Category Archives: News

This is Engineering Day, taking place today on 4th November, is organised by the Royal Academy of Engineering to raise awareness of what engineers really do and celebrate those who are shaping the world we live in. This year the theme is #BeTheDifference. 

Engineering is a critical part of the UK economy, employing around 20 per cent of the total workforce and generating approximately 23 per cent of the UK’s total turnover. Yet according to Engineering UK, there is a considerable shortage of appropriately skilled workers in the engineering sector. In 2017, vacancies in construction went up to 27 per cent.  

Engineering is an exciting, varied and rewarding career however there is a shortage of younger people applying for engineering courses and engineering jobs in the UK. One of the prime reasons for this is that many young people are unsure what engineering is and what engineers do. This is Engineering campaign provides information by showing examples of real engineers and presenting a positive image of modern engineering 

At JCA, we are passionate about our people as we are about the creativity and imagination of our engineering. We support apprenticeships as they assist our talent strategy and allow us to recruit, retain and develop those who want to progress their careers and be equipped with skills for life. We also support diversity in engineering and encourage women to enter this exciting and fulfilling career path. In the February issue of Facilities Management Journal (FMJ), we shared JCA’s approach to tackling the skills gap in the engineering sector. 

You may want to read:

• Technical talent – FMJ, February 2020
• We support women in engineering
• We support apprenticeships
• JCA celebrates 16th anniversary

This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our everyday lives have changed considerably as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The past few months have brought many challenges: prolonged working from home, going to work with the worry of catching the virus, adapting to schooling children from home with little contact from teachers and friends; and for people with mental health conditions, experiencing even greater social isolation than before. It is expected that the need for mental health and psychosocial support will increase significantly in the coming months and years.  

This is why the goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, run by the World Health Organisation, is increased investment in mental health. 

Mental health and wellbeing at JCA 

JCA values the health and wellbeing of all our employees and recognises that balancing everyday life together with the requirements of work and home can create pressure for everyone. We aim to establish a positive health and wellbeing culture that includes awareness, understanding, effective processes and positive behaviour by employees at all levels. 

We fully recognise that mental and physical health and wellbeing are equally important and that work can have a potential impact on both. Therefore, we have an employee wellbeing policy that sets out and manages our obligations to maintain the mental health and wellbeing of our staff. It covers JCA’s commitment to employee health, the responsibilities of managers and others for maintaining psychological health, health promotion initiatives, communicating and training on health issues, the range of support available for the maintenance of mental health, and organisational commitment to handling individual issues. 

Trained to help 

We take a “we’re in this together” approach – everyone has their part to play in ensuring that support can be accessed as needed, with dedicated support roles available. We have mental aid first aiders who are trained in mental health awareness and can support mental ill health and offer sign posted support. 

Talking about mental health at work can be daunting: people may worry about how they will be treated and how their colleagues will react. We therefore invited JCA employees across the business to volunteer to become Health and Wellbeing Champions. Our Champions help implement and support JCA’s wellbeing and mental health programme through raising awareness of wellbeing, promoting healthy lifestyles and positive mental health. Every Champion attended an internationally recognised training course ‘Mental Health Champions’, accredited by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). 

Health and Wellbeing Champions can support workplace culture and make a difference to the lives of work colleagues, working with the organisation to make mental health a normal topic of conversation, dispelling myths and providing another avenue for people to seek support. 

A number of our senior managers and line managers have also attended ‘Line Manager Mental Health Awareness Training’ run by Mind, with further sessions to be arranged later this year.  This training aims to provide line managers with a better understanding of mental health difficulties and the confidence to  manage mental health in the workplace, which promotes wellbeing and understanding across the teams and reduces perceived stigma when discussing mental health issues. 

External programmes 

As part of our commitment to health and wellbeing of our staff, we have implemented an Employee Assistance Programme, delivered by an independent external organisation, which provides confidential support and guidance relating to personal issues via telephone and online advice, support and counselling services. The services include help with home and work life, physical and emotional health, wellbeing resources, self-help programmes, webinars and other. 

RoSPA Health at Work 

Our teams work hard on continually developing and implementing processes and procedures for the JCA Health and Wellbeing programme by creating innovative and exciting activities for all staff, balanced and educational training and providing continued support to all staff members who may feel they need it. 

Our efforts do not go unnoticed. In 2019, we were awarded a major award – the RoSPA Health at Work Award. This major trophy is presented to businesses demonstrating the best management of Health at Work and a true and obvious commitment to the welfare of all the staff.  The submission for this extremely prestigious award consisted of JCA having to evidence a number of health and safety areas, including ‘Wellness at work’ (particularly mental health), attendance management and staff rehabilitation. 

Mind UK 

This year, we sealed our commitment to raising awareness on mental health and wellbeing by choosing the wonderful Mind UK as our national charity for 2020. Mind UK provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. The organisation campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding of the issues that those with mental illnesses deal with. 

JCA is celebrating its 16th anniversary this month! 

JCA was incorporated in 2004 by a team of engineers with a wealth of experience within the building engineering services sector, data centre and critical services sector and air conditioning product manufacturing industry. Over the many years the company has grown, not only by reaching out and forming new and evolving client relationships, but also by understanding the need for change and to ever improve the service level provision, the need to excel beyond client expectation and to adapt to changes in markets and sectors in which JCA operates.

Today, JCA is a multi-disciplinary, engineering led organisation providing services to a diverse range of business sectors and end user clients. The company has many facets, not just delivering a broad spectrum of our “design build maintain“ services, but also managing and mitigating client specific operational risks, particularly in operational and critical environments, such as data centres and hospitals.

We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last 16 years and would like to take a moment to thank all our staff, clients and supply partners for the continuous support they have shown us, especially during the current coronavirus pandemic.

This year we may be celebrating apart, nevertheless we are thrilled to be able to share this milestone with you and already look forward to next year’s celebration!

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You may want to read:

• JCA is celebrating its 15th anniversary 
• New ICU facility at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
• Technical talent – Facilities Management Journal, February 2020
• First place for KAO Data Campus in the prestigious ASHRAE Technology Awards