Manufacturing in the United States is undergoing a workforce generational change. The social security administration estimates that 4 million people will retire in each of the next 11 years. The demand for finding world class talent is increasing as the talent pool is shrinking. Are you ready for this?

The recession caused many workers to put off retirement until their savings recovered but with an uptick in the economy, they are now starting to think again about how long they will continue working. Without younger talent in place, a lot of the knowledge these tenured employees possess will not be passed along to the next generation and a successful and timely transition will make a huge impact on the operations and profitability of the company.

If the talent pool from which you are currently choosing doesn’t match your expectations for the future, a professional search firm can help you improve the quality of your hires. When choosing a successful candidate, factor in where they will fit within your company in 5, 10 or 15 years in the future. If you don’t see a future beyond a few years, perhaps you’re not interviewing the right people. This could mean going outside normal channels for hiring and contracting passive candidates. A typical search takes 3 months to complete so you need to build this time into your planning to ensure uninterrupted workflow.

Another option to combat this problem is proactive succession planning. This is the practice of taking a look at the marketplace to identify talent before you need them. This is an especially helpful task for high level executive positions or positions that require a specific skillset. You will have a list of qualified candidates ready to be contacted when your need arises. This will help you to plan proactively for leadership transition.

Let’s work together to create a consistent flow of qualified talent to replace those who leave or retire or to proactively look at the marketplace before you need to. A well designed plan ensures the company is able to continue operations with minimal interruption of workflow. With a solid strategy in place to identify, develop and groom the next generation, your company is more likely to achieve success.