  In these instances perhaps email is not the most appropriate form of communication. If however email is used it is imperative that it is sent to the correct recipients.  When someone is busy or even stressed, it is very easy to not pay attention to who the email is being sent too and this can cause serious problems..  Always take the time to review the content of the email including who it is being sent too.



Source: Google Images



In the hectic world that we live in we are expected to communicate/respond instantly. It is clear that email is an important and effective way of communicating in the professional world, however it does have its risks, which all start from the moment an email is drafted.  This is worth thinking about because you can amend a draft email as many times as you want, but the moment you press send, you lose the opportunity to amend!

  

Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.





Business Development - People, the key ingredient to success!

Without people who can improvise, innovate, inspire, challenge 'the norm', and strive for continuous improvement most businesses would not survive long before being overtaken by their competitors 



Source: Google Images


Success of an organisation can be measured in a number of ways however the most valuable commodity in achieving success has to be it's people.  Without people who can improvise, innovate, inspire, challenge 'the norm', and strive for continuous improvement most businesses would not survive long before being overtaken by their competitors.   It would therefore seem logical for a business to invest in it's people and this should be considered at all levels, not just at a senior level. Everyone has to start somewhere and no matter what career path an individual selects, in order to develop they will require the guidance and supervision of more experienced members of the organisation to help them progress. If you look at a successful business you will usually find that there is a structured training programme for their staff at all levels. This will help fulfil the potential within individuals and also provide a good promotion and succession pathway, allowing internal appointments to be made of people who understand the business, rather than having to make external appointments which can often be expensive.

If a business is 'top heavy', i.e it has a high percentage of senior executive/managers, then what can happen is that when these individual start to retire or leave there may not be suitable personnel 'waiting in the wings' to fill these positions.  An external appointment may then be made, where the new individual will need time to adapt to the business and this can sometimes take many months. It would be much better for a business to have a 'succession plan', where individuals are identified at all levels and trained ready for these opportunities as they arise. Succession planning should start with the most junior of positions and this is where graduate appointments, year out industrial placements and even work experience opportunities should be considered.



Source: Google Images

At my last organisation we would usually appoint 2 or 3 year out industrial placement students each year for our office. The appointment would commence in or around June, however we would normally start the recruitment process in September/October of the year before.  This is when students return to University, and in order to get the best graduates we knew we needed to 'get in early'.  We would approach a select number of Universities who would send us CV's of students who may be interested in the opportunity.  After reviewing the CV's we would then invite those selected to a group workshop, where during the day they would also be interviewed individually.  The workshop enabled us to see how each individual would respond to a number of situations, and during this process we were also looking closely at enthusiasm and attitude.  At this entry level we were not looking for a genius, were were looking for someone with the right attitude and personality, as well as the expected academic aptitude, that had the potential to fit into our organisation.

Over the years we employed a large number of our year out students when they graduated and some went on to become Project Team Leaders and even Associate Members.  A year out placement student has a wonderful opportunity to not only gain experience, but to also secure a permanent position (business finances permitting).  The industrial placement could actually be viewed as a year long interview where the employer has the opportunity to look at an individuals skills, commitment and attitude and decide if they will fit into the business. Not every placement student turned out to be suitable, however this provided us with a highly successful recruitment method, which allowed us to employ top quality graduates who we could mould into our way of thinking, our vision and our business culture. Is  this  an approach that  you're  business  takes? If not, then whilst thinking about the long term future of your business then  maybe this is something that you should give serious consideration too.

At Coventry University we offer a wide range of degree courses covering all disciplines within the built environment (Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Architectural Technology, Building Services Engineering, Architecture and Civil Engineering).  Our students are very popular with employers and we encourage our students to secure a year out placement opportunity. We have some excellent students, who will be now starting the process of applying for positions for 2013.  We also have some students who are looking to secure graduate positions.  If you are an employer, who has or is thinking about graduate positions now or in the future, please contact me with details (garyoneill65@hotmail.co.uk), where I will be able to direct suitable students to send their CV's to you.

  
Information/opinions posted on this site are the personal views of the author and should not be relied upon by any person or any third party without first seeking further professional advice. Also, please scroll down and read the copyright notice at the end of the blog.