FOCUS M&E
TECHNICAL
TALENT
Engineering is crucial to the UK economy, but the skills gap is
growing. FMJ asked building services provider JCA how it fi nds,
trains and motivates its staff
38 FEBRUARY 2020
Engineering is a critical part of the UK
economy, employing around 20 per
cent of the total workforce and generating
approximately 23 per cent of the UK’s
total turnover. It is now more important
than ever, in the face of technological
advances and the changing political and
economic landscape, to ensure a steady
flow of skilled engineers.
Yet according to Engineering UK, there
is a considerable shortage of appropriately
skilled workers in the engineering sector.
In 2017, vacancies in construction went up
to 27 per cent. A recent study carried out by
Warwick Institute of Employment Studies
estimates that every year, over 124,000
graduate and technician core engineering
jobs need filling, partly due to new jobs
being created, partly due to replacement
demand. Current estimates suggest a
shortfall of between 37,000 and 59,000 in
meeting annual demand.
JCA Engineering, a privately-owned
company founded in 2004, provides services
including building engineering, interior fitout,
maintenance and design. The company
operates throughout the UK in a variety of
sectors, including healthcare, government,
education, commercial, data centres and
science and technology.
Tom Absalom, JCA’s Managing Director,
is clear about the company’s biggest asset
– its people (JCA is a living wage employer).
“JCA is a business that is as passionate
about its people as it is for the creativity
and imagination of its engineering. The
sta are key in ensuring the core business
culture and ethos are maintained.” Clients
are assigned a team owner responsible
for customer service as well as technical
expertise. This approach is consistent across
all client engagements, ranging from mobile
maintenance contracts to design and build
construction projects.
This means JCA has to find the right
people to do the job and encourage them
to stay. In 2018, growth in turnover and
workforce led JCA to appoint its first
organisational development lead, marking
the beginning of a new approach to
recruitment, retention, development and
training. Today, the team is responsible
for finding high-quality candidates, both
internally and externally, as well as ensuring
that once on board the recruits participate
in the company’s employee engagement
programme.
Emma Lee is responsible for
implementing the new recruitment,
retention and development programme.
“Our aim is to recruit high-calibre people,
develop them and retain them at every
level,” she says. “At JCA we have a carefully
planned approach to recruitment,
development and engagement to ensure we