A growing school of thought
Can we talk skills for a moment? Many are, and more should, more often. Andy Burnham is one leader who is and will be in depth at an ING event in Manchester next month (keep reading for details of how to sign up). Other industry leaders are putting it front and centre of their agendas too. Even government and sector institutions are making encouraging noises. Can this rhetoric come together to secure meaningful change for young people, for the built world and for the sector’s reputation? It’s not impossible. But it will take inspiration, perspiration and – from top to bottom – education.
For some time now, ING has been working with the Regeneration Brainery, a fabulous organisation that is all about getting more young and diverse people into the built world. So, it made sense to stage a joint event focusing on just that. Practical and inspirational, the discussion will focus on how we can all work harder to attract young talent.
Burnham will talk about MBacc (the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate) and more – of course there will be more. Hyde will speak about what JLL is doing to widen its talent pool. A “Brainee” who has passed through the Regeneration Brainery’s bootcamp will share how they are building their career on the foundations of that experience. And ING will talk about what we’re doing – expanding in Manchester, widening our intern programme to bring in more diverse thinking, and growing Elevate, our programme aimed at small built world businesses with ethnically diverse leadership.
There are so many reasons why we all need to work harder to attract young talent: from shortages in key skills to the need to design places that work for diverse communities.
It matters for employers, for the built world’s entire value chain and for cities. The best of each of those groups get it. They recognise the value of diverse thinking and focus on tailoring their offer to attract those who can provide something both valuable and different.
Take cities as an example. At ING, we’ve spent several years monitoring how they use social media to attract visitors, investment and, increasingly, talent.
Most recently, we’ve seen that more and more of them are using their social media channels to develop narratives than appeal to young talent. ING’s latest Most Talked About Cities research, launched at MIPIM, found that the best are not waiting for the talent to find them, they are going where the talent hangs out. X/Twitter and Facebook are out, LinkedIn and TikTok are in.
(What we are calling the rise of the TikTok cities – and what it means for talent and investment attraction – is on the agenda of our new Visible Cities Network too. More on that soon.)
Two traditionally slower moving beasts are also getting in on the act, with RICS working with government to develop a GCSE for the built environment.
It’s a self-evident case (and exactly what RICS should be doing) but, speaking to The Times, chief executive Justin Young outlined the reasoning exceptionally well: “We’ve got to be better at making the profession of the built environment more attractive to people. Who cares whether at 14 you don’t know if you want to be a surveyor or an architect or a [real estate] debt specialist? It doesn’t matter. Just get to know the built environment and then make those choices later.”
Hear, hear – and hear more in Manchester.
If you do want to come along on 1 May – and why wouldn’t you? – sign up here and do bring along a bright young mind looking for inspiration and the opportunity to network with the industry leaders of today and tomorrow.