Institution news
It was initially set up to support organisations, including the armed forces, as they faced personnel cuts. Now, employment support service Talent Retention Solutions (TRS) has evolved to work proactively across industry, unions, academia and institutions to retain and redeploy skills for the good of STEM-related professions.
Through its web platform, members can identify talent and redeploy resources, including across sectors and at experienced, graduate and apprenticeship levels.
TRS is run by a group of senior industry leaders from its sponsor organisations, which include Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Boeing, EDF Energy, Leonardo, the National Skills Academy for Rail and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. These, alongside the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Ministry of Defence, collectively form the TRS governance structure.
Trade Unions such as UNITE and Prospect are fully behind TRS which is equally strongly supported by many trade and professional institutions including the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It is funded by industry and free to join for SMEs (up to 250 employees). To date, over 2000 companies and institutions are part of its UK network.
Chris Jarman, a director at Winchester Consulting, which operates TRS, said:
“We are helping to build and maintain a national pool of industry skills to meet the needs of UK plc. The network is dedicated to helping companies attract new talent, supporting individuals to develop their potential, and enabling the UK to retain key skills.
Today, organisations using the TRS platform – global as well as well as many smaller firms – have saved money and kept people in jobs during restructures by redeploying talent within their businesses.”
Richard Smith, engagement director at TRS said:
“Our platform offers companies a cost-effective option to promote the talent they have and to channel excellent candidates, who may be facing change, into relevant roles.
“How do we do that? The answer is, by working collectively. We advocate a comprehensive approach to planning across a global or national business, across sites, across sectors and across institutions, including universities and colleges. The best outcomes are achieved when there is open and early communication – involving unions and managers – and a mindset that prioritises positive outcomes for businesses, employees and applicants alike, despite the hurdles and perceived conflicts of interest that can be encountered in a business contraction, downturn or re-structure.
“The platform gives individuals visibility for their skills, even if their first-choice application is unsuccessful. We are evolving into a national talent platform that will support the attraction, development and retention of highly-valued skills, including representing graduate engineers and apprentices.”
Professional engineering institutions, including the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Aeronautical Society and the IET, as well as universities and further education colleges and trade bodies, champion the collective approach and the ethos of skills retention that are the backbone of the TRS platform.
Lord Willis, Chair of TRS members group, said:
“The beauty of TRS is that it’s led by employers. They are looking beyond their own needs to what benefits the wider engineering and manufacturing landscape.”