"Boosting your bottom line" - NFRC shares competency insights at RCI Show

RCI held their annual show on Thursday at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes. NFRC Head of Careers Ruth Scarrott was there and said, "Suppliers are here in force, which is great to see". 

Ruth was encouraged by attendees' enthusiasm for tackling the skills shortage the whole sector is battling.  

"Everybody I've spoken to has been very focused on having a conversation around attracting and supporting people into the industry and then making sure their skills are appropriate," Ruth said.  

A key challenge is the lack of young people proactively targeting the roofing sector to begin their careers.  

"They are generally falling into the industry instead," Ruth said.  

She's working to make roofing more attractive and raise awareness about other jobs available across the sector.   

"It's not just talking about careers as a roofer, but what the broader roofing industry careers look like. 

"You may start as a roofer and then progress into working as a supplier and then potentially become a director of a multi-million-pound business in the future." 

Ruth's presentation at the RCI Show focused on how investing in competency directly impacts a company's bottom line.  

"It improves staff retention, employee engagement, and even workmanship rate as well," Ruth said. 

"You spend less time on site fixing stuff you didn't do properly the first time around." 

Now is an excellent time for businesses to invest in further staff training, as 66,960 CSCS cards expire at the end of 2024.  

These cannot be replaced using industry accreditation.  

Ruth highlighted the benefits of investing in competency as:  

• Enabling consistent, high-quality processes, products and services  

• Increasing trust and confidence in the industry  

• Improving the resilience of the industry  

• Addressing the labour shortages and skills gap  

• Bringing in new ideas  

Beyond that, however, investing in competency supports roofers to have life-long careers. 

In her presentation, Ruth discusses a theoretical roofer called Jon. 

"Jon is your typical roofer, hasn't got many qualifications through school, didn't really thrive at school, he fell into roofing, and is actually a really decent guy," Ruth said. 

"He's got a family to support, but ultimately, without investing in his competency and his growth, when your company ceases to be, usually at retirement, Jon is no better off than he was before. 

"If you invest in your people and encourage them to develop and grow, when you are no longer in the industry, that industry continues to grow and thrive because you invested in them." 

Ruth says the discussion around Jon always resonates with her audience. 

"The key feedback is 'it all resonated with me when you started talking about Jon'". 

A business owner set to retire soon approached Ruth after her RCI Show presentation and discussed his situation.  

"I'm making sure that my business can continue to run when I take a step back because I'm investing in the competency of the people who run it for me," he said. 

While building this competency into a workforce involves costs, Ruth made clear that there is a range of financial support available.  

The CITB (Construction Industry Training Board) offers grants for short courses, qualifications, apprenticeships, and general skills and training.  

There are many other avenues businesses can look to for financial support, and Ruth encourages anyone interested to contact her at [email protected]. 

She also encourages senior staff, "Don't forget about yourself. 

"No matter what stage of your career you are at - there is always something you can learn." 

Ruth is encouraged that NFRC is getting more and more queries from those looking for further qualifications, but says, "We would always love to see even more".  

The lead sponsor for the RCI Show was SIG.