'A vacuum of talent at middle management level in manufacturing and industrial markets'
Attracting and retaining a younger workforce is an ongoing problem for UK manufacturers. The average age of manufacturing staff has climbed, and it is not uncommon for over 40's to now make up the majority of employees in businesses within the sector.
“There are already 9.4 million people in employment over the age of 50 in the UK, equivalent to over 30% of the workforce.” - CIPD
With recent investment from the government into apprenticeship schemes and multiple sectors being encouraged to utilise these schemes, it has diversified the workforce but still doesn’t solve the problem.
We are now seeing a mid-level gap forming within the industry, with the current demographic of skilled workers often being below 20 or above 40. The vacuum of skilled middle managers between the ages of 20-40, creates significant challenges when organisations look to develop long-term succession plans.
Operating with a void of talented and creative middle managers who typically bring high levels of creative innovation to manufacturing and industrial businesses, can often mean lower levels of innovation and increasing stagnation when it comes to coping with an increasingly dynamic operating landscape.
This will impede the long-term strategic objectives of an organisation, with succession planning and internal promotion to senior levels being improbable, leading to riskier and more costly external hires, a less valued culture of employee progression and costly recruitment fees.
Introducing our 'Future Sustainable Leaders' package...
Having observed these dynamics at play through our work recruiting and developing senior leadership positions for over 20+ years, Sherrington Associates have created a new solution for helping clients build sustainable talent pipelines and succession plans that address the challenges of an aging workforce and ongoing skills gaps. Our Future Sustainable Leaders programme provides clients with a recruitment solution that not only fills those hard-to-fill middle management positions, but then develops those managers through our '4A Sustainable Leadership Programme', helping them to learn the qualities of sustainable leadership.
By assessing their values at the recruitment stage using globally-renowned Barrett Values Centre assessment tools, as well as their potential for sustainable leadership using our coveted '4A Assessments', clients gain more accurate shortlists of purposeful future leaders, whilst simultaneously benefitting from an academically robust development plan that supports the successful candidate's progression into a senior leadership position in the future.
The evidence is clear - good succession planning makes for a sustainable talent pipeline and this translates into better performance in all areas of the organisation.
To learn more about Sherrington's 'Future Sustainable Leaders' package, talk to our team...
Joe Onions (Head of Future Sustainable Leaders) - joe.onions@sherringtonassociates.co.uk
