Post-BREXIT we have seen little slow down in the demand from M&E consultancy businesses for skilled individuals to enhance their teams.

 

It has been a common trend for some time now, with companies in the M&E market growing their order books every day. Servicing their expanding pipeline in a timely manner appears to be the biggest challenge at the moment and Mechanical & Electrical departments are being pushed to their limits.

 

Interestingly the needs are coming across a variety of areas within M&E Consultancy – Electrical Design Engineers, Mechanical Design Engineers, Thermal Modellers, Building Physics Engineers, BREEAM Assessors and general Project Engineers have all been requests we have received from clients across the North of the UK.

 

Demand is outweighing supply so what can M&E business’s do to attract the best talent and, more importantly, retain them for the long-term?

 

Offer an Actual Work-Life Balance

 

Simply increasing salaries is no longer a driving factor for candidates in this industry. Money will always play some part, and there will certainly be no desire for a significant salary drop, but other factors are now just as important.

 

Work-life balance is now a major consideration for candidates in the M&E world. Those that are afforded the opportunity for flexible working hours, part-time roles and home working are more likely to make a move to a company offering such things and remain there for the longer-term.

 

We are seeing a massive mind-set shift when it comes to work. People love their jobs but also have lives that they want to enjoy. Being able to drop the kids at school, get to the gym after work and still have family time afterwards, learn something new, spend more time on hobbies, missing stressful rush hour traffic commutes and simply having more time to recharge during these extremely busy periods are just a few of the matters that seem to be discussed with us BEFORE money is even mentioned.

 

The ‘baby boomers’ mentality of ‘work hard, play hard’ and the almost universal admiration for those who work the most hours is slowly being replaced by the ‘Millennial’ attitude to work and life; a focus on outcomes over hours clocked and keeping employees motivated through allowing them to experience the things they actually come to work to earn a living for i.e. family time, hobbies, travelling etc.

 

We have recently started working with a West Yorkshire M&E business leading the way in this area and we imagine more will follow suit in months to come.

 

Develop Your Employees

 

Training and development is a huge area of interest for M&E candidates. Companies offering financial assistance and support for courses, training and paths to Chartership will position themselves as a business of choice compared to those who don’t offer anything.

 

Understandably it can be a concern for businesses who may have to pay hefty amounts for the above, and you run the risk of the employee leaving anyway, but what other choice is there? Keep employees who are unskilled and unmotivated as a result? Not a good idea in a competitive industry with some excellent M&E teams vying for new work.

 

The businesses that are succeeding here are the ones that are offering to develop their employees AND motivating them to stay by allowing them the flexible working opportunities that are so important for many workers in 2016.

 

‘Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t’

 – Richard Branson

 

As a hiring manager/business owner how are you attracting and retaining your employees? If you’re a candidate in the market what would entice you to a new business?

 

It is a developing area that we at Veritas are keeping an interested eye on. If we can offer you any advice either as a recruiting business or potential job-seeker please feel free to get in touch.

 

Luke Towning is a Senior Recruiter at Veritas and can be contacted on 07885910202 or [email protected]