Barely a day goes by without a new funding or project announcement for the renewable energy sector, and they all come hand in hand with the promise of thousands of new jobs.
Huge investments are being committed by the Government and industry into low carbon projects, solar infrastructure, offshore wind and tidal. At the same time, it’s also been confirmed that the decline of domestic fossil fuel production will be slowed with the granting of new oil and gas licences.
Which begs the question, where are all the new employees going to come from?
Just one of the Government projects alone – the creation of new carbon capture usage and storage clusters – claims the potential to support ‘up to 50,000 new jobs’, and there are many others with big staffing requirements attached.
Investments in training and education would be needed on an industrial scale to meet that demand in the coming years; if it can even be met in full at all.
We know there’s already a skills shortage in renewable energy recruitment, and that’s why we’d encourage any businesses in the renewable energy sector to plan now for their future recruitment needs. Whether you’re a start-up that has won funding for an innovation, or a big corporation investing in low and zero carbon technologies, we can help you unlock talent in the sector – and get ahead of the competition in securing the people you need to achieve your goals.
So how do we help you unlock energy sector talent?
This is where having a strategic partner like Jonathan Lee recruitment can help. Using our extensive network and contacts, developed over a rich 45-year history, we will help you identify and attract exceptional candidates in the ultra-competitive energy industry. One of the ways we do this is through talent pooling.
What is talent pooling and how does it work?
Rather than just posting a vacancy on jobs boards and hoping for the best, talent pooling is much more proactive. It’s a strategic approach, backed up by extensive research and industry knowledge, to identify what you need, whether it’s out there, where to look and how you can attract it. It’s about building relationships with potential candidates, even if there are no current vacancies – all designed to give you the best possible chances of securing the best possible people.
The five phases of talent pooling
Planning: When working with us as your strategic partner, the first thing we will do is drill down on the exact skills you need your new recruits to have. This goes much deeper than a job title – which in the current market might be too specialist to find – to determine the sort of skills and experience that could be relevant to your vacancies. We’ll look at this with and without the expectation of additional training being provided. We will also look at your business plan in terms of when you need new recruits to be on board and work back from there to plan when recruitment activity needs to take place.
Research: Based on our extensive experience and contacts across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, engineering, advanced tech, transport, FMCG and energy, we will work to identify where the skills you need might be found. This could be another industry where skillsets are similar, such as engineering or project management, or even a particular geographical location, perhaps where certain industries or technologies are clustered. As part of our benchmarking, we will also be able to advise on whether the skills you need are available and if so, how much you should be prepared to pay for them.
Sourcing: We’ll then use a variety of measures to begin to identify potential candidates. This will include reaching out to our own database of candidates and contacts, alongside referrals, targeted advertising, professional networking sites and appropriate social media platforms.
Engaging: Successful talent pooling is about building relationships with the right people. We’ll identify potential candidates for you based on skills, qualifications, experience, values and future availability and we’ll actively engage with them on a regular basis to keep them interested and appraised of any opportunities in the pipeline.
Recruiting: When your vacancies become available, we’ll be able to draw on this ready pool of vetted talent, giving you a head start in finding the people you need. If you’re a large corporation with a requirement for lots of staff, we can help you plan and phase recruitment and onboarding in a more manageable way that minimises disruption to your business.
Benefits of talent pooling
This strategic approach is particularly beneficial in a job market just like the one we are experiencing in the renewable energy sector now – where demand for staff is high, but availability of suitable candidates is low, and where several big businesses will be competing against each other for those people, while the smaller start-ups also struggle to get a look in.
It’s also extremely valuable if you’re a start-up and don’t yet fully understand the skills you will need, or what a particular job description should look like.
Talent pooling early on can give you a unique insight into how much your future recruitment needs are going to cost you and provide access to a ‘pool’ of potential candidates, always ready for you to ‘fish’ in – to use the analogy.
There’s also the possibility that the research phase will indicate the skills you need aren’t available in the format you’re looking for. If this is the case, it’s better to know as early as possible so we can look at potential solutions. Perhaps the short-term answer will lie in using freelance consultants or contractors, in which case you’ll be able to secure your slot in their diaries well in advance.
You might discover that to really get the skills you need, training will be required. Finding this out early will give you time to source providers, or even develop your own courses.
Joining forces to secure recruitment success and achieve your goals
By partnering with Jonathan Lee, you gain a dedicated team that is passionate about supporting your growth journey.
To find out more about how we can support you with your energy recruitment needs, read about our energy recruitment service here, or give our Associate Director, Lee Elwell, (pictured above) a call on 01384 446154.
You might also like to read more about how we can work together to unlock your energy business success.