Podcast transcript: Episode 3- Engineering the Future Workforce

Transcript

Host: Hello, my name is Ada Irikefe and you're listening to the Experience Pod. The Experience podcast series discusses the adoption of relevant emerging technologies and transport impact oriented professionals and individuals who demand realistic and thought provoking perspectives on the opportunities and challenges presented by these phenomena in our unique environment.

Today's series is aptly titled ‘Engineering the future workforce’ As we know, upskilling remains an important prerequisite to ensure relevance in this digital economy. It also helps to close the unemployment gaps. We constantly hear about the need for Nigerians to focus on infrastructure development, spurred on by the collapse of critical infrastructure. The disruption team thought it would be important to talk about the construction industry and delve into the less discussed aspects of the industry ‘education’ We have now seen education models emerge predominantly with software companies,and now with construction. 

Today, I have with me Oare Ehiemua-Ochui, the CEO of OPL Academy, whose organization brings this model to the construction space. 

Welcome, Oare

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Thank you Ada. Pleasure to be here.

Host: Let's discuss a little bit about what made you go into the construction space. Can you talk more about the services that OPL Academy offers?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Sure! It all started with the whole issue of youth unemployment in Nigeria. We have a population that is not letting down anytime soon. Our population size keeps increasing, and it's just causing tremendous strain on already strained infrastructure. 

I have a passion for education, and I just felt, if there's one industry where I could probably look into, that's large enough to absorb talent and skill and put them to decent work. It's probably the construction industry. 

I took a look at macros and they were not looking good. You’ll find that there's a huge housing deficit in Nigeria. For instance, the World Bank estimates that we need to produce about 850,000 houses annually over the next 20 years to just bridge this gap in housing. The quality of housing is bad. So two thirds of our population in the urban area live inside substandard housing. 

Another issue, again, is skill. You’ll find that the population of very skilled construction workers, blue collar construction workers - which is our focus area, are probably aged on average between 45 to 50 years now, so you don't have enough of the younger skilled workers coming on board to close that gap. So for us, construction was a no-brainer, especially given my passion for education. I just feel that if we can address the skills gap, then it could sort of have a domino effect on all the other macros that are looking quite negative at the moment within the industry. 

As to why we decided to go into this now, I just feel worse sitting on a time bomb. If we don't address this now, it's going to cause serious issues later. Our mission is really simple. We want to bridge the skills gap in the construction industry and also raise the standard of skills, because we find that education in the sector support. 

Another issue is the blue collar construction workers. So these are masons - your carpenters, electricians, and plumbers, I'm sure you probably have a thousand of them. They’re  coming to your house and maybe leaving more issues than they met. So we run a professional ethics program which is more service oriented because at the heart of it all, we believe that these people are servicemen. We get high potential workers, we upskill them with these professional ethics and then we connect them to jobs with reputable construction companies. Through our apprenticeship program, they get hands-on training with these companies, and they also get exposed to best practices and leading technologies.

Host: That's fantastic. I think it's about time really. It's interesting that you mentioned the demographic. As we know, the average youth is probably about 17 or 18 years of age. So, if you're saying that the current industry is tailoring towards 40-45 years. Then, that means it's a complete imbalance there. 

How much progress have we made in building the construction industry in a digital world?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: So that's a good question. I was reading somewhere that when you think about the construction industry, it's such a large industry, but historically has not been very innovative. In more developed countries, you're finding technology being used to foster safety on sites, people are using artificial intelligence to be able to detect if people are wearing the proper equipment and if tools are being placed in areas that could be hazardous. You also find that technology is being used to improve collaboration with team members to increase efficiency on projects in Nigeria. The gap is certainly widening. So we don't really hear much of AI being used as part of the world, but what we do find is technology being used to foster communication. You find simple things like emails or WhatsApp being used in the client communications. In more sophisticated companies, they might use Slack, which is one of the emerging team collaboration tools that's been used.  

For projects, you find software's are very common like Autodesk. Many architects are Quantity Surveyors and they know how to use these tools. Again, younger companies might opt for easier-to-use tools like Monday, so it's not exactly a substitute, but you do find that it's really good for tracking. 

Host: Okay, great. So I know we've talked about upskilling and the importance of upskilling. We believe it's only going to increase in gravity with our rising population, like you've said, and globalization activities. 

How do your trainings evolve with global standards? Especially with advancements in technologies. You've talked a little bit about the tools and software that you currently use. Within the blue collar construction space, how do you use it? I hear ‘Whatsapp’ . I guess it's widely used. Although, correct me if I'm wrong, not a lot of construction workers will take a sophisticated tool to a site. So how do you upskill these guys? and how do you ensure that there's that synergy with what's happening globally?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: I think that's a great question. One of the greatest assumptions we made starting training for blue collar workers was exactly that! Something as simple as your phone, we assumed that all blue collar workers are probably going to be using phones that don't have these features, but I would say that one of the biggest ways that we've managed to build our alumni base for all the people that we train, and we train about a 100 people, this has been a pilot year. So we train 100 workers - carpenters, plumbers, electricians and masons. We hope to close out the year with 300, and then we increase to a thousand. One of the ways we've managed to engage our alumni and continue the conversation post training has been through WhatsApp. So, actually about 90-95% of our alumni are on WhatsApp. They all have phones that accommodate this and this is actually very important for us, because when we think about where we're heading to and again, speaking about technology, we're also looking to create a digital plan. That's called ‘labour hack'. 

Labour hack is going to serve as an online platform that will connect people who have graduated from OPL Academy to end users. These could be construction companies, they could be households. The idea behind that is to give high potential blue collar workers access to projects on an ongoing basis, so we are definitely going to leverage their ability to use smartphones to do that.  You can also look at Uber and how many drivers probably had to get smartphones, because they decided that it was a tool that they needed to get their job done. 

Going back to the question, definitely for construction work and for blue collars, because the skills that they need are so hands-on, we have to ensure that we're offering very practical training. So, what we do in the classroom is just a month of training and it's basically just exposing them to cognitive skills that they need, but the majority of the work is now done on site. 

So we’re connecting them to leading construction companies where through an apprenticeship program, they can get that hands-on training that they need. We accredit all the construction companies we work with, because we need to ensure that they're getting exposed to the right kinds of skills and the right kinds of technology. Within our classroom we use a lot of videos and  this is one thing that we find that students really appreciate, because it's not something that they are used to having. We find that it really helps in deepening, and just creating and fostering engagement. 

Another thing that we do is for continuous learning, we always encourage them to use shared learning digital platforms. We actually did engage a plumber in our class who learned the basic skills through YouTube. We find that they are inclined to learn that way as well, which is very key, because if we can build a steady stream of video content that teaches these people. Then, you'll find that even beyond the classroom, they can always refer to these materials. 

Social media is another one that's very amazing.  While they are browsing, we encourage them to follow sites where they can keep abreast of the latest technology and emerging trends. We also partner with product companies and we find that product companies are willing to leverage our alumni base to teach them about products that they're bringing into the markets. These are some of the ways that we're using technology to try and bridge the gap.

Host: That's fantastic. Obviously, your curriculum is forever evolving, just to accommodate the new skills that are coming into the market. We've talked a bit about technology and how it's being used in your space. I mean, one of the things we do here at the Experience Centre is use emerging technology to reimagine the possible. I know that in the construction industry, rework and under budgeting, are common challenges in the construction space. So what technology have you identified that can boost productivity in the construction space?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui:Very good question. First thing I'd like to say is blue collar construction workers are absolutely critical to the success of any project. You can have the brightest architects come up with the most amazing design, but if you don't have blue collar construction workers that can execute that, then it doesn’t move forward . So, that's the first thing I would like to point out. 

We do identify with the fact that lack of skills within the sector could create a lot of reworks and a lot of failures in the process that could waste a lot of time and money. Technology, especially in the developing countries, is playing a huge role in trying to bridge that gap. You have things like virtual reality, and you find that companies abroad use virtual reality to recreate what the space could look like for architects, for instance. So clients come in, and then they see the space, they see the colors, they see the layout, and then they decide, yes, this is exactly what I want. So that way, you get closure quickly, and then by the time you do build it out, you find that you have less of that back and forth. 

Another area that technology is being used is also with regards to trying to imagine spatial dimensions, and also Zen in terms of material planning. You find that if you don't get those things right, you will have structural defects. You have technology that's been used as well by architects, by people to give you that precision. So, in planning you’ll find that's been taken into account. Here in Nigeria, a lot of the work is still work in progress. It's a heavy investment, and you do find that our wastage levels are tremendously high. So we do need to bridge the gap in that regard.

Host: Sounds great. One of the things that we come across when we talk about automation and robotics is loss of jobs. What are your thoughts around robotics and automation playing a huge role in your space?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: This question makes me smile because it's a question that we ask some of the people that we interview, and every time the response is the same. Technology can replace and it's because we still require that human feel. I don't think technology would ever  100% completely replace the human function for a number of roles, especially roles that require you to do some kind of cognitive thinking, and these things are skills that humans have and enable them to adapt, that robots do not necessarily do. I do believe that technology is increasingly being used, especially robots to reduce wastage levels and just as a cost measure. 

For instance, you do find now that we have 3D printers. 3D printers that can create homes in 24 hours at a fraction of the cost and using a fraction of the workers.

Host: Do you think we'll get to use 3D printing to create in Nigeria? 

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Well, the good news is that a lot of these 3D printers do not really require electricity or tremendous sources of power to use because of batteries and stuff like that. So it might not be too far off, I guess, given the power constraints and everything. But I really do wish that we could think more in that direction, especially again, going back to a housing deficit. We do have to come up with innovative ways of bridging the gap, and materials as well. You find that there are innovative materials being used now that are just more eco-friendly as well, just easier to put together and if we could employ more of those things, then we could go a long way. 

Host: Yeah, I totally agree. Totally agree. Off the hot seat, when it comes to emerging technologies and trends, what was the last prediction you got wrong? 

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui:Going into OPL Academy, one thing that a lot of people said was “how are you going to control these blue collar workers? You're a female in a male dominated industry, are they going to listen to you” Our experience has been the opposite. We find that the youth are just looking for a channel that’s meritocratic and that is just willing to put the investment in them. When they see that, they sit-up and they put in the work required. I'll tell you that the attrition rate is tremendously high and we do find that a lot of our workers come back with testimonials about how our attorneys have changed them, not just on the job but in their families, in their homes, it's tremendous. So I would say that that's one prediction that has not played out. So, fingers crossed.

Host: What's one view you seem to find very few people agree on?

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: I would say how quickly Nigeria could probably reach its potential. Brain drain is a very serious thing and a lot of people have given up on the country and are moving out. I mean, you can't really blame them, everyone has their reason. I would say that if you talk to a number of them, probably because they just do not have a clear line of sight to how quickly things could be improved. For me, I think that transformation is happening every day and it's just with people creating their own oasis of sanity, and not just waiting for some big events to happen that brings around that change. So, as people go on and get exposed, you find that they're bringing their experiences and skills back home, and then things are improving across different sectors. Yeah, I would say that's probably one view that very few people agree on. 

Host: Our previous guest, Yomi Awobokun - CEO of ENYO has a question for you. He would like to know how your business is using mobile technology, cloud computing, and machine learning to make sure you have positive outcomes for your business. We've touched a bit on that, but maybe you want to address him specifically. 

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Yeah,I guess I will speak more to where OPL is going and kind of our sister company that's coming up now, which is ‘labour hack’ a digital platform. So currently, we have a database of about 5000 construction workers, and these are both blue collar and white collar construction workers. We use a database, a CRM tool to manage them, so we have all the information right down to the local government area. We're hoping to be able to mine this data, to be able to create some type of map that tells where construction workers are across the country. If we can do that, with data lacking in this country, we think it could go a long way in just helping us plan better, especially in how to deploy our talents in areas where they're needed the most. 

I would say with digital technology, again, with this platform, we really want to increase the visibility of highly skilled blue collar workers to the end user. And that's one way we're using digital technology to do that. 

Host: Great. So finally, we talked about disruption being interrelated. In that respect, what's one perspective you would like to get from our next guest? We don't know who the next guy is, so we're going to keep it fairly broad.

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Maybe just simply to know what change means to them and trying to understand that from their perspective. Whether it's more on scope, whether it's more on depth of quality, just trying to understand how people think of change. 

But again, going back to my previous point on many people's views on Nigeria, it'd be interesting to know how do people see change? And what does it mean to them?

Host: Fantastic question. Thank you for bringing so much clarity into this space. I mean, it's something that we deliberated on. It's funny when we talk about a construction space, we never really think about education and I think you're doing an amazing job by upskilling and giving people an opportunity to better themselves, and also better their products. We are all victims of ‘not so great’ outcomes when it comes to construction. I think you're doing an amazing job. Thank you so much for your time. 

Oare Ehiemua-Ochui: Thank you