Project management and the private finance initiative

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Figure 4.16 Reasons for not being involved in PFI projects Reasons for not being involved in PFI projects Company not currently involved in PFI projects Specialisations do not relate to PFI projects Company is not currently interested in PFI projects Cannot get the skills needed in current job Company is too small Not interested in PFI projects Ideologically opposed to PFI Table 4.2: Reasons for not being involved in PFI projects 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Not true Mean response (Likert scale) Very true Company not Company is not Specialisations do Not currently currently Cannot get the Ideologically Likert not relate to PFI interested in involved in PFI interested in PFI Company is skills needed in opposed to Score* projects PFI projects projects projects too small current job PFI 1 18% 47% 21% 43% 57% 32% 57% 2 8% 15% 3% 10% 9% 17% 15% 3 7% 10% 3% 6% 3% 12% 6% 4 11% 15% 6% 13% 11% 15% 13% 5 11% 5% 4% 5% 7% 7% 3% 6 11% 3% 9% 7% 3% 7% 3% 7 34% 6% 53% 16% 11% 10% 3% Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% * 1 = not true; 7 = very true In order to elicit further information on the skills issue, a follow-up online questionnaire was developed for non-PFI-active respondents. This survey received 83 responses, of which 71% had been involved in PFI and 29% had not. As this is a much lower response than the main survey, the results should be interpreted with some degree of caution. Very few respondents in the follow-up survey felt they needed additional skills to work on PFI projects, confirming the views of the main online survey. Fewer still said that those skills were not 27 chapter four Survey of RICS Project Management Faculty Members Project management and the private finance initiative Y Y Y Y Y Y available in their current job (4% of non-active respondents from the follow-up survey). Amongst this group there were mixed views about specific skill requirements. However, risk appreciation, process and political skills were judged to be more important than understanding client needs and technical knowledge, although the differences were slight. There were also mixed views regarding the need for learning more about PFI for respondents’ career progression. Some 21% said that PFI would not be important for their future career and 33% said that it would be very important. Y
4.6 Continuous professional development The questionnaire briefly examined the CPD requirements of respondents. Some 75% preferred in-house training and 72% reading to meet CPD requirements. Seminars were also popular, with 46% attending RICS seminars and 66% attending seminars organised by other organisations. RICS seminars were the most popular for the youngest age group (21–25-year-olds) with 61% preferring this form of CPD. This is likely to reflect the high proportion of individuals undertaking their Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) within this age group. Other forms of CPD were favoured by similar proportions of respondents across age groups. In terms of where people go to undertake CPD, London and South East England were the most popular for 32% and 22% of responses respectively. 4.7 Conclusions The survey has provided the first opportunity to consult the membership of the RICS Project Management Faculty about their involvement in PFI. The survey showed that almost half of those that responded have been involved in a PFI project. The main findings from these PFI-active individuals are as follows. • Members tend to be principally involved in the inception, bidding and construction stages of a project. These are the stages at which project managers from a construction and property background can provide the most valuable input to project based on their specialist skills. The operation stage of projects involves far fewer Faculty members. • A well-drafted output specification and a robust business case are considered to be the most important success factors for PFI projects. The commitment of senior management in awarding authorities is also important, as is effective consultation with the end-users of the projects. Project management skills (in both the public and private sectors) are perceived as being less important, in contrast to the interview findings. • Different stakeholders within the PFI process have different perceptions about what constitutes the important project management skills. Investors and FM providers consider risk appreciation to be the most important skill. Investors also put more emphasis on political skills than other stakeholder groups. • For PFI a good understanding of the client is regarded as the most important skill for the project manager to possess. An appreciation of the risks involved is also vital. The responses from those individuals who have not been active in PFI suggest that their key reasons for not being involved are broadly out of their direct control. Many of their companies do not participate in the PFI market, or their specialisations do not relate well to PFI. For these respondents, the latter reason rules out PFI work for many. Fewer still feel that they cannot get appropriate skills in their current working environment (about 17% of non-active respondents), supported by the result that nearly half of the non-active respondents do not think they will become involved in PFI in the next two years. Project management and the private finance initiative chapter four Survey of RICS Project Management Faculty Members 28
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