CITB are hosting a number of sessions at UK Construction Week. The CITB sessions are taking place on Wednesday 7 May and run from 12:15 onwards.
Would you be interested in being a panellist at a CITB session? The session descriptions are listed below. If you are interested, please email Oliver Sisman at [email protected] and he will connect you with the relevant person at CITB.
If you build it, will they stay? – tackling construction’s retention crisis
Why do people leave construction—and how can we make them want to stay?
The industry faces workforce shortages, but one of the problems is keeping talent once they arrive. Burnout, poor leadership, job insecurity, and outdated working models drive skilled workers away. This session looks at how better leadership, career progression, and mental health support can fix retention issues.
Discussion points:
- What are the biggest reasons skilled workers are leaving?
- How do we create career development pathways to make construction a lifelong career?
- Should pay structures be re-evaluated to retain talent?
- What lessons can we learn from other industries?
Culture is built at the top – leadership’s role in industry change
If leaders don’t change, neither will the industry.
Workplace culture starts with leadership. Bad leadership drives out talent, blocks diversity, and prevents innovation. In this session, we discuss what makes a great leader in construction and how they can create real culture change.
Discussion points:
- What does modern leadership look like in construction?
- How do we develop future leaders who prioritise inclusion and wellbeing?
- What leadership failures hold back the industry?
- How do we hold leaders accountable for cultural change?
Hard hats, leadership skills – why construction’s workforce needs more than technical training
Technical skills alone aren’t enough.
Construction needs to prioritise leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence just as much as technical ability. This session explores why soft skills are crucial for career success and business performance.
Discussion points:
- Why does construction undervalue soft skills?
- How do we integrate soft skills into apprenticeships?
- How can construction teams become more collaborative?
Construction’s mental health problem
Construction has one of the highest suicide rates of any industry.
Long hours, job insecurity, and site culture all contribute to poor mental health. This panel will discuss how companies, leaders, and policymakers can take real action to support their workforce. This session will discuss what businesses, leaders, and policymakers need to do to fix this crisis and make mental health a priority.
Discussion points:
- Why is construction’s suicide rate so high? What makes it worse than other industries?
- What role does workplace culture play? Are long hours and “tough” environments making things worse?
- How can employers better support workers? What initiatives actually work in reducing stress and burnout?
- Should mental health training be mandatory? How can we equip managers and teams to handle mental health challenges?
- How do we measure impact? What does good mental health support look like, and how do we know if it’s working?
- What can construction learn from other industries? Are there global best practices we should be adopting?
- Why aren’t we seeing a reduction in the statistics? What are we not doing?