The energy industry within the United Kingdom is in rude health.
The subsea sector alone is worth £8.9 billion – 45% of the global market – and the opportunities are there to grow this figure to £11 billion.
Our recent Business Activity Review of 750 companies shows Britain continues to outperform competitors due to its skill set, expertise and the development of innovative technology.
The major threat to this success and future growth is the widely reported shortage of skills.
Continually poaching the best and brightest from a shrinking talent pool is not the answer and to achieve growth we need to look for new solutions.
With this in mind we launched Subsea Target earlier this year to help companies accelerate the pace at which they can develop and deploy people with the relevant skills or potential. The scheme also provides advice and guidance to individuals looking to change career path and enter the subsea sector.
Already 15 companies, large and small, across the supply chain have signed up to the programme. They are focusing on potential recruits with transferable skills as they look to appoint competent staff from different backgrounds.
To aid companies in this we have developed a ‘Toolkit’ to provide the additional support and infrastructure required so new recruits can become fully proficient in a subsea role as quickly as possible.
For many companies the issue is not simply about finding people but more about how they recruit, how they retain staff and how they equip them with the skills required to do the job. Resources for growth are required and this means having the right corporate context and organisational culture into which they can bring people.
It is important to explore pre-employment strategies, structured inductions, personal development plans, mentoring, coaching and encouraging teamwork. This is in addition to having a competence management and measurement system alongside a comprehensive training programme.
We have fully investigated what the industry needs in terms of skills and explored the existing programmes which work well for individual companies.
With the long term focus on educating children on the attractiveness of career in subsea and encouraging the uptake of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects we are working to secure the industry for years to come.
For now though we have to look to the more immediate future to secure these opportunities further down the line. We can achieve this through a collaborative approach sharing best practice from industry and by the design of pan-industry programmes which deliver solutions in the short to medium term.
Neil Gordon is chief executive of Subsea UK
Recommended for you
