The rules of attraction

However, even as Roy and the lads prepare to do battle in Brazil, back home, there are straws in the wind that all is not as it should be on the business front. Among a slew of upbeat manufacturing surveys, the warnings are increasingly urgent, frequent and potent. 'Employers braced for recruitment crunch' screams one headline, 'Britain faces retirement cliff in engineering' shrieks another, 'Skills shortage set to hit manufacturing recovery hard' wails a third. Just weeks ago, the EEF cautioned that manufacturers will need almost a million workers by 2020 to replace those retiring or leaving the industry. So if it is to remain competitive on the world stage, there is a pressing need for the manufacturing sector to attract, select and retain the right people. Just like Hodgson's England squad, your business will only score against the competition if the team selection is right. In business terms, that means implementing a well thought-out, properly structured recruitment process. You can pick up some useful tipsin the article 'Mind the gap'. But, beware. 'Our people are our greatest asset' is such a well worn management maxim that most people believe it to be intrinsically true. But it's not. Some people are liabilities. Effective selection and recruitment will weed them out. But, just as importantly, it will also ensure you find the best fit for the job. And, for the longer term, it will create a situation where its results are as predictably positive as the results of an England penalty shoot out with Germany are predictably negative. Good businesses employ good people. No substitutes required. What you want is always to be in a position to play your first team and that is what you will achieve if you invest time and effort in getting your recruitment right.