Rail construction companies contribute a vital public service. Due to this, stakes remain high, especially since many are involved in high-profile government initiatives. However, like all construction subsectors, they face skill and material shortages, the fuel crisis, and post-COVID-19 and Brexit recovery.
That means companies cannot afford to waste time and money on inefficient admin. Now more than ever, they must process workers as efficiently as possible and maintain productivity.
The Problem with Current Processes
In a bid to save costs, many opt for ‘make-shift’ tech stacks. These often comprise of dated and manual systems like spreadsheets, conventional HR platforms and email/telephone communication.
Such setups can greatly compromise health & safety, compliance and deadlines as their low visibility gives way to human error, missing data, and long processing times. Consequences range from inconvenient error resolution to severe health & safety risks.
With major UK rail projects underway like Crossrail and HS2, VMS can help maintain a consistent, compliant, and high-quality workforce. With an automated, cloud-based system, rail construction companies can stop wasting resources on admin and get back to core operations.
So how can VMS help?
Skill Shortages
Skill shortages are particularly challenging for the construction sector, and rail construction are no exception. Much of the workforce is fast retiring, and few school leavers/graduates are moving in to replace them.
According to Crossrail, 38% of qualified engineers within London are aged 45-60 (Crossrail—Skills and Employment Strategy), meaning a sizable loss within the next 15 years if trends don’t change.
They also report low numbers in tunnelling and underground workers due to a history of inconsistent work availability. For this reason, they haven’t been able to maintain a stronghold workforce, and few wish to enter the subsector due to this.
On a cloud-based VMS, you can extend your supplier network and cast out a wider net for talent. All labour supply chain parties can access a single online database via a single login. With this, you can coordinate communication with a large supplier network in real time. And with automatic notifications, you need not waste any time in progressing candidates onto placements when the right ones appear.
Compliance
Just last year, HS2 proved how even the most high-profile initiatives can fall victim to non-compliance without the right tools.
According to reports, HS2 is facing a £9.2 million fine after wrongfully determining 93.2% of its workforce ‘deemed employees’ under IR35.
No matter what the compliance measure, companies must have full visibility of processes to ensure risks, delays, and financial damage don’t occur due to breaches.
The right VMS will regularly update functionalities to reflect latest legislation regarding temporary workers. With a cloud-based single sign-in system, you can also maintain full transparency, with the same online database visible to the whole labour supply chain. This means possible risks can be identified and solved quicker, further accelerated with automatic, real-time updates.
Qualifications & Skills
Workers without the right certifications can easily slip through the cracks of insufficient workflows. High-volume, manual application processing makes human error inevitable and can have disastrous consequences. This can affect anything from quality to health & safety, potentially putting your workforce at physical risk if not properly trained.
With the right VMS, you can manage vacancies and placements with full visibility of required qualifications and skills. In removing the need for repetitive manual admin, you can reduce candidate profile inaccuracies and move the right candidate through to placement with confidence.
Efficiency
Due to high public dependence, deadlines within rail construction are tight. No company should face delays in delivering such a vital public service due to inefficient worker processing. However, HR teams are too often overwhelmed by manual admin, causing inevitable human error and lengthy error resolution.
With a cloud-based, automated VMS, data needs only entering once. All manual intermediary communications are cut out of the equation, as all participants on the platform receive automatic updates. This means you can take immediate action as soon as progress is made and waste no time taking the next steps.
In Conclusion…
The construction industry as a whole faces high stakes after a tough few years. Rail construction, however, has a particularly tall order to fill, delivering a highly demanded public service in the face of various challenges. In switching dated manual processes for VMS, however, they can reclaim time and budget, ensuring compliant and efficient worker processing and refocus on urgent core operations.