A new construction training centre is to open in the autumn to improve the people management skills of site workers. The centre, based in Coventry, will be the first in the UK to use computer technology to create virtual construction sites, enabling trainees to play out real-life situations. A similar centre already exists in the Netherlands, where it is used by more than 360 firms. According to Michiel Schrijver, managing director of ACT-UK, the organisation behind the concept, it has ‘transformed’ the Dutch approach to people management training. 

Participants will use a control stick to ‘work’ on construction projects that are projected onto a 12- metre panoramic screen. Professional actors will work alongside the simulated scenarios and present trainees with different management situations to deal with. At the same time, supervisors will observe the trainees’ behaviour via cameras and pinpoint areas for improvement. ‘Managing a construction project is hugely challenging,’ said Schrijver. ‘Alongside technical knowledge of the build process, site managers need excellent people skills to manage subcontractors and other site staff. The depth and detail of the simulation means that the experience goes beyond mere role playing and allows trainees to test themselves fully in a safe, controlled environment.’ Construction firm Balfour Beatty is currently developing a series of courses for site managers, to be delivered at the centre from September. Tony Ellender, training manager for the company’s construction north division, said he expected ‘the value of the training to be much higher’ because it was more ‘specific and relevant to their day-to-day activity’ than the classroom-based training that it will be replacing. ‘You can do things in a simulator that you can’t do on a construction site because of the health and safety and financial implications of making a mistake,’ he added.

Ellender said the focus would be on ‘management, people and communication skills’, all of which needed  to be improved. ‘Traditionally, the industry has focused on technical and health and safety training and not enough on the people skills, yet that’s what makes people better site managers,’ he added. Balfour Beatty will pilot its first course with 12 supervisors to help them progress into management roles and will then use the feedback to develop more advanced courses. After that the firm, which has 25,000 UK employees and does primarily public sector work, hopes to put 12 managers through a simulated course every month.

Ellender said the centre would also help to raise awareness in schools and colleges of the different types of construction careers available. ‘Although there’s plenty of people who want to join us, they are not always aware of all the options. They see it as trade and technical jobs and don’t realise that there are lots of professional and managerial jobs as well,’ he said. The centre will also offer ‘taster courses’ for 14-to-19-year-olds doing the new diploma in construction and the built environment.

Discussion questions

1. Using relevant concepts from the chapter, explain what type of learning theory is behind the idea of the site simulator.

2. Given the costs involved in both developing and running the simulator, what justification would you make for its use by companies like Balfour Beatty? Outline the business case for training site managers in this way.