Employers often feel too embarrassed to praise, recognise or appreciate the work of their employees. Today, this must change. What we now need is humility on the part of our leaders. People development (of which recognition plays a big part) is so important. Without it, businesses fall behind. The Manufacturing Institute’s Business Excellence Coach, Steve Nicoll, and Principal Practitioner, Julian Winn,

The manufacturing industry is facing a significant challenge: a shift in demographics. Historically, the ‘baby boomers’ (ages 53 to 63) made up the majority of the workforce. But there’s a ‘silent tsunami’ coming. We’re facing the biggest retirement wave we’ll ever experience. The skills of baby boomers will be washed out of the industry over the next 10 years. They’ll be

Most manufacturing workforces are currently made up of ‘baby boomers’ (those born between 1946 and 1964). They have extensive knowledge and experience, but this begs the question: what happens when they retire? A soaring skills gap could well be on the cards. However, if you act now, you can harness their expertise for future generations. Kerryanne Joyce, Development Specialist at award-winning

Why don’t we plan? Because it’s more exciting to just see what happens, right? Or perhaps you’re too busy dealing with today to even consider tomorrow. Maybe you simply can’t get the leadership team to agree or don’t have the right data available. Whatever your reason, you need to have a plan – and you need to include the right elements