Former amateur and semi-professional sportspeople may lack deep technical skills but they more than make up for it with leadership, teamwork and a strong desire to win.
While technical skills, qualifications and experience will always be important, employers are increasingly recognising the value of interpersonal – or soft – skills. These skills include teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, adaptability and leadership, and are essential for effective collaboration, communication and overall workplace success.
Those with these skills will work well with others, adapt to fast-changing situations and overcome complex problems. As the manufacturing industry evolves to focus more on innovation, flexibility and agility, the need for interpersonal skills has never been greater.
The rise of automation and artificial intelligence further emphasises the need for such skills because they are difficult for machines or software to replicate. Unfortunately, people with strong soft skills are becoming harder and harder to find.
Military training and experience mean ex-servicemen and women often possess the qualities and attributes sought by businesses. Indeed, numerous organisations exist to help ex-servicemen and women transition into civilian careers. The fact that many veterans will have also received training in various forms of engineering as part of their military service makes them especially desirable for industry.
Former amateur and semi-professional sportspeople are another sizeable, yet largely untapped, source of talent. These individuals bring equally valuable skills and qualities to the workplace, including self-discipline, resilience, adaptability, time management, teamwork, goal-oriented, public speaking, attention to detail and a strong work ethic.
One business benefitting from recruiting former and current sportspeople is Birmingham-based Frederick Cooper Company, a trusted provider of specialist wet paint spraying and powder coating to the automotive and other sectors worldwide.
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A winning strategy
Family-run Frederick Cooper Company has long had sport as part of its DNA. Many team members, including the directors, are devoted sports fans and players – with a particularly strong passion for rugby.
As a result, former amateur and semi-professional sportspeople from rugby, netball, hockey, cricket and football are employed at all levels of the businesses. One such individual is Jai Purewal, Operations Director and self-professed “failed rugby player.”
During a recent Monthly Industry Meetup, Jai spoke to Made Members about why they should consider employing sportsmen and women in their organisations.
“The lack of skills has forced us to adapt our learning and development models and practices. Of course, we’re still looking for people with deep technical skills in coatings or paint. But we’ve opened up the bottom end of our recruitment strategy to create employment opportunities for anybody, in many cases, young people, with very few skills,” Jai explained.
“It's often better for us to train a paint sprayer or powder coater from scratch rather than have somebody who’s picked up bad habits that we need to then re-engineer out of them. We talk often about moulding our people to the ‘Frederick Cooper Way’.
“Our business model enables us to bring people in that don't have vast deep experience. We will recruit, certainly for the more junior shopfloor roles, largely on personality and how individuals present to us rather than looking for a packed CV. It's not right for everybody but we've found a way of making it fit.”
Frederick Cooper is heavily involved with numerous sports clubs, societies and communities, meaning many of the sportspeople it recruits are predominantly local.
“Like our business, many of you will have formed CSR relationships with sports teams and associations. We’ve taken that a step further by opening a route to employment for players, young people and associates of those clubs. That additional recruitment and referral steam creates a great opportunity for them and a tangible return on investment for us. It’s win-win.”
Are young people workplace-ready?
Following Jai’s presentation, a Discussion Group of a dozen Made Members explored the broader recruitment challenges businesses face. A theme that ran throughout the discussion was that young people today seem far less prepared for the world of work.
Their assessment mirrors the broader consensus. A recent study of senior leaders in the UK found that most believe that higher education doesn’t prepare graduates for the workplace.
Three in five, 59%, said young people learned more valuable skills during their first two years in the workplace than they did the preceding three years. Their top concerns were courses being unconnected to real-world workplaces and not enough emphasis on ‘durable soft skills’ like teamwork and leadership.
Concerns voiced during the Discussion Group included poor communication skills, with many young candidates reportedly unable to make eye contact during interviews, and a lack of focus.
“Too much time spent staring at screens coupled with constantly watching short videos means it can be challenging to get young people to focus on a project or process, especially over extended periods,” noted one MD.
According to research, attention spans have indeed shrunk over the past decade. However, the decrease is apparent across almost all age groups, not just young people.
The Group concluded by offering several strategies to help better prepare young people for the workplace, including:
- Forge stronger connections between academic and industry
- Increase the number of University Technical Colleges (the recent approval for two new UTCs in Southampton and Doncaster is certainly welcome but the pace of expanding the network needs to pick up)
- Introduce students to manufacturing and engineering early in their education through hands-on activities, workshops, site visits and internships.
- Strengthen science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education in schools, with a greater focus on practical, real-world applications
- Provide comprehensive careers advice that highlights the different pathways into industry and the range of roles available
- Greater emphasis on interpersonal skills like teamwork, leadership, communication and problem-solving
- Educate parents and teachers about the opportunities and benefits of careers in manufacturing and engineering
- Ensure what is taught in classrooms aligns with the current and future needs of industry
Join our Monthly Industry Meetup!
The opportunity to openly discuss challenges, opportunities and solutions is why the Made in Group’s Monthly Industry Meetups are so invaluable.
During these captivating virtual events, industry experts, thought leaders, and professionals gather to share knowledge, insights and best practices.
The goal is to foster collaboration, inspire innovation, and drive growth within the manufacturing community.
Each month, we feature three engaging talks from Made Members, focusing on best practice around key themes that shape the future of manufacturing, including Global Trade, People & Skills, Future Factories and Sustainability.
The presentations are followed by our interactive Discussion Groups, virtual roundtables that enable Members to exchange ideas and gain further insights on their chosen topic.
We look forward to seeing you at the next one:
*Header image courtesy of Pixabay, all others care-of Frederick Cooper Company