YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
POSITIVE PATHWAYS E
Fiona Russell Horne eavesdrops on a conversation between two NBG Partners about the challenges of recruiting and retaining younger people into the sector.
d Parlato is Director of Browns Builders merchants in Derby, a two branch NBG Partner. Grant Shewan is Managing Director of GPH Builders Merchants, a family-run merchants with four branches across Aberdeenshire.
Grant Shewan: There is a big challenge, when you look at the age profile of the standard independent builders’ merchants, independently owned and maybe family run. It can be hard to encourage youngsters to want to look at the sector.
Ed Parlato: When I came into the business, there was probably only one person who was four or five years older than me, then there was a huge gap of a couple of decades, before you got to the next person. The issue is not just about recruiting into the businesses, it’s also important that we then bring those young people into NBG as that will be a way of retaining them. It is important that anyone coming into the business understands the bigger picture and sees a career path and room for development.
Shewan: Agreed. Once they have started a job, at whatever level, a starter might not necessarily see that if they just stay with the business they can develop. It is a big challenge for all businesses. Whether you are a builder’s merchant, a supplier or even one of our customers, the challenges are the same. Do you have a sustainable pathway for people to come through your business, and then stay there and climb some sort of ladder?
Parlato: Absolutely. It’s so important that we all understand the need not just to recruit younger people into the business but also keep them there as well. It’s very competitive out there. If you’re recruiting into a builder’s merchant, you’re basically telling your potential employees “Oh we are open from 7.30am m to 5pm at night. Those are the hours and most of us will have to do Saturdays as well.” That’s quite a challenge to get them to want to do that when they could get an eight hour shift at Sainsbury’s for similar money. That can be a tough sell when there are a lot of other options for them.
January 2023
Shewan: In the last few years we have recognised that we don’t really have a problem now, but in five years’ time we will. So, the steps that we have taken include a commitment as a company to take on 10 graduates, trainees and apprentices over the next three years. We hadn’t quite worked
out how we were going to do it, but we made sure that we put it down in writing and told everyone what we were going to do. That’s a way of ensuring that it actually happens, rather than just gets talked about. It’s difficult to recruit, but it is almost harder to retain because once you take a young person in, you have to give them a clear pathway and direction. If you think about it, we take youngsters who have just come through school dealing with computers and iPads the whole time. Then, they come to work with us, and we stick them outside in a yard and tell them we need 10 bags of cement moving from here to there, or whatever. So, we’ve tried to think more about how we can harness some of their experience, and skills, which tend to be technology. By being a bit more structured in how we recruit and train, hopefully, we can improve retention as well.
We also made an investment into the business by bringing in an HR specialist, someone who can recognise that you don’t have to be an apprentice or under 24 to need to be developed. There are a lot of people who find their way into merchanting after trying other things, and they still need defined career
paths.They have loads of potential but might need work. The key thing that we want to continue to do is to be able to give people, a chance to prove themselves, to find out what their niche within the business is, and to fit into it.
Parlato: There are so many different routes that people can go down, and it’s so important that there is a visibility of the journey. That anyone coming into the business can see that they may find their niche where they are comfortable, but equally, they might see that they can try something different. It’s all about communication, the pathway needs to be
Left: Grant Shewan, Managing director of GPH Builders Merchants
Right: Ed Parlato is director of Browns Builders Merchants in Derby
clearly defined. You may well have people in the business that you want to do well. They might be looking round the business and thinking that they have maybe reached a ceiling or the furthest point they can go, especially in a family-run small independent because there can be a limit. You need to talk with them so that they can see that there might be room to grow and develop, even though it might not be immediately obvious. The principals of NBG businesses aren’t going to be in those roles forever, but the career paths and opportunities need to be clear. It may be a tricker in tough times, but if a business is growing then there are always going to be new opportunities and roles for newer entrants to develop into, if they are right for those positions.
Shewan: You also have to bear in mind that the investment you make in people now might pay dividends in a few years’ time for your business, or for someone else’s. There will be some people who you will train and develop and then they will leave. That’s just how it is, and you have to take the right attitude with that. Yes, it’s a bit frustrating if you lose one of your good, trained young people to a competitor, but equally you could pick up someone from another competitor who you can continue to develop in your business. We’re all doing out little bit for the industry with this because bringing in new people isn’t just the problem for the independent sector, it affects the entire industry. If we all take the view that we don’t want to develop anyone because they might leave and benefit a competitor, then we’ll never get anywhere.
Parlato: Bringing people through into NBG from the Partners means we are helping them to develop, but we are also showing them the general career paths available.
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