The right fit

Trying to fill skills gaps is a constant and worrying challenge for many manufacturers. It has been widely reported that there is a shortage of young, home-grown talent and the UK's ageing population suggests this will only get worse. Despite this, research from recruitment company Archer Mathieson suggests that employers are burying their heads in the sand. It found that 60% of businesses are not expecting the inevitable drop in the availability of entry-level employees as the population gets older. Demand for new blood is already high and there are a number of industry initiatives aimed at encouraging young people to consider careers in manufacturing. Manufacturers' organisation EEF, sector skills council SEMTA and the Manufacturing Institute are just some of the organisations working with the government, schools, colleges and employers to attract more people into manufacturing and to up-skill the current workforce. However, these are long-term initiatives. If employers are to plug skills gaps now and increasingly in the future, they need to take action and get a recruitment strategy in place. The right recruitment strategy will depend on a number of factors, such as the local supply of workers with the right skills, the profile of prospective candidates, such as how web-savvy they are, and the firm's own resources and budget. For employers with limited in-house resources, it can pay to work with a recruitment consultant who can do the leg work. Recruitment agencies should be skilled in finding the right candidates and will often interview them before putting CVs forward. It is therefore essential that they have sector experience and understand the skills you need if they are to find the right people - so ask about their success rate for manufacturing roles. As more people now have access to the internet, online jobs boards are growing in popularity and can be a great way of advertising nationally or even internationally, with costs a fraction of print advertising. The downside is that it can dilute the pool of candidates. Less effort is needed to apply, meaning more candidates without the necessary skills tend to put themselves forward. To target the best pool of candidates, opt for a specialist site. One such jobs board is Jimfinder, which exclusively serves manufacturing sectors. As the service is marketed to manufacturing professionals only, it has a better chance of reaching the right candidates. Online advertising can be particularly appealing to school leavers and graduates who increasingly use the internet as their first step in their job search. However, it's important for firms to get their own web presence up to scratch, if they are to maximise impact. Most jobs boards provide links to the employer's website to direct candidates to more information. If there is nowhere for this to link to, the recruitment campaign can fall down. Initiatives aimed at attracting school leavers into the industry can give firms valuable publicity. Sponsoring campaigns or, even better, getting actively involved, can raise employers' profiles and act as an effective recruitment tool. One such initiative launched at the end of last year was the Make It campaign, designed to promote the sector's career opportunities to young people. It was launched by the Manufacturing Institute, in partnership with a number of employers, including Jaguar, Siemens, Typhoo Tea and Smith Aerospace, who pledged their support for a raft of education and awareness activities. Getting involved in such initiatives and taking the time to attend jobs fairs can give firms great access to potential candidates. More than 30,000 people aged 14-25 attended the recent Skills NorthWest careers event in Manchester where the Make It campaign was launched. Nicola Eagleton, education executive at The Manufacturing Institute, says: "Employers who make the effort to get involved in job fairs and other initiatives can make valuable links with schools and colleges. This involvement from employers is needed to change the negative perception that exists among young people about manufacturing. Young people need to understand the opportunities on offer." It seems that being given the opportunity to learn about manufacturing really can help to change perceptions. Eagleton says a questionnaire given to 70 sixth-formers at the beginning of the Skills NorthWest event showed just two were considering a career in manufacturing; by the end, around 50% said they would consider it. Employers named as patrons to the Make It campaign provide an annual donation of £1,000 and, in return, are given access to various events it runs with young people. A website is also being created, to be shaped by the patrons, including a gallery of 'role models' sourced from the companies involved. Smiths Aerospace is a patron of the campaign. The firm's head of HR Simon Stead says it got involved to improve brand awareness. "When we became part of the Smiths Group, our profile reduced in the local area and people didn't know who we were, making it difficult to attract apprentices. It's hard to get the interest of young people, but we were really impressed with the outcome of the careers event. We talked to them about what an engineer does, and the kind of training and salary we offer," he says. Those who want to make links with schools and colleges without signing up to an industry initiative might refer to the guide on getting involved in education that EEF recently published on its website, along with links to further information. It suggests everything from sponsoring an engineering competition in schools to offering work experience, mentoring or supporting after-school science clubs. A web-based guide to promote safe site visits for schools and other educational establishments has also been launched by EEF. The organisation claims that site visits are beneficial to both companies and to students. Employers can identify and sponsor young talent and be role models for students, while young people get a more hands-on approach to learning and gain insights into the industry. The website - www.safevisits.org.uk - intends to help firms that are put off site visits because of health and safety requirements, by offering practical advice about hosting visits. Employers can also register their interest to help to make contact with educational establishments. Claire Donovan, EEF's education and skills policy adviser, says employers must make the effort, if they want to attract young people into the industry. "It is really important that employers don't wait until kids have left school before they make contact; they need to get involved, so they can provide role models for students while they are making decisions about their future career. Employers don't get involved with schools, because it's the right thing to do. They do it because it makes good business sense," she says. However, firms that feel they have exhausted all avenues in the UK and need quick results to plug skills gaps may look to extend their recruitment strategy overseas. John Davison, founder of recruitment company Europeople, which specialises in recruiting workers from Poland, says that demand has never been higher from manufacturing firms looking to recruit overseas workers. "The right candidates are no longer there in the conventional labour market. Manufacturing has an image problem and this is deterring young people from building a career in the sector. This is why 60% of our clients are in the manufacturing sector," he says. Most demand from UK manufacturers is, says Davison, for hands-on engineering roles and "any roles that mean getting your hands slightly dirty". With a rich pool of candidates emerging from Eastern Europe, it is easy to see why more employers are going down this route. The educational system is producing skilled candidates, well educated to degree-level and able to take on different roles. However, if recruiting from abroad, employers have to be prepared to make an investment in candidates. Just because staff are not sourced from the UK does not give the right to offer lower wages. Candidates are still aware of their worth and, like any other employee, will search for a better deal, if they feel they are being treated unfairly. Employers also need to be prepared to provide extra training at induction stage to overcome any language issues, especially with health and safety, and make sure they are on top of work permit issues. They may also need to help the new workers with practical things, such as finding accommodation and opening a bank account. Using one of the growing number of recruitment companies that specialise in sourcing workers from overseas can make this process easier as they should help with the paperwork and provide training guidance. They can also help earlier in the recruitment process - for example, interviewing candidates in their mother tongues, so they can communicate their skills better. Slack & Parr, a high precision engineering company based in Derby, has taken the step to recruit from overseas. As a result of operating an apprenticeship programme for many years, 50% of current senior managers have been trained up through the ranks of the company. However, because the business has recently been under pressure to recruit skilled engineers to maintain quality and productivity, it has found it hard to source the right candidates locally. "In recent years, the business has struggled to attract new apprentices and, more importantly, retain personnel who have recently completed their apprenticeships," says Slack & Parr's operations director Richard Wilson. "We have tried recruiting through local and regional newspapers, as well as through high street agencies, but have had limited success." Slack & Parr worked with Europeople to source new candidates from Poland. Wilson says he received 10 suitable CVs, from which he selected three candidates who have proved themselves to be hardworking and have fitted into the business well. However, there were some barriers to overcome first. "An interpreter from the recruitment agency accompanied the three workers on their first morning to support their induction. We also translated health and safety documentation into Polish and words on key signs were changed to pictures," he says. Recruiting from abroad has helped Slack & Parr to plug an urgent skills gap and Wilson says the firm would recruit migrant workers again. At the same time, he believes the sector has to focus on home-grown talent, if it is to provide long-term solutions. "I don't think that recruiting migrant workers is necessarily the solution to the current skills shortage within the industry, but it is certainly a positive way of managing the present situation," he says. Whichever route you take, having a recruitment strategy in place is crucial, if you are to source new blood successfully. There are a growing number of solutions out there, plus mounting support from industry organisations, to help employers explore new paths. But only time will tell if new recruitment methods - whether online solutions, strategic links with schools and colleges or hiring talent from overseas - have what it takes to plug the sector's growing skills gap.