To meet the scale and ambition of the government’s targets, we need people who are equipped with the right skills, supported by data and technology and driven by a shared sense of purpose, writes Andrew Reynolds, chief executive of RLB UK & Europe
The UK has committed to creating 1.5m new homes in its parliamentary term and has ambitious environmental targets, including reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 50% by 2032 and 75% by 2037.
The skills gap: The elephant in the room
These targets are all well and good, and as an independent consultancy working across the private and public sectors, we recognise our part in how we can help achieve them. But let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the 140,000 skilled workers that are needed to meet these targets and the development of new skills, such as digital and sustainability, to upskill our industry and make us future fit.
Like many in the built environment, we have spent time talking to our colleagues – be they those within RLB, clients, industry stakeholders or those in parallel industries – to understand what skills are needed, not just for today and tomorrow but for the next five, 10 and 20 years, to ensure we have the right people, with the right skillsets for the future.
Embedding digital, sustainability and ESG at the core
We recognised that every team member, whatever role and level, needs to be equipped with digital and sustainability and ESG skills. We invested in our own Data & Transformation Academy, designed to upskill our team and leverage innovative data solutions that will provide enhanced service offerings to our clients back in 2025, and continue to roll out the academy across our business.
Likewise, carbon education and literacy have become a core skill for all our client-facing employees. Our sister company, RLB Digital, which specialises in information management and wider digital solutions for our clients, is now integrated into our service offering and we have more holistic sustainability and ESG teams that work with stakeholders including investors and fund managers to highlight risk profiles, as well as those responsible for estates.
New roles are emerging weekly with data analysts for our data warehouse, PPP contract advisory roles, and those proficient and educated in the latest built environment governance, like the impact of the Building Safety Act and mandatory legislation.
With the drive of advance tech, critical thinking skills are also being interwoven to bring real insights from the data output for our clients, from inception to completion of projects, and throughout the life cycle of an asset.
Diversity of thought and human intelligence
This means being diverse in our recruitment process, bringing in those not just with traditional experience and skillsets within the built environment but those who are diverse in their outlook, background and thinking, to be able to understand and engage the communities where we operate.
It means looking past those with just high IQs to those who also possess high emotional (EQ) and social intelligence (SQ). Our industry is not just about design and build but about the impact of that building on the future of a community, how it influences local economies, the wellbeing of its people and what social value it will bring. This long-term view needs to be an embedded skillset for those working in our sector.
Changing the narrative
I have worked in the built environment for over three decades and still wake up excited by the innovation and evolution of the industry. From the bricks and mortar that makes up my house, to the roads and rails that take me to work, to the amazing engineering of The Shard where RLB is based – the built environment is around me, pretty much every moment, every day.
The future of the built environment depends on our ability to invest in talent, embrace diversity of thoughts and reframe our industry as one that shapes lives and communities. If we get that right, the built environment will not only rise to the challenge ahead, it will help define a better future for generations to come.
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