Celebrating talent

You don't have to be a football fanatic or an athlete yourself to enjoy the celebration of skills and talent represented by the FIFA World Cup and Commonwealth Games over the next two months. Whatever our interests, we're all prepared to cheer on one of our heroes with as much enthusiasm as we would members of our own family, willing them on to evergreater achievements.

Celebrating talent and skills, though, should go way beyond our personal domain. It's integral to running an effective business. It was pleasing to see the Builders Merchants Federation pick up the baton of sponsoring the Career Development category at this year's TTJ Awards. It's gratifying to know that sectors so closely allied to our own,

and through which much of our raw materials flow out to the markets, are just as keen to continuously improve the skills base of our young - and indeed not so young - people.

The British Woodworking Federation's award-winning promotion of apprenticeships in the last 18 months also demonstrates the importance of keeping alive and moving forward the skills on which our timber industries thrive.

If our trade bodies are committed to skills development, then how should individual companies demonstrate to their staff that they also take seriously the responsibility of skills development? Major contractors are looking to suppliers to evidence their corporate responsibility across an increasing range of factors - training and development being one. Not only do we need to have training policies, we need to show our larger customers how those policies are being enacted within our companies.

It's a simple business equation: take action and express your sincere commitment and you're at least part-way onto the same playing field as the procurement managers with contracts to award to companies large and small. Take no action on skills and training and you won't even get to first base.

What may at first seem a 'cost' could in fact be a real financial benefit. At Snows Timber we decided some years ago that people are the key to our success. We believed that nothing but the best would do, so we went for and achieved Investors in People status, which we still retain. We're by no means perfect, but we do hold what major contractors feel is one of the 'gold standards' they would like to see amongst aspiring suppliers.

However you choose to celebrate skills and talent, it can only result in a 'win' for your company. In a competitive market, being able to offer employees an idea of career structure, routes to promotion, and a sense of their value within the business, enhances the prospects of their staying with you long term. Micro or macro business, none of us can function without skilled people in a knowledge economy.

Every timber business manager needs to be the combined equivalent of sporting coaches and cheerleaders for our people's development. And if we have the mix right in terms of salaries, working conditions and prospects, we should have no reason to fear losing our best players.

Snows Timber will again be cheerleading for the industry at the TTJ Awards in September, sponsoring the post-Awards gathering. We look forward to celebrating with you all the talent and skill our industry brings to the procurement table.