Spring - Summer 2026 - Journal - Page 31
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
achievements have risen
substantially in recent years.
Government and industry have
also backed new Homebuilding
Skills Hubs, intended to
create thousands of additional
construction apprenticeship
The industry has traditionally
responded to demand partly by
moving skilled labour to where
projects are located. If workers
are increasingly reluctant to travel
long distances, developing skills
within communities becomes
more important. Workforce
development should therefore
be part of the conversation at
the beginning of major projects,
rather than an employment
initiative added afterwards.
A publicly funded infrastructure
or regeneration programme
should not simply ask, “How
many jobs will this create?” It
should also ask: How many
skilled people will this project
leave behind?
What mining taught us about
progression
opportunities. These are
important interventions, but
entry into the industry is only
half the equation. What happens
afterwards?
Can someone entering
construction today see a credible
pathway beyond their 昀椀rst
quali昀椀cation? Can they see how
to progress from new entrant
to competent tradesperson
or operator and then towards
mentoring, supervisory and
management responsibilities?
If they can’t, we risk becoming
better at bringing people through
the front door without becoming
suf昀椀ciently good at building longterm careers.
Developing skills where they
are needed
This is particularly relevant to the
public sector because workforce
mobility is changing. CITB’s 2025
workforce mobility research
found 34% of construction
workers had worked no more
than 20 miles from home during
the previous 12 months. Only
10% had worked more than 100
miles away, compared with 21%
in 2015.
That has implications for
major housing, regeneration
and infrastructure programmes.
At Mining People, we have seen
how dramatically performance
can change when workforce
development is connected directly
to operational expectations.
Across different mining
projects and sites where we have
helped design and implement
progression frameworks,
programmes have coincided
with property-damage incidents
falling from more than 30
per month to fewer than six;
absenteeism reducing from above
30% to below 4%; production
improving by as much as 300%;
and maintenance availability
on ageing 昀氀eets moving from
approximately 45–55% to above
85%.
Those 昀椀gures come from
particular mining environments
and should not simply be
projected onto UK construction.
The important point is the
mechanism behind them.
People perform differently
when expectations are explicit,
competence is assessed
consistently, good performance
creates opportunities, and
experienced workers are
responsible for developing the
next generation. Progression
becomes part of the operating
system, rather than an HR
initiative sitting alongside it.
What could this look like in
UK construction?
The precise structure will differ
by occupation, but the principle is
straightforward. An organisation
could create a pathway from
candidate or new entrant through
trainee, competent worker,
senior practitioner, mentor and
supervisor.
There should be clear
requirements covering technical
competence, health and safety,
attendance, experience and
performance. Progression should
bring increased responsibility,
recognised status, additional
development and appropriate
remuneration. Crucially, the
framework should connect
workforce planning with project
planning.
If an organisation knows it will
require 20 supervisors in three
years, the 昀椀rst response should
not be to wait three years and
advertise 20 vacancies. It should
identify today which employees
could realistically become those
supervisors, what development
they require and where new
entrants need to join the pipeline
behind them. That is succession
planning at operational level.
A role for government and
procurement
The government cannot solve
the construction skills challenge
simply by increasing the number
of courses available. Employers
ultimately have to create the
environment in which skills
become careers. But public
procurement can encourage that
behaviour.
Alongside apprenticeships,
social value and local employment
requirements, major contracts
could place greater emphasis
on demonstrable workforce
progression - how new entrants
will develop, how competence
will be assessed, how mentoring
will operate and how projects will
create sustainable skills within
communities.
This could be particularly
valuable where government
is investing repeatedly in
the same regions through
housing, transport, energy and
regeneration. Instead of individual
projects continually competing for
experienced workers, successive
programmes could help build
a progressively more capable
regional workforce.
Build people, not just
projects
Construction is not alone.
Engineering, manufacturing,
utilities and transport face
variations of the same challenge.
Mining has had to confront
it particularly visibly because
geography can preclude simply
recruiting another experienced
person locally. That constraint has
forced the industry to address
a question other sectors should
now consider- if the skilled
people we need do not exist in
suf昀椀cient numbers, why are we
designing workforce strategies
that depend on 昀椀nding them?
The UK has signi昀椀cant
ambitions for housing,
infrastructure, energy and
economic growth. Delivering
them requires more than projects,
capital and policy commitments.
It requires people with the
competence to turn those
ambitions into physical assets.
Recruitment will always matter
and experienced external hires
will always have a role. But we
cannot recruit our way out of
every skills shortage. Industries
also have to become better at
creating the people they need.
Perhaps, then, the measure of
a major project should not only
be what was built, what it cost
and when it opened, but how
many more capable people were
working in that community when
the project 昀椀nished than when it
began.
Lee Johnson is a founding
partner at Mining People
and has worked with mining
operations internationally on
workforce capability, progression
and operational performance,
including as Chief People Of昀椀cer
at FTSE 100/250 UK PLCs.
https://www.mining-people.com
Lee Johnson
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL SUMMER/AUTUMN 2026
31
