Chief Executive’s Report

The landscape industry seems to be operating at capacity, but can it be maintained?

Material availability, including responsibly sourced timber, is delaying projects from weeks to months

Reacting to current market

conditions, members are urging clients to expedite their projects by starting construction ahead of a forecasted prolonged period of cost inflation running at 5%.

Infrastructure in particular is susceptible to pressures around material availability and a shortage of specialist skills, with price increases of 3% and 5% being forecast for 2021 and 2022 respectively. For the buildings sector, growth in the regions will be higher than in London. Delays in getting projects moving are likely to translate into an even steeper pace of inflationary growth from 2022 onwards, reaching 5% by 2025 as the market recovers*.

At the moment, there is still some spare capacity available, but the shortages of construction materials create inflationary conditions that have already begun to outweigh any deflationary factors. Any delays increase the potential exposure to much higher construction costs than initially planned for, as higher inflation may become the new normal.

Employee burnout!

37% of employers feel their teams are teetering on the brink of burnout due to heavy pandemic-related workloads. Failing to spot the warning signs can lead to demotivated, demoralised and under-productive employees, right at a time when you need them most.

What is employee ‘burnout’?

Burnout occurs when an employee has been under intense stress for a prolonged period of time. The NHS lists burnout symptoms as physical and emotional exhaustion, a sense of powerlessness, and hopelessness. Luckily, this can be avoided by simply learning to spot employee burnout signs.

Employee burnout signs

It’s unlikely your employees will come forward and admit that they’re burning out. According to mental health charity, Mind, 30% of staff said they wouldn’t feel able to talk openly about stress with their line manager. If you don’t start the dialogue, there’s a good chance it’ll go unchecked.

Arcadis tender price rise forecast* Regional building London building Infrastructure

2021 1% 0% 3%

2022 3% 3% 5%

2023

2024 4%

5%

2025 5%

Five-year total 18% 4%

5%

5%

17% 5%

5%

5%

23% Although the signs of burnout manifest differently for everyone, these four red flags are a good place to start:

• A negative attitude: This can relate to your employee’s overall outlook on life, the way they interact with fellow team members or their approach to tasks

• Decline in performance:

Performance reviews and weekly catch-up sessions are a great way to spot this particular sign of burnout

• Missed deadlines: The fatigue and low motivation associated with burnout could cause even the simplest tasks to take far longer

• Frequent illness or fatigue: This may manifest as an employee regularly calling in sick, frequently complaining about poor health, or simply looking tired

Remember, burnout is a slow-burning issue that develops over time. In order to catch it, you’ll need to remain vigilant long term.

Remote working has changed the nature of burnout. Don’t be tempted to assume employee burnout has lessened because they may have been working from home. If anything, current circumstances have created a perfect storm for stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.

Since last March, UK households have been subjected to national lockdown in varying degrees. This puts employees under prolonged pressure as they juggle work, childcare, and home schooling under ever-changing

Promote healthy discussions around wellbeing and mental health with your employees ROLO Operative courses have continued online throughout the pandemic

circumstances. A study by the Mental Health Foundation found that 74% of UK adults felt unable to cope with the stress of the last year.

If the situation weren’t difficult enough, working from home (or as some refer to it…living at work!) introduces an entirely new set of factors that can contribute toward burnout. Without set boundaries between work and home, it’s far easier for employees to work past office hours without realising. There’s also more pressure for them to appear hyper-productive while working from home in a bid to reassure employers that output can remain high.

Remote working requires you to be more observant as an employer. Pay close attention to body language, tone of voice and expression when chatting to your team over video calls - the signs of exhaustion and demotivation may be more challenging to spot without in-person contact.

How can you provide support in the ‘new normal’?

• Realistic approach to workloads:

Preventing employee burnout means confronting ambitious workloads with a more realistic view.

How much work can your employees do without staying late or missing lunch breaks?

• Offer flexible hours: Shifting the workday by several hours can take the pressure off employees who are trying to manage home-schooling due to lockdowns or self-isolating, care duties and household logistics alongside their workload • Be approachable and accessible:

By promoting healthy discussions around wellbeing and mental health, you can encourage reluctant employees to come forward before burnout becomes a serious issue.

Ensure you remain accessible to staff when they need a quick call or video chat

• Support through resources: Does your company have mental health resources available to staff? Make sure your team know what support is available to them, whether it’s free counselling, wellbeing programmes or educational literature

Membership renewal

We have received a great response to membership renewal this year. I would like to thank you for your continued commitment and support for your Trade Association and remind you to make the most of your membership benefits. Login to your member’s area at bali.org.uk/my-bali to find out if there are any benefits you are not taking advantage of.

ROLO courses

We’re close to launching the highly anticipated Register of Land-based Operations (ROLO) Health, Safety and Environmental Awareness courses for supervisors and managers in the land-based industry. These will be the only accepted route when applying for your Land-based Industry Skills Scheme/Construction Skills Certification Scheme (LISS/ CSCS) SmartCard (for those working in the commercial sector) at the appropriate level and provide a great basis for health & safety training, even if you do not require a LISS/ CSCS SmartCard.

Our two new course levels, along with our popular ROLO Operative course, have now all been approved by both Build UK and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and therefore are the appropriate SmartCards that you and your staff should be obtaining to get onto site. As a result of this approval, all three ROLO courses do attract a training grant from CITB for those companies that are paying the CITB Levy.

Finally, we are very sad to see Darren leave the Association and his post as Editor of Landscape News. Darren has not only made a great contribution to the Association’s marketing and communications but has transformed this quarterly journal. He will be missed by all at Landscape House and on behalf of the board and the team, we wish him well.

Best wishes.

Wayne Grills

Chief Executive