I thought it would be worthwhile today to follow up a little on the discussion in this blog last week, considering where the next generation of industry recruits is coming from?

We had some interesting and well-informed comments made on here, which is fantastic because open and frank discussion, with ideas and opinions from all sides taken into serious consideration, must be the only way to progress. Dealers, manufacturers and trade associations will all want the same outcome of more young people joining the sector, and all will have their own, valid, thoughts on how best to achieve this.

Firstly, BAGMA, the AEA and IAgrE, are rightly keen to point out that they are doing a lot of work to this end, with their We Are Land-Based Engineering project. They are across social media and are regular attendees at trade shows and educational establishments' careers events.

They posted a comment saying that spreading the word about the industry isn't just a notion, it's happening. It's an initiative "which is making fantastic headway in schools." they said.

I suspect many will agree that using social media effectively is a perfect means of reaching the eyes and ears of the demographic that the industry wishes to appeal to. We Are Land-Based Engineering cover the bases with a presence on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and LinkedIn - as well as their main website. You can check them all out and see what initiatives they have been up to lately.

What's great about social media of course, is by the nature of the platforms, they are quite open with sharing the number of followers, opens, views, etc, that each channel and individual post has generated. Interested parties can therefore view in real time the level of penetration and engagement that the messages are receiving. Also this gives the creator the ability to tailor and pivot messaging quickly, to respond to the audience's preferences. 

Pay!

Also last week, we heard from a couple dealers at the sharp end, who will likely be facing these recruitment issues first hand. Interestingly, they felt that it was wrong to say the principal hurdle to attracting fresh blood into the sector is a lack communications.

In their view the greater issue was more cut and dry than that. It was pay.

Nigel Barnes said of the discussion, "There's an elephant in the room, namely remuneration. Whichever way one looks at it, the garden machinery industry doesn't pay well. Potential candidates asking for £30k pa are difficult to accept, especially in winter."

Nigel continued, "Maybe we face a similar dilemma to the hospitality industry - low wages, difficult recruitment, increased prices to compensate, customers stay away."

Steve Baker agreed with Nigel, saying, "When I see adverts from dealers who are offering £20 or £25kpa for a garden machinery mechanic to work 40 hours a week, with alternate Saturday mornings on top of those hours, you simply aren't making yourself an attractive proposition. The business isn't deemed to be 'sexy' to begin with..then add long hours and poor remuneration for a rare skill nowadays, you haven't a hope."

This issue will be an incredibly difficult one for the industry to address and, as Nigel suggests, is one that strikes at the heart of small businesses across many consumer-facing sectors. Of course any company will want the best and the brightest to come work with them, but these candidates will quite naturally have a certain level of wage expectation.

How does a dealership match those expectations whilst being both fair to the potential employee and true to their own business circumstances? I certainly don't have an answer to that. Do please feel free to share your thoughts below though.

I did ask a seasoned industry professional this week what they thought about pay being the biggest stumbling block to finding new recruits - and interestingly in their opinion, it wasn't. They believed that creating national awareness was still the trickiest issue that we needed to surmount.

They told me, "Getting someone interested in a career is the problem. Higher salaries and good conditions would help get them sat down for an interview - but moving it on from there could be difficult."

This individual said they were formulating further ideas about how to shift the needle positively - which Service Dealer hopes to be able to share with you all later this year.

What's clear for now though, is just how immensely difficult this whole situation is, with the bottom line being dealers are still struggling to fill roles in their businesses. The key question appears to be, what is the most effective means for achieving this shared goal?

One thing will be for sure, a collective shrugging of shoulders and the admitting of defeat, will not be on the agenda for our network of entrepreneurial dealers . . .