SKILLS GAP RENEWABLES TRAINING NETWORK
The skills landscape for Renewable Energy is complex and ever evolving. In an industry that is still developing, yet has by its very nature to remain at the forefront of setting exemplary Health and Safety behaviour, all employees entering the industry will expect to undergo extensive training throughout their career. This training will inevitably be both in technical competencies and behavioural safety.
Renewable UK, through their Skills and Education Strategy Group, alongside National Skills Academy for Power, already undertake extensive work to ensure there is a highly skilled pool of talent entering the workforce supply chain at grassroots level, and this work is expanded upon in the accompanying article from Sophie Bennett.
TRANSITION However, it is vital that Renewables as an industry continue to work to ensure that the highly skilled workforce that exists in other industries at a more mature level is able to transition across, with clearly signed routes that lead to defined and quality assured courses.
FUNDING The Renewables Training Network (RTN), a subsidiary of Renewable UK, was launched in November 2011, and has been created through The Growth and Innovation Fund, a fund administered by UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Through invites to industry, matched funding has been allocated that has enabled the RTN to commence its work to address the potential skills gap. With a pilot and set up phase reaching into mid- 2013, the RTN is currently market-testing solutions that will signpost industry best practice and so give the wider market greater clarity on which courses really deliver the knowledge the industry needs to move forward and realise its greater ambitions.
THE ON-GOING CHALLENGE The Renewables training landscape is typified by new and innovative ideas, as you would expect from such a relatively young industry. The on-going challenge is always in striking a balance between recognising entrepreneurial thinking and avoiding duplication of effort.
The range of skills needed to help this industry grow, range from the volume intensive competencies of Electrical and Mechanical engineers, through to the more niche activities at pre construction stage, linked to risk mitigation, environmental awareness, site and
project planning, with numerous training interventions in between.
PROVIDING INDUSTRY BENEFITS As an organisation the RTN is looking to provide benefits that will assist market participants across the supply chain, right through from SME to the major multi-nationals, and are ever mindful that courses have to really deliver what they purport they do.
RECOGNITION OF LEARNING PROCESS Our quality assurance process ensures that before any course is subjected to EU Skills’ rigorous ‘Recognition of Learning Process’ (our Quality Assurance partner), it has been pre-assessed by industry. Stringent quality checks applied at this stage by the RTN ensure that only the best courses will go through the process. Where multiple courses exist, the RTN will signpost best practice to set standards that need to be met. Where no courses exist, the RTN will work with industry to develop and ‘quality assure’ courses to fill this gap.
WORKING TOGETHER Located as we are at Renewable UK’s offices in London, the RTN has full access to Renewable UK’s extensive membership to help achieve these goals. However, it is also important to note that engagement with the RTN is not dependant on our working partners being members of RenewableUK. If a course can add value to the renewables industry, the RTN will work to help share those benefits with a wider community.
PROGRESS So 9 months in, where has the RTN got to? The list of courses currently being worked on, or waiting to go through Quality Assurance, is ever growingand we continue to invite expressions from anyone who feels the RTN can help them develop course material from the industry.
PRIME GOALS One of the prime goals is to provide big business benefits to SME’s though engagement with the RTN, by setting up group purchasing opportunities. The end
goal is to have a website hosting a range of quality assured courses, displayed in a modular style, to help future employees and employers alike to really understand what training is needed. With the employee market coming from a range of backgrounds, and potentially heading to a range of roles, giving clarity to the market is both a challenge and an opportunity.
RAISED PROFILE The next 12 months will see the profile of the RTN really step up a gear as the efforts of the last few months’ groundwork and preparation really begin to bear fruit. The RTN is not here to add another layer of confusion to a potentially fragmented landscape. Anyone who has heard me speak at industry events will have heard my mantra, that a fractured training landscape is a dangerous training landscape.
Working to give greater clarity, the RTN will de-mystify the routes to training, provide a one stop shop for potential employees and employers alike, drive down costs by reducing the amount of duplicated effort, and ultimately provide a valuable and much needed resource.
We look forward to updating you on our progress in future articles.
Steve Green
Renewables Training Network (a subsidiary of RenewableUK)
www.ukces.org.uk
20
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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