October 19, 2016

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Recruitment crisis in fire and security: “there’s no new faces entering the industry”

The Fire Industry Association (FIA) represents around 700 companies nationally, embodying the voices of hundreds of employers and thousands of their staff.

Curiously enough, when speaking to others within the fire industry, we often hear the same old joke being bandied about: that the industry is very insular, and it always has been. An island all of its own, employers often recruit from the small base population that currently exists within the industry.

However, this is causing a huge problem, in that there the workforce is ageing. There is a huge need for new blood within the industry as many either retire or get promoted further up, leaving vacancies that need to be filled.

Without new faces entering the fire industry as a whole, vacancies can be difficult to fill as many applicants lack the requisite training, skills and knowledge.

During the recession there were people that wentinto a different discipline. When we came out of the recession, then employers said: ‘Oh, I need a fire alarm engineer and a project manager.'” Brett Ennals, recruitment consultant, Cento

“The Fire Industry Association has been consulting with a range of employers and recruiters to get a better understanding of the current issues facing the industry today,” said Martin Duggan, general manager of the FIA.  “We are listening to the industry’s concerns to help move the industry forward.”

“No new blood”

Brett Ennals, a recruitment consultant for Cento, an agency specialising in placing fire and security engineers into roles, believes this problem has been apparent for at least 3-4 years. Speaking to the FIA, he said: “Coming out of the recession, the demand for skilled staff [has increased].

“Of course you’ve got people falling off the other end, retiring. Also, during the recession there were people that had gone into a different discipline – into different roles, different jobs – and when we came out of the recession, then [employers] say: ‘Oh, I need a fire alarm engineer and a project manager.’ A lot of people have disappeared [from the fire industry] or they’ve retired, and there’s been no new blood, no new faces coming into the industry.”

The problem stems from the industry’s current demands. According to the last results of the FIA’s Market Conditions Review, 60% of employers have recruited skilled labour in the first quarter of 2016.

A skilled workforce is absolutely integral to the industry as a whole.  Naturally, recruiting more skilled staff makes tactical sense, since they will be able to install, maintain and design fire alarm systems as required.

Unlike other industries, being able to understand and apply the technical aspects are vital. It is not unheard of for fire alarm maintenance companies to face court charges in line with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005: a piece of legislation that clearly sets out the need for a responsible person (usually the owner of any business) to use competent individuals.

In May 2016, in a case that was called ‘the first of its kind’, a fire alarm maintenance company was taken to Manchester Crown Court over failure to properly service the fire alarm of a local care home and fined £6000 for failing to inform the owners of the deficiencies in the system.  Their total lack of competence lead to their ultimate downfall.

One in five employers are facing a talent shortage at the moment, and then that is having an impact on their service delivery.” Brett Ennals, recruitment consultant, Cento

‘Competence’ is always the big key word in the fire world, with many debates around the subject. How does one know when an engineer is truly competent?

This is why those that are fully trained and confident in their knowledge and skills are in such high demand, and quite possibly why there are not enough high quality engineers to go around.

Ennals – whose agency runs a salary comparison website to benefit both employers and employees in the fire and security sectors – agrees that the situation is getting desperate.  “One in five employers are facing a talent shortage at the moment, and then that is having an impact on their service delivery. In general, I’d say those are fire and security employers across the board.

“It’s worsening […]  And as a result some employers are starting to pay over the odds for less skilled [engineers]. Our position with our clients is to find the skilled people and place them into jobs. But then there are a lot of companies that don’t use us for arguments sake and they’ll be taking less skilled people. Most of our clients are looking for the skilled people, but those are becoming less and less.”

Need for diversification

The fire industry as a whole needs diversification.  We all need to start instilling this idea into our minds now more than ever – that the level of professionalism needs to be raised, and that this can only be done by bringing in new people with a range of other soft skills that would be beneficial to the industry as a whole.

Other industries can bring a range of skills that those within the fire alarm industry need, such as customer service, an ability to problem solve, or management skills.  Other qualifications and knowledge can help give an individual a more rounded understanding of their current role in the installation or commissioning of the alarm system.

I think it’s worth employers in the fire industry considering taking people that perhaps have an electrical qualification and then training them, without a shadow of a doubt, to fill the gap.” Brett Ennals, recruitment consultant, Cento

“Without a doubt, new blood and fresh ideas can bring valuable skills to employers.  I mean at the end of the day it is a service business, and it is a highly competitive service business – so you’re only as good as the last service really.  So if you bring people in that have got the right attitude and aptitude and they can help secure contracts as well,” Ennals stated.

Experience or investment

“Businesses should consider investing in their less experienced staff, so that they can feed them into the industry to fill the huge need for more engineers.  That is the latest thinking,” explained Martin Duggan, General Manager of the FIA.

Ennals agrees: “[Most employers] are most looking for experience, they’re all looking for the experienced person that can hit the ground running. The vast majority [of candidates we place] would be on the electronic detection side, averaging about five years, six years of experience.”

But this 5-6 year gap of experience is what is causing the problem, as new people are not entering the profession and leaving companies desperate to recruit.  The only real solution is to invest in more junior engineers or consider applicants from other related fields that could be trained in the current standards and best practise.

For example, ex-military or RAF service men and women are likely to have hugely beneficial technical skills that could be utilised – they may also have the right aptitude and can-do attitude that employers may be looking for.

“I think it’s worth employers in the fire industry considering taking people that perhaps have an electrical qualification and then training them, without a shadow of a doubt, to fill the gap,” said Ennals.

“But then again it just needs for more employers to have an open mind and just invest in some new talent.  But they all seem to have their blinkers on and they think “Oh no no no, I need someone with at least 5 years’ experience who knows the [various systems] back to front and upside down”, but they are not willing to budge on that.

However, the only real way for the industry to progress and move forward is to begin to see the potential of less experienced or junior candidates.  Whilst they may not be able to be truly competent at the time of hiring, with a little investment of an employer’s time, they can be trained to perform all the necessary tasks to an excellent standard.  If, of course, they are given the chance to get qualified.

In the last 12-18 months, people are pushing for what they called ‘multi-disciplined’ engineers – so engineers that can do security systems, access control, as well as fire.” Brett Ennals, recruitment consultant, Cento

Competence

The issue right now is that whilst there are plenty of ways to gain experience ‘on the job’, and to develop knowledge through attending manufacturer’s training on their individual pieces of equipment, there is currently no one offering a formal qualification.

“Employers are looking for people who have been trained on particular bits of equipment.  But specifically in the last 12-18 months, people are pushing for what they called ‘multi-disciplined’ engineers – so engineers that can do security systems, access control, as well as fire.  And there has been a trend recently that fire people are moving into security, and security people are moving into fire.

“Ideally [employers want candidates to be] electrically qualified, as in a qualified electrician, or a qualified engineer on low voltage engineering – but more and more they are just looking for experience, because there isn’t really any sort of formal qualification in fire detection or fire alarms or security alarms.”

Ennals also mentioned that there is a real need for that at the moment for a formal qualification in fire detection and alarm systems in order to improve the quality of engineers in the industry today. It is definitely time for employers to start thinking about getting new staff and how they are going to train them and move them forward.

All in all, competency is the important issue, but employers must make allowances and be more open minded to less experienced or junior applicants and be prepared to give them the training that they need and deserve in order to better service the industry as a whole.

 

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