October 2020

Career Moves & Progression
OFF THE TOOLS: ADAPT YOUR SKILLS
Some individuals in roofing choose to down their tools on site and work their way up to
management or supervisory roles. But what’s involved when it comes to upskilling to
these professional roles? Stuart Hicks, CEO of the Institute of Roofing (IOR), explains.
Figures released by The Construction
Industry Training Board (CITB) earlier this
year revealed the total Annual Recruitment
Requirement (ARR) for professional occupations
in the construction industry and non-manual
occupations will be more than 17,000 by 2023.
This, of course, might be affected by the Covid-19
pandemic, but within the last five years, the
growth of employment has been stronger among
the managerial and professional occupations and
weaker among the trades, and this trend is
expected to continue to 2023.
We also can’t ignore our ageing workforce within
construction, and many individuals are looking to
come off the tools and work their way up to
managerial positions.
Whatever your motives, it’s important to be fully
equipped with the training and knowledge
required to meet the requirement of these roles.
Staying ahead of the game and keeping your CV
updated with skills and training is also a
consideration as we enter a more uncertain
economic climate during the pandemic.
Where to start
In our current situation with Covid-19, and as the
UK grapples with Brexit negotiations, it can be
difficult to know who to turn to for advice and
training.
It is always advisable to speak to a sector body,
such as ourselves here at the Institute of Roofing
(IoR), for guidance on where to access further
training for individuals to progress in their careers.
Despite the Institute existing for the last four
decades, the primary focus for the IoR now is to
remind professionals what the Institute is, what it
can do for them, and aim high for the future.
Professional bodies like the IoR
encourage and support continual
learning, development and
training for those in supervisor,
management and ownership
roles within the roofing industry.
The Institute offers individual members
a clear, structured path towards management
careers in roofing by achieving industry recognised
professional qualifications. This is done by building
on existing knowledge, offering industry-specific
courses and CPD. This then provides professional
status as an Associate member, or higher-level
status of the IoR.
The IoR is diverse and fully inclusive with members
from every area of the roofing industry; from
distribution, manufacturing, training, contracting,
surveying and consultancy, as well as other
essential support services.
Whether you’re an apprentice, someone new to the
industry, still in training, or an established manager
or business owner, there are enormous benefits to
not just joining the IoR, but tapping into its
resources and contacts within the wider specifier
and roofing community.
Online tools
Anyone can access the qualification opportunities
offered by the Institute and carry their career
forward. A host of online courses costing £15 +VAT
each, for example, are available to anyone through
the Institute’s website; with one free course offered
per year as a member benefit. These courses cover
anything from manual handling, asbestos
awareness and working at height, to data
protection, conflict in the workplace and social
media for business training – providing essential
knowledge to anyone working in the roofing industry.
Left: Stuart Hicks, CEO of the IoR.
We also have an online benefits portal of
training and e-learning options which
can only be accessed by members, and
we encourage them to share the
information and knowledge using the
tools from the portal with colleagues, family
and friends. Many of these courses are free to
members or at a nominal cost.
Available through our website, a number of our
online learning courses have also now been
recognised as part of the NFRC’s RoofCERT
accreditation programme – take-up of these
courses has proved to be a real success for us this
year. Independently certified by leading bodies,
these six courses include Abrasive Wheels, Fire
Safety, Working at Height, Manual Handling, First
Aid, Asbestos Awareness and Fire Marshal.
Keep communicating
As our working life has changed dramatically in
recent months, we’re not seeing people face-toface
like we used to, so it’s important to maintain
regular communication with our colleagues,
contacts and outside organisations.
Coronavirus is not an excuse to move away from
best practice, and regular communication will be
paramount to help make positive changes and
seamless transitioning into our new ‘world’ of work.
As an Institute, we are working closely with other
training providers, federations and sector
associations to try and keep the conversation
going, having created the first-stage pathway to
professional qualifications to help and encourage
participants to achieve their highest level.
Contact The Institute of Roofing
www.instituteofroofing.org
30 TC OCTOBER 2020