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mid widespread signs of a modest recovery in the UK economy, Britain’s manufacturers appear to be making progress. Figures
published by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply in July indicated an increase in activity for the third consecutive month, and while government output figures have painted a more circumspect picture, there are grounds to believe that manufacturing is edging towards a period of growth. However, while the economic outlook has improved, manufacturers continue to wrestle with a broad range of people-related issues that could threaten their competitiveness.
Challenging times
Most businesses face a common set of people challenges: fi nding and recruiting – then retaining – the right staff, creating an environment of motivation and reward, trying to accurately match capacity to demand in a volatile marketplace and ultimately maximising workforce productivity while very often reducing overall costs. These challenges are recognisable to businesses in just about every
sector but are inevitably overlaid by more specifi c problems directly relating to the circumstances of individual companies and industries.
In the manufacturing sector, the recruitment and retention of staff with appropriate skills is proving diffi cult for many companies and it is a problem
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with a number of underlying causes. At a fundamental level, the sector has become less attractive to engineers and other highly skilled groups who fi nd they can earn more elsewhere. If industry salaries are lower than City salaries, and manufacturers are no longer offering
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