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Feature A Board meeting held in January confirmed the FIS Strategic Plan for the next five years, which will centre on the principle of data-led change. DATA-LED CHANGE: “I, WE AND THEY” 26 www.thefis.org F ollowing this meeting, FIS President, Helen Tapper, said: “FIS has grown in the past three years in every meaningful way, our network and voice has grown stronger, we have a more engaged membership and more members. We have expanded our skills and technical team and the feedback from our recent membership survey is that this has been valued. We are a proactive and well- regarded organisation that works hard for our community. “But we want more. The Board is concerned that, whilst there is a lot of talk in construction about transformation, the reality is that we continue to circle around the same set of problems. Poor behaviours and contractual practices around the three core risks of design, time and cashflow are repeated. “In the next period we must redouble our efforts to draw the supply chain together to look at the “I, we and they” of change. Understanding what individual businesses need to do, reflecting on how we as a community can lead, support and encourage change and, ultimately, if we need others to act differently, helping them to understand what needs to change and why, highlighting the benefits of change. FIS approach moving forward will be led by research and data, it will also focus on bringing more voices to the table, using technology and a regional focus to listen, learn, translate and transform.” Key FIS activity for 2022 • Exploring modern methods of procurement: FIS is working with Reading University and Barbour ABI to review procurement processes that have become normal in the sector. The ultimate question is whether procurement practices are holding back transformation and limiting productivity and sustainability. This work will also support a focus on a returning to the concept of standard form contracts that fairly and clearly manage risk. • Competence, recruitment and closing the skills gap: COVID and changes to the immigration system have exacerbated an underlying lack of investment in training and recruitment. Market intelligence developed via FIS is informing the work of the FIS Skills Board; key priorities are a consistent and structured approach to recruitment and induction, a strong core of qualifications, an approved training provider network and targeted one-to-one interventions via skills and funding clinics. Mapping competence through a new FIS Professional Passport will support managing compliance and quality with a flexible workforce. Productivity improvements too are essential to meeting the shortfall that migration has created and is a focus through all our Working Groups. • Supporting regulatory reform linked to the Building Safety Bill and Brexit: The Building Safety Bill will be passed in 2022 and a swath of secondary legislation will follow to support implementation of the Bill and withdrawal from the EU. We face the biggest regulatory overhaul ever in construction, so FIS is working directly with the Civil Service and through groups established by the CLC and CPA to represent members’ interests and help interpret and prepare for change. • Defining the golden thread: The golden thread is central to the Building Safety Bill; it is about structured data exchange and our Digital Working Group will be taking a strategic overview looking at standardisation, interoperability and helping us to understand how we can harness the potential of new technology and innovation. • APractical Approach to Sustainability: The new FIS Sustainability Champion has hit the ground running, look out for the new sustainability hub (see page17), which will feature a standard action plan for individual businesses. This will be scaled up to a sector action plan and supported by some projects focused on waste reduction, the circular economy and clarity on how individually and collectively we canmeasure and reduce our impact. • Better Control of Risk: FIS is looking to bring a new insurance offering tomarket in 2022. Starting with a co-operative broker, FIS aims to bring transparency and harness the power of collective buying, but also to gather vital data andmanage early intervention for emerging risks through our Working Groups and strengthen existing riskmanagement toolkits to reduce risk and premium. Looking ahead, FIS is considering amutual approach that will allow us as a community, to take a position in our own risk. • Better engagement, promotingmembers and a regional led approach: FIS is built on shared values that are underpinned by our vetting process. We have started to review and strengthen the vetting process, this will help us to encourage trust and collaboration within the community and to promote our vettedmembership to the wider supply chain through our network, magazine and social media. More needs to be done too to engage with all members and, as well as taking full use of technology, expect an increasingly regional approach fromFIS in the next period. FIND OUTMORE For more information visit www.thefis.org i