News analysis with BESA
Why diversity matters I
BESA’s legal and commercial director Rob Driscoll explains why improving diversity is more than just a moral obligation. It is the key to our sector’s future prosperity
t stands to reason that in order to have the best possible sector; we must attract new entrants from a diverse talent pool. Businesses perform better when they reflect the society that they serve. It is therefore essential for us, as a wider industry, to actively seek a greater diversity of new recruits and to monitor and measure diversity. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but also
because it is good for business. Evidence produced by consultancies like McKinsey and KPMG suggest that there is a direct correlation between a diverse workforce and greater creativity, improved problem solving, better decision making and a better bottom line. Having a diverse workforce culturally and socially
broadens an organisation’s ability to find the right solutions, whatever the project. This fundamentally improves the service to customers and exposes em- ployees to a variety of working styles, personalities and approaches. A legislative imperative already exists to establish the base line for what is considered unacceptable behaviour within the professional environment, but what about re-designing the built-environment for the purposes of social inclusion. • Around a third of disabled people experience diffi- culties related to their impairment in accessing pub- lic, commercial and leisure goods and services • Disabled people remain significantly less likely to participate in cultural, leisure and sporting activities than non-disabled people • Around a fifth of disabled people report having dif- ficulties related to their impairment or disability in accessing transport • Disabled people are significantly more likely to be victims of crime than non-disabled people. • One in five disabled people requiring home adapta- tions believe their accommodation is not suitable. If the UK embraces the issue of social diversity
Rob Driscoll
and adapts the shape of in- dustry and infrastructure to be inclusive, it will undoubt- edly unlock the innovative solutions and social eco- nomic contributions to be made by social groups who often feel marginalised, but equally have an undeniable contribution to make and could be the solution to many of industry’s current
problems. The business case is easy for adaptation for inclu-
sion: There are over 11 million people with a limiting long-term illness, impairment or disability and 16% of working age adults are disabled. According to the Labour Force Survey, disabled people are now more likely to be employed than they were in 2002, but disabled people remain signifi- cantly less likely to be in employment than non-dis- abled people. In 2012, 46.3% of working-age disabled people were in employment compared to 76.4% of working-age non-disabled people. There is, therefore, a 30.1 percentage point gap between disabled and non-disabled people, repre- senting over two million people. The gap has re- duced by 10 percentage points over the last 14 years and has remained stable over the last two years de- spite the economic climate. The Department of Work & Pensions calculates that for each pound spent the government receives £1.70 back in National Insurance, taxation and re- duced demand on state benefits – the economic driver for inclusion couldn’t be clearer. It is easy to forget, amidst the daily cut and thrust
of contracting, that the building engineering services industry is actually crucial to this agenda of equality, diversity and inclusivity.
Our technical solutions; our designs; and our abil-
ity to predict how a building or public space will work are the difference between having a built envi- ronment that functions and one that goes so much further and defines a civilised society by being open and accessible to everyone. This influences crime rates, health and well-
being, social interaction etc. At BESA we work with Future Cities Catapult to
understand how building engineering services can influence the design of civilisation in UK urban, met- ropolitan and rural areas. We signpost how our engi- neering solutions can help – in particular our use of digital systems and how the growth in ‘smart’ tech- nology is liberating for people living with a disability.
Connected The use of connected systems to improve the day- to-day life of a disabled person is now also more widely reflected in the building engineering services installed within the built-environment making infra- structure, entrance systems; lighting; lifts; comfort controls; and security systems intelligent, accessible and easier to use. How else do we create a reality within which dri- verless low carbon transport, intelligent homes, in- tegrated smart domestic appliances and wearable technology enables quality of life, access and well- being?
Our industry is also integrating digital methods into its working practices making it more accessible for a disabled person to be seen as a viable employment prospect as a building engineering professional. Things have improved and accessibility is now
regularly part of our industry’s project planning, but a recent report from the parliamentary Women and Equalities Committee signaled that we still have a long way to go.
CONTRACTORS BULLISH ABOUT THE FUTURE N
early 90% of building engineering contractors are optimistic about their immediate business future, according to a new business survey. Almost eight in 10 engineering services firms say
turnover increased or remained the same during the first quarter of this year and 88% expect their turnover to increase or remain steady in the coming months, according to new findings from the sector-wide ‘Building Engineering Business Survey’, sponsored by Scolmore. The survey, which is run by BESA in partnership with the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), and the Scottish electrical trade body SELECT, received 370 responses from companies across the engineering services sector. “We should be extremely heartened by these
results,” said BESA chief executive Paul McLaughlin. “We continue to live through a period of unprece- dented political upheaval, yet the building engineer-
12 June 2017
ing services sector remains on track. For nine out of 10 respondents to be so upbeat about their immediate business prospects in the current uncertain economic climate is testa- ment to this industry’s resilience.” However, Mr McLaughlin
(pictured) said this general mood of optimism needed to be tempered by growing concerns over rising ma- terial and labour costs. He urged employers to focus on tackling the skills shortage to alleviate some of the growing pressure on the sector’s workforce. He also described this month’s General Election as “another bump in the road”, but now that it’s over there should be “no more excuses or delays”. “The government must forge ahead quickly with a number of ambitious plans that will directly influence the future of building engineering services,” said Mr McLaughlin.
He pointed to the five-point ‘election manifesto’
created by BESA and the ECA, which urged all political parties to focus on: • placing the built environment at the heart of economic plans; • focusing on energy efficiency as the most cost-ef- fective way of hitting carbon reduction targets; • improving security of payment in supply chains; • committing to ongoing funding plans for SME training; • and recognising the role of the built environment in improving productivity. “Those are our sector’s priorities, but they should be of equal importance to the government as they are essential to underpinning economic growth,” said Mr McLaughlin. “The new administration will have a mandate to provide the forward momentum needed to support our industry’s efforts to deliver a sustain- able and high performance built environment.”
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