Everything’s changing… Maybe it’s the best opportunity yet.

It’s both unnerving and exciting to be working in a sector where so much is changing so quickly. It’s not just technology and AI influencing this change, markets are shifting, job roles are changing, and so are priorities.

In all industry sectors it’s not just about profitability, but also resilience – considering how many market disruptions there have been in the past half decade, this is not surprising. As the alarm sounds and more catastrophic climate events occur, the definition of resilience is also broadening.

It’s no longer just about sustainable business – although few companies have even gotten that far – now it’s about doing more. Regenerating ecosystems, reinventing processes to support this, finding materials already in circulation rather than extracting more virgin resources. Finding ways to reduce water and energy consumption, tap into renewable resources, and engineer processes for efficiency.

While governments flip-flop their way through policy negotiations, companies are realising the advantage lies in being proactive, not waiting for regulations to kick in. And for this they need people with very specific skill sets. In this there’s an opportunity for regeneration too.

Green skills and jobs

The recent announcement in the UK of investment in 40 000 clean energy jobs in the next 5 years has been welcomed. It’s part of a government initiative to move away from reliance on fossil fuels and upskill people to work in renewables.

Are skills transferable? Absolutely! And you’d be surprised how broad that transfer can be between industries and roles. We once helped recruit a nurse as a plant operator and she excels in her role. The reason we could confidently put her forward as a candidate, is because instead of hiring based on a CV, we conducted skills-based assessments.

When completing our skills test, our nurse exhibited the behaviours and characteristics great plant operators exhibit; attention to detail, health and safety awareness, team synergy, sound decision making, adaptability and strong communication. Based on this, it really wasn’t a surprise for us when she performed so well in her role.

This example highlights the importance of defining roles according to the skills, behaviours and attitudes needed to succeed. Yes, in technical roles, qualifications and certifications are important, however they carry with them no guarantee that the person who earned the certification will apply that knowledge diligently. Assessing behaviours and attitudes are far better indicators.

This is also true of roles that are changing due to innovations in processes, systems and technology. The people who think broader are the ones who see possible solutions. A willingness to learn, adapt and train on new technologies is a genuine advantage in a changing marketplace.

Technology and AI

In resource management, applications of technology and AI have delivered some major efficiency gains. In MRF’s sorting has been accelerated with greater accuracy. Digital passports are helping track materials through the supply chain to end of life. Analysis tools are helping to pinpoint pollutants, map impacts and provide the data and evidence to support policy change. Satellite imaging is being overlaid with research to map biodiversity gains or losses. Emissions monitoring, temperature modelling, even 3D scanning of buildings to determine how well they’re insulated. All benefits.

Technology is a positive in my view. While concerns may remain on water and energy use of mega datacentres, even there, there are opportunities to design and build these in ways that are self-sustaining. Having the insight as to how this is possible is vital to making it happen – which brings us back to skills, new roles, and how we bring them together.

New focus

New resource projects and clean energy initiatives all carry with then an underlying sense of urgency. Things need to get done and impact needs to accelerate, which means the margin for error is slim. Roles will change. Market forces and technology are quite likely to continue to change how business operates. Getting in early by focusing on assessing skills, gives companies the opportunity to hire the people that can help accelerate positive change.

It’s what we need – adaptability, insight, attitudes that align with values. Roles are merely labels, and they change too. Let’s focus on finding the people that use change to make a positive impact no matter their role or experience.