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UTILITY WEEK | 27TH JANUARY - 2ND FEBRUARY 2017 | 25 says that over a three-year period par- ticipants will progress through a struc- tured training programme to attain a CABWI Level 2 Diploma in Water Engineering. Initially, apprentices will be based at the company's training centre in Antrim before undertaking an extended placement at various NI Water locations. If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paul.newton@fav-house.com Pipe up Debi Bell R ecruitment of HGV drivers is a big problem for many utility HR and operational teams. In fact, it's a headache for many businesses in the UK. The Road Haulage Association says it sees a shortfall of 60,000 drivers, with an ageing workforce shedding another 40,000 drivers by next year. This is causing a merry-go-round effect as drivers are lured from one employer to another for the promise of extra money or benefits, adding an above-average churn rate for HGV operations. For utility companies, there is the additional problem that being able to drive a truck is just one of the skills we need. There is usually a techni- cal job to be done – operating a tanker pumping system, or jetting and vacuumation technology. We are all increas- ingly keen to deliver excellent customer service. This involves a range of skills, including using initiative, teamwork and communication skills. Taking on an HGV driver, giving them technical train- ing and nurturing their customer skills, only for them to leave in six months for 50p an hour extra delivering pal- lets of food for a supermarket chain is a daily risk. The answer may be to pay a little more. Or to pay recruitment agencies even more fees. It may be that we need to place more online ads and attend more recruitment fairs. But there are also more fundamental things we can do. We can tell people more about what the job of an HGV driver in the utility industry really is about. It is clearly not just driving. It is problem solving, technically achieving, selling and explaining. It is oen doing some- thing important that has an instant impact on another person's life, such as helping a distressed customer with a flooded home. It is emotional, as well as physical and intellectual. There are HGV drivers who yearn for more than just money. We can be more imaginative about who becomes HGV drivers. We want to attract more women engineers into the industry. Many will have fewer preconceived notions of what an HGV driver does and thinks like. Many might well be attracted to the wider set of skills and attitudes we're looking to recruit to. We need to grow our own recruits. Clearer career paths that reward loyalty with a funding for HGV train- ing, leading to a job that pays more money is clearly an option, and one we're taking. Telling the right story about what it is to be a water utility HGV driver is a good place to start. Telling it to the right people, inside and outside the company, is critical. Debi Bell, head of HR services, Lanes Group Being an HGV driver for a util- ity offers job satisfaction as well as money – so tell that to potential recruits. We can tell people more about what the job of an HGV driver in the utility industry really is about Operations & Assets