People skills

Summary
• Around 115,000 people are employed in the timber trading sector.
• Average cross-industry staff turnover is 18.3%.
• Timber students need to be made aware of job opportunities.
• Improved training and development are important if staff are to be retained.

Among the ongoing challenges facing the timber industry, staff turnover and retention and all their associated issues are often discussed but, unfortunately, seldom addressed.

But the scale of the UK timber industry certainly merits some action on the recruitment front as Timber Trade Federation (TTF) statistics estimate that the trading sector of the timber and forestry industries employs around 115,000 people.

And, according to the Chartered Institute Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) Recruitment, Retention and Turnover Survey of a couple of years ago, those employees are on the move. It found the average staff turnover, cross-industry, is 18.3%, which equates to 21,000 timber industry staff moving jobs each year. This includes personnel moving companies within the industry and other factors such as retirement.

The key statistic for the UK timber industry to understand is how many people are leaving the industry annually and therefore need to be replaced. This figure doesn’t include the additional people required to reflect industry growth year-on-year. Exit interviews in the same CIPD survey indicate that 3.7% of turnover is due to staff retirement but a whopping 46% is a result of career change. This means that, of the 21,000 people who move jobs each year, the industry may actually be losing the skills and knowledge of more than 10,000 of them.

Attracting new talent

The obvious solution is to attract new talent into the industry. This may sound easier said than done, but there are some key steps that can make all the difference.

The first step is to identify the areas from which to attract the new blood; a good place to start is with students in industry-related education. In fact, anyone studying courses related to the UK timber industry should be a priority, as they are a captive audience.

Making students aware of the careers the industry has to offer is very important. For example, in 1998, out of 10 graduates on the timber degree course at Buckinghamshire College, only two went on to jobs in the industry and, more worryingly, there had only been contact from one organisation within the trade to inform the students of the range of career opportunities.

It is imperative for the trade to make sure that timber graduates come into industry employment and are not left to drift into other sectors. There needs to be regular communication between the trade and all those involved in specific education. This includes informing both the institutions themselves as well as the students.

There is also the potential to appeal to non-timber students from all education levels and employees from other UK industries, but the timber industry finds it hard to attract people from outside the trade due to a number of factors including lack of timber industry awareness; the timber industry’s image; salary levels; the lack of structured ongoing training and development within the timber industry; and, a lack of understanding of recruitment practices.

These problems are compounded by the fact that some companies are reluctant to employ people from outside the timber industry. This may be because they are not prepared to provide product training, lack understanding of other industries, or do not know how to recruit from other sectors.

It’s worth persevering, however, as the timber industry’s image is changing – and improving, which should enable it to attract employees. Timber is considered a relatively fashionable product at the moment, and, with its ‘green’ building product credentials, the industry has some good selling points.

Competing industries

The industry loses many staff to trades with which it is linked, such as builders merchanting, construction and sales and distribution sectors, where skills gained from the timber industry can be easily transferred. However, this can be a two-way street and we should think positive and look at these competing industries as a potential pool of new employees who can bring vital new skills and approaches to the trade.

There is also the challenge of retaining recruits. Employee turnover in the first two years of employment is 20%, dropping to 10% after that period. It is imperative, therefore, to keep as many new recruits past that two-year milestone and this can be achieved through effective people management and improved training and development.

Attracting new recruits into the industry is of paramount importance. Focusing efforts on those areas where we already have some presence should prove more effective. It is the entry-level employees who, if properly trained and mentored, will be the long-service employees in the future. Great work is being done by the TTF’s Education and Training Committee (ETC) and its careers website run jointly with the TTJ www.thedoorway.org.uk. But it is down to employers to look at current recruitment and training strategies to make sure they are focused, competitive and sustainable. The timber industry must make the necessary investment if it wants to reap the benefits.

Simon Tucker has a degree in forest products from Brunel and worked in the agency, importing and merchanting sectors with DLH, James Latham and CP Timber. He sits on the TTF’s ETC.