Train to Deploy (TTD)

Train to Deploy, often called Hire Train Deploy or Recruit Train Deploy, is a workforce transformation model that enables organisations to build job-ready talent through tailored training and targeted deployment.

Instead of competing for scarce talent, we help you find people with the right mindset and behaviours, then design custom training that aligns with your operational goals. Whether you’re scaling for future projects, facing retirement cliffs, or need to diversify your workforce, Train to Deploy helps you build long-term capability that lasts.

Who is it for?

You need a Train to Deploy programme if…

Most organisations don’t always realise when they’re ready for a Train to Deploy (TTD) strategy. Here are five signs that now might be the right time to make the shift.

Skills shortages are slowing delivery

A Train to Deploy programme helps you build a tailored pipeline of talent trained specifically for your business needs.

Skills shortages are slowing delivery
Costs are spiralling due to talent scarcity

Avoid competing for high-cost talent and reduce recruitment spend by developing talent in a cost-effective way. Invest in readiness, not agency margins.

Costs are spiralling due to talent scarcity
Traditional training programmes don’t meet your needs

General training often misses the mark. Our TTD solution delivers tailored work-ready training programmes that mirror your systems, tools, and standards.

Traditional training programmes don’t meet your needs
You need a scalable, flexible talent strategy

You need a scalable, flexible talent strategy. Whether you’re growing or managing variable demand, a Train to Deploy strategy adapts with you, adjusting recruitment efforts as required.

You need a scalable, flexible talent strategy
You want to expand your existing talent pool

Our inclusive, behaviour-first approach unlocks transferable talent from adjacent sectors and under-represented groups. This approach broadens your talent pools and aligns with diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.

You want to expand your existing talent pool

Train to Deploy Toolkit

Our utilities recruiters can help.

What you will get with our Train to Deploy solution

Key Features of Train to Deploy

  • Benefits of working with us

Why choose Rullion?

Sector-specific expertise

We’ve spent decades helping critical infrastructure organisations rethink how they build talent. From Transport & Rail, Utilities and Energy to Nuclear, we understand what real workforce readiness looks like in your industry.

Fully managed delivery

Rullion handles recruitment, onboarding, training coordination, and ongoing support, while giving you full visibility and control.

Inclusion without limits

With our behaviour-first approach, we open the doors to those with potential, regardless of their background or circumstances. If they have the right mindset and behaviours, we’ll develop the skillset, resulting in genuinely inclusive hiring by design.

Cost savings

With our train-to-match approach, our Train to Deploy programmes deliver culturally aligned, behaviourally suited candidates. This reduces attrition and increases retention, boosting ROI over time. You’re looking at a lower recruitment spend that shifts away from repetition and toward lasting capability.

You’re in control

You co-design the training journey to reflect your systems, tools, and standards, and we manage delivery, acting as the conduit between you and the training providers. We help embed learning into your operating model, whether through bespoke external programmes or scaling your own internal training. Making sure your people are learning what matters and applying it from day one.

Proven scalability and flexibility

Where future demand is uncertain, you get the skills you need now without the long-term commitment of a permanent hire. Whether it’s 5 hires or 100, we tailor each programme to scale with your business.

Built-in compliance

Every candidate is trained to meet the specific safety and regulatory needs of your business environment, reducing risk and keeping you compliant

From Projects to People, We’ve Got You Covered

Ready to explore the benefits of Train to Deploy for your organisation? 

Book a discovery call or speak to our team to find out more.

What our customers say about us

Real stories from the people and organisations we support

What's on your mind?

Our insights and tips on some of your most burning questions

5 Signs Your Workforce Needs a Train to Deploy Strategy

5 Signs Your Workforce Needs a Train to Deploy Strategy

You need a Train to Deploy Strategy when you find yourself: Rehiring the same roles repeatedly Staring down a retirement cliff Watching time-to-hire stall delivery Falling behind on diversity and social value Working with out of sync training providers Train to Deploy, often referred to as a Hire Train Deploy or a Recruit Train Deploy model, is a workforce transformation solution where a provider designs, delivers, and deploys role-specific training up front, helping you plug skills gaps, onboard faster, and build work-ready teams from day one. This is typically done by bringing in transferable talent from adjacent sectors, reskilling deployed contractors, or hiring and training new external candidates aligned with your business goals. Most organisations don’t always realise when they’re ready for a Train to Deploy (TTD) strategy. The signs build gradually. Recruitment pressures intensify quietly. Talent pools shrink. Skills gaps start to feel permanent. And the tools that once worked – your job boards, agencies, and graduate deployment schemes – no longer deliver the talent or speed you need. If any of this feels familiar, you're not without options. A Train to Deploy strategy can help you rebuild confidence in your workforce plan, expand your reach, and reduce the hidden costs of reactive hiring. It’s one of the most effective ways to evolve your talent pipeline strategy to build scalable, work-ready teams. Here are five signs that now might be the right time to make the shift. 1. You’re Rehiring the Same Roles Repeatedly When roles start to become revolving doors, it’s often a sign that the problem isn’t just recruitment; it’s readiness. High turnover in key positions can point to poor role fit, lack of structured development, or unclear progression pathways. It burns through recruitment budgets, disrupts project continuity, and stalls long-term growth. TTD flips the traditional model on its head. Instead of waiting for the “right” person to appear, you develop the capabilities you need within the people you hire or redeploy from day one. Rullion’s match-to-train approach directly addresses the root cause by designing role-specific training and onboarding ahead of deployment, ensuring the people coming into your organisation are better equipped, aligned, and more likely to stay. You’re building the talent you need, sustainably. 2. You’re Staring Down a Retirement Cliff In critical infrastructure sectors, retirements are accelerating. In the UK energy and utilities sectors alone, 37% of the workforce will retire by 2030 – that’s around 168,400 vacancies that will need to be filled. And with them, decades of knowledge are walking out the door. Our train and deploy solution bridges that gap before it opens. We help you upskill successors, build structured handovers, and onboard people who can shadow, learn, and grow into critical roles. We make sure that expertise isn’t lost. It’s transferred, evolved, and retained. 3. You’re Watching Time-to-Hire Stall Delivery Every week you wait for a hire to land is a week your teams aren’t delivering. In project-based environments, those delays cascade into missed milestones, overstretched teams, and lost momentum. A Hire Train Deploy strategy eliminates that lag. With custom training and onboarding ahead of deployment, candidates arrive equipped with the technical and behavioural readiness to contribute from day one. That upfront investment in preparation pays dividends in retention, and not just in performance. When new hires feel supported, skilled, and set up to succeed, they’re far more likely to stay. 4. You’re Falling Behind on Your Diversity and Social Value Goals Most organisations have diversity targets and social value commitments, but traditional hiring often reaches the same narrow pools in the same ways. Rullion’s Train to Deploy solution is built around inclusion without limits. If someone shows the right mindset, behaviours, and potential, we build the skillset, regardless of their background or circumstance. We don’t tick boxes or run generic ED&I programmes. We focus on opening doors to those with potential and create genuinely inclusive talent pipelines that reflect the communities you serve. 5. Your Training Providers Feel Out of Sync As your organisation adapts to new technologies, delivery models, and regulatory changes, you need learning partners that can evolve just as fast. But many traditional training providers are slow to respond. Courses feel outdated, generic, or disconnected from the realities your teams face day-to-day. This disconnect leads to wasted investment, delayed impact, and talent that still isn’t ready for the job. If your current provision feels out of sync, Rullion’s Train to Deploy strategy gives you control. You co-design the training journey to reflect your systems, tools, and standards, and we manage delivery, acting as the conduit between you and the training providers. We help embed learning into your operating model, whether through bespoke external programmes or scaling your own internal training. Making sure your people are learning what matters and applying it from day one. Recognising the Signs Every workforce challenge is an opportunity to rethink the way things have always been done. If any of these signs sound familiar, it may be time to reassess your approach. A Train to Deploy strategy offers a more proactive path, helping you build the skills, teams, and resilience you need to grow. Shift from reactive hiring to long-term capability building. And get ahead of change before talent gaps hold you back. Helping you get work done Visit our Train to Deploy solution page to see how a Train to Deploy strategy could work for your organisation or book a discovery call with one of our consultants.

By Rullion on 21 July 2025

From Scarcity to Abundance: Unlocking Talent in Critical Infrastructure

From Scarcity to Abundance: Unlocking Talent in Critical Infrastructure

John Shepherd, Client Services Director at Rullion, recently sat down with Lindsay Harrison, Rullion’s Chief Customer Officer and Chair for Engineering Recruitment at APSCo UK, to examine why the skills shortage story in energy industry recruitment agencies and engineering needs to change. Their conversation explored how an abundance mindset, grounded in inclusion, transferable skills and smarter workforce strategies, can help critical infrastructure employers unlock hidden talent pools and build the capability needed for the decade ahead. Energy consumption overall is declining while electricity demand is surging. Electric vehicles, heat pumps, AI and data centres are driving a projected 50% rise in demand by 2035. The shift is powered by Net Zero goals, energy security and rapid technology adoption. The pull is so strong that firms like Microsoft and Google are investing directly in the Energy sector. “This isn’t something coming down the road,” John explains. “We’re in it right now.” The energy transition could create nearly three quarters of a million green jobs in the UK by 2030. The Nuclear Industry Association’s jobs map shows civil nuclear roles rising from 64,000 to 87,000 in three years. The Financial Times reports green jobs up 36% since 2015. These are not abstract statistics. They reflect projects Rullion supports, from Hinkley Point C to Sizewell C. If those roles are being filled, talent exists. The challenge is access. The Challenge with the Scarcity Narrative Negative headlines dominate LinkedIn, trade journals, and national news. “Skills shortage” grabs attention, stirs emotion, and generates clicks. But, as John points out: “News is designed to be bad and negative. It grabs attention. It stirs up emotion. It’s clickbait. That scarcity narrative is stifling opportunity.” The reality is that the UK energy recruitment market is growing. The bigger challenge isn’t the absence of talent; it’s the barriers we’ve created that stop it flowing into the right roles. Lindsay adds a customer lens. Clients tell her they cannot find people, yet the real issue is how talent is defined, where it is sought and how candidates experience the journey. Reframing those inputs unlocks supply. Challenge 1: Rigid Job Specifications Overly prescriptive job specs, especially those demanding exact, like-for-like industry experience, instantly narrow the search and shut out skilled candidates. In critical infrastructure, where delivery deadlines are tight and skill demands shift quickly, this rigidity can slow projects and drive-up costs. Some qualifications are non-negotiable, but industry-specific experience isn’t always essential. As John points out: “Great engineers from aerospace, defence, and construction can bring huge value. They’re problem solvers, safety-minded, and used to working in complex, regulated environments.” These sectors operate under stringent compliance requirements, manage high-risk projects, and demand the same precision and safety culture as energy sector roles. Overlooking these candidates because they haven’t “done it here before” means missing out on proven capability. Challenge 2: Candidate Experience Barriers The process shapes outcomes. If interviews lack inclusion, feedback is unclear or applications are hard to complete, strong candidates step away before shortlist. The effect is even sharper for underrepresented groups. This is a priority area for Lindsay. “Every interaction matters,” she says. “From the language in a job description to who is on the panel, the experience tells candidates whether they belong. If it does not feel inclusive, great people disengage before they can show what they can do.” Treating candidates as customers improves conversion and strengthens reputation across Energy recruitment communities. Challenge 3: Overlooked Talent Pools Veterans. Neurodiverse professionals. Returning parents. Mid-career switchers. These people bring the mindset and capabilities to excel in critical infrastructure, yet traditional screening often filters them out. “They’re all here,” John says. “They’re all skilled. They’re all ready. But in many cases, they’re being overlooked because of outdated systems, processes, and mindsets.” CV gaps, career changes and non-linear paths are interpreted as risk instead of potential. Lindsay argues for evidence over assumptions and points to lived examples. Challenge 4: Shared Responsibility The responsibility for change doesn’t sit solely with recruiters. Hiring managers, in-house talent teams, and recruitment partners all play a role in broadening searches and challenging old habits. As Lindsay puts it: “It’s not one-sided. We all need to look wider than we have in the past.” This means collaboration at every stage. From shaping job specs and identifying transferable skills, to designing inclusive selection processes that open the gates rather than narrowing them. Four Solutions for an Abundant Workforce 1. Change the Mindset Scarcity talk grows the problem. John’s advice is simple: ask better questions. Where else can we look, what is truly essential, what can be trained and how do we widen the gate without compromising safety or quality? “If we keep saying we can’t find talent, the problem will only get bigger,” John warns. 2. Open the Gates with Inclusive Hiring By rethinking job specs, reducing unnecessary barriers, and designing inclusive selection processes, employers can attract a wider range of applicants, and benefit from the innovation and resilience that come with diversity. Lindsay champions consistent feedback loops so candidates feel respected even when the answer is no. That reputation compounds over time. 3. Build Talent, Don’t Just Buy It Rullion’s Train to Deploy model converts abundance into delivery. Identify high-potential people on behaviours and learning agility, upskill them with project-specific training and deploy them into roles that add value from day one. As part of our broader Train to Deploy Strategy, this helps Energy sector employers build internal capability instead of competing for a shrinking external pool. The result is faster readiness, better retention and teams formed around real work rather than perfect CVs. 4. Tell the Positive Stories Stories shift markets. Case studies of hires from non-traditional backgrounds show what good looks like and attract more of it. “The more we talk positively, the more people will listen,” John says. “The more people who listen will be drawn to this sector, and then you gain momentum.” Lindsay’s view is practical: publish the wins, spotlight the teams and make success visible so others follow. See Rosie’s story from rail contracting, where flexibility and neurodiversity became advantages rather than obstacles: Rosie on rail contracting, flexibility and neurodiversity A Call to the Sector The UK’s energy and wider growth in critical infrastructure create one of the largest workforce shifts in decades. Leaders who move from scarcity to abundance will stop competing for the same small pool and start creating a broader, sustainable pipeline. Lindsay sums it up: “If we want a workforce that can deliver the future, we must open the gate to people with potential, not only those who tick every box.” John’s line completes the thought that talent isn’t scarce. Opportunity is gate. “Our job is to open the gates.” Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/8bwXFDm2-NE

By Rullion on 02 September 2025

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