11 minute read
Nurturing security talent
INTERVIEW
Finding future stars
Continuing our focus on the future of the fire and security installation sector, PSI spoke to George Zitko of talent solutions provider Zitko Group to discuss the market and to discover more about a recently-announced partnership with one of the UK’s largest fire and security installers
The skills shortage across the security industry spectrum, specifically in relation to engineers, has been on the agenda for years and there are several initiatives in place to develop the profile of careers in the market. Readers of PSI will be familiar with the work being done to raise the level of apprenticeships in the sector. But what about attracting expertise from outside the field of fire and security and developing existing engineers to widen and strengthen the pool?
It was announced recently that Chubb Fire and Security UK has launched an accelerated development programme, designed to attract and train new industry entrants in partnership with Zitko Talent. The programme will last approximately 18 weeks, starting with alternating blocks of technical training, field experience and manufacturer-led certified product training. Trainees will emerge as certified fire and security engineers, equipped with the knowledge required to work within Chubb’s installation and maintenance teams. Chubb joins a growing list of companies partnering with Zitko on the programme including Mayflex, Lenel S2, 360 Vision, CDVI, Suprema and Eagle Eye Networks.
We caught up with George Zitko to find out more about the Talent scheme and how the requirements of engineers and employers are evolving along with the technology being installed.
What trends are you seeing in the market today? If you'd have asked me about general security trends twelve months ago, the number one problem for security installers would have been recruiting talent, however that has now been superseded by supply chain concerns. The market is still very competitive and despite the news about the recession, this doesn’t appear to have had any impact on the market; installation companies are short of staff, but high on projects. Therefore, recruitment challenges for employers haven't gone away and the candidate market remains highly competitive. What has changed are the motivational factors for candidates given the economic and social issues of the last 3 years.
Is it the same picture for all roles in the security and fire sector? In general, there is a massive shortage of people across the board, although there always has been. When I joined the industry back in 2004, we were talking about a talent shortage even then and unfortunately varying factors have
George Zitko
INTERVIEW
(continued from page 23)
contributed to increasing that problem over the years. At every point in the supply chain - from manufacturing, through sales and technical, to both fire and security disciplines - there are shortages. The market is fierce and it's competitive. And now, our data shows candidates asking questions based on topics like mental health and well-being, work life balance and commuting. Salary is now a growing issue because of the strains that have been put on people by the cost of living.
Are installers expecting more from prospective employers? Engineers and project managers are in significantly higher demand than they were a year ago and that naturally causes a change in dynamic. Candidates feel more confident, aware, possibly even more bullish about their situation. A range of new emotions are now all in play. Candidates are meeting employers and expecting a pitch due to the number of opportunities available to them. For an active candidate it’s usually one of four or five suitable employers as a minimum. Candidates are asking better questions around other key topics like training, personal development and progression and expecting more from their interviewers. Most interestingly our data also shows that the interview experience has a direct correlation to the rate of hiring success.
Does this change how employers approach recruitment? The demand for good engineers means that, while in the past employers may have been able to conduct singular recruitment campaigns, for example posting a job advert - that simply won’t work today. Recruitment and retention is a holistic process from start to finish, incorporating more elements than ever before. Employers and hiring managers need to know their company’s mission, vision and values their USPs and essentially what they can offer employees to make them different from the competition. This also needs to be backed up by their employer brand with evidential content like case studies, testimonials and employer ratings on their website and social media presence. The employers that don't do that are the ones that are going to suffer.
So employers need to change their attitude to recruiting? Absolutely. While candidates today are asking themselves different questions from what they might have prioritised in the past, fundamentally they still want to work for a good employer and work for a business that meets their own ideals and ethos. Money is an issue now. People are worried about a recession, house prices, fuel and energy costs. Candidates who would never have put money as their first concern when considering careers, are now being forced to. This changing dynamic needs to be reflected by the employer, whilst still understanding that conditions like flexibility around work life balance, employee engagement practices, well-being and mental health, financial support and advice, equality and diversity, training and development etc remain key factors in the decision to move.
On the other side of things, is there a problem with employers coming to you expecting the perfect candidate? That's never changed as employers have always looked for the unicorn! It doesn’t matter what industry you operate in, people can get too entrenched in looking for the perfect candidate. In our view, there's no such thing as the perfect candidate, but there is the right candidate. We work with employers to convert an unrealistic checklist of requirements into an achievable list of skills, attributes, and experience. By putting retention at the heart of the recruitment process
SMOKE DETECTION
and offering solid consultation and advice, our customers are then more likely to fill jobs with the right people who will genuinely add value and stay long-term.
What is Zitko Talent? From when I joined the industry, it’s been continually evolving. We were moving from digital to IP and the genera IT skills within the industry were short of where they needed to be. Now, amongst other things it’s cloud, virtualisation, cyber and storage and the issue remains. In those days all of the large installation organisations were running really strong apprenticeship programmes, traineeships and YTS schemes creating a continual influx of talent into the industry. Funding for security training for forces personnel also meant an invaluable pipeline of ex-military professionals joining the industry at an adult and skilled stage. Since then, funding cuts and under-use of trainee schemes, added to now by the effects of the pandemic and the increased competition in the market means the picture has just got worse and worse.
I've always believed in partnerships and solutions. Zitko as a business has never been about placing the same people in the same jobs with the same companies. So about two and a half years ago, Zitko Group was large enough and had the right personnel within the business, to launch Zitko Talent, which is all about solving the industry's talent crisis and ultimately placing 20,000 people with transferable skills into fire and security careers.
The industry has a terrible time marketing itself. For example, we call it an industry, not a career. That's something I want to change. And we need to get the message out to the right people. Some great steps have already been taken – for example I'm a massive advocate of apprenticeships as I believe we need to be bringing young people into the industry. It's a great way to build engagement, talent, and skills. But Zitko Talent differs from apprenticeships in that it specifically targets retrainers with life experience and transferable skills, who can become effective within businesses, ideally within three to six months. We’re already seeing Talent candidates on callout or leading projects within that timeframe.
We've re-engaged with the military through the Career Transitions Partnership (CTP) and other ex-forces organisations, and we are actively working with universities, councils, groups and STEM organisations while marketing fire and security careers to professionals in other trades and industries. We then ensure our employers have the framework and structure to support those candidates over their first 12 months as an employee, whether that’s through training, mentorship, guidance or consistent communication. This has so far meant retention rates of over 90%, something we’re incredibly excited about.
There’s someone to thank for all this. I'll never forget one of my first ever hiring managers was the Service Manager for Kidde Fire in Luton. He identified very quickly that telecommunications engineers trained fantastically well into fire within three months. He never asked me to recruit a fire alarm engineer, he would ask me to recruit in the fibre and telco sector and identify people that were excited by fire systems and life safety. We ended up recruiting over 30 people for him in a year when other installers were struggling to find anyone. That taught me the value of transferable skills and that's what I've championed throughout my career.
Alternatively, what's the key to retaining rather than recruiting? We focus on retention with all our employment partners. We're not interested in placing someone and then having them leave a short time later - it doesn't do anyone any good. The key is to put retention at the heart of the recruitment process because if you are looking at short term fixes, you're going to get short term gains. Identifying the right person based on the right values to the right ethos is number one because if you get the recruitment right, that relates to 75% of the retention piece. In essence, there's no magic ingredient, but one
Mark Staples, Ahsun Jilani, Steve Gray, Catriona Malone and George Zitko at the Lenel S2 Envision event in March 2022. Lenel S2 are Zitko Talent partners
INTERVIEW
(continued from p25)
thing that I've learned from managers and from senior HR professionals within the industry is the importance of communication.
One of the biggest factors in someone's wellbeing within a business is their line manager. If there was one thing I'd recommend to every business, it is to focus on communication and ensure all of their leaders are regularly ‘checking-in’. Are your people happy? What are they saying? What are they doing? What are they feeling? What's going on in their personal lives? Are they on the right development path? It's the easiest thing to do; you don't need training or to go on a course to learn. Good communication equals good retention.
Along the same lines then, if an engineer isn't happy how important is it for them to communicate that fact rather than just looking to move? It's huge, but they must be given that platform to communicate. We can't always expect our people to come to us with their problems because sometimes the ones with the biggest problems are the least likely to come forward. You've got to give people the platform to speak and provide a trusting and open culture so they can be open without fear of reprimand. Generally it’s still true to this day that employers and recruiters like to see stability and progression on a CV, however the days of 34 years being standard tenure are long gone.
What do you think's going to happen in the future with careers in the sector? It's going to take time to change the picture in the sector, but one of our goals for 2023 is to place 250 Talent candidates into fire and security careers. The economy is going to go through some changes, clearly, and we are already seeing lay-offs and redundancy news. That doesn’t mean it is all doom and gloom. Despite some volatility I think the candidate market will remain fluid because I don't see the security industry slowing up. The businesses that have over-hired or overpaid to bring talent in to match demand will change strategy, and when that bubble bursts, there will be some good people on the market. It's an opportunity for employers to make sure that they've got whatever they need in place to attract those kinds of people.
GDPR Safe helps CCTV Operators meet their legal obligations.
Suitable for Domestic & Commercial CCTV Installs.
Video Doorbells | Audio | ANPR | Facial Recognition | Covert Surveillance
GDPR Safe allows customers to create and customise a fully compliant GDPR policy for their CCTV or Video Doorbell system.
All by answering a few basic questions online, in as little as 15 minutes.
For Installers, GDPR Safe offers:
A one-off easy upsell during installation or maintenance activities, with no expert
GDPR knowledge required A simple set-up that takes just 60 seconds to activate
Credit to spend with your distributor each time a policy you’ve sold is renewed.
Contact GDPR Safe today
020 8050 7052
