Analysis

Video: Martin Gibson of Temple Group on the importance of boosting skills within infrastructure

The on-going economic upturn and predictions for strong workload in 2015 presents a great opportunity to boost breadth of skills across infrastructure and the environment.

Speaking at the recent EIC Annual Conference, Martin Gibson, Head of Operations at the Temple Group highlighted the importance of building a broader skill base within infrastructure and the environmental sector.

In particular Gibson highlighted the rapidly changing nature of the sector and the increasing move from on-site environmental skills towards greater focus on community engagement and the use of technology as a major recruitment opportunity.

“Looking at issues such as BIM and GIS, it is about data management and seeing how to do things more efficiently. So that is about giving new skills to existing people.” Martin Gibson, Temple Group

“A lot of the focus is still around the delivery of skills on site but I think that we also need to think wider and think about what other skills you need,” he said.  “The skills that we are really good at such as working with the community and the softer skills.

The economic upturn, he said, presented a great opportunity to upskill the workforce and engage professionals in new areas of the sector.

And while there is is a great deal of very welcome continuing professional development going on he challenged the profession to branch out and widen the knowledge base.

There are a lot of people with non-environmental backgrounds now being bought into the industry to tackle the new issues and areas now affecting the industry.

However, he added that there was also great opportunity to broaden the skills of people already working in the environment al sector.

“Looking at issues such as BIM and GIS, it is about data management and seeing how to do things more efficiently. So that is about giving new skills to existing people.”

With workload in 2015 predicted to continue to grow across the environmental sector, Gibson said that firms like Temple Group would also be working to ensure that available skills were embedded in all its partners.  

“Making sure that the supply chain is more sustainable will certainly be a big thing for us,” he said.

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.