Talent and reinvesting for growth

With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner, I cannot imagine a better venue to host a discussion on competitiveness than in London. The city provided an ideal backdrop for a recent Deloitte industry event which underscored the talent issues faced by many global manufacturers and the importance for companies to continuously reinvest for growth to remain competitive.

The Deloitte Manufacturing Competitiveness Summit event featured a distinguished panel of senior executives from three prominent manufacturers, ArcelorMittal, Siemens, and Jaguar Land Rover, as well as a senior representative from the European Commission.

The panel shared views on how they were working to ensure their companies remain globally competitive. It was fascinating to hear one of the executives say that 100,000 apprentices will be needed in the United Kingdom (UK) manufacturing industry alone in order to replace the retiring baby boomer generation in that company. Another executive reinforced the talent issue by outlining the skill shortage in fields like engineering and production supervision saying it was particularly challenging in their business to find these experienced hires.

An eye on Africa

Two weeks ago, I traveled to Johannesburg for my first ever trip to South Africa. It really expanded my perspectives to the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in both South Africa and the broader continent of Africa. It is easy to see why many companies have an eye on Africa.

While I was only in the country for four days, they were certainly full ones. I was able to lead several client workshops, participate in a forward-looking discussion on the future of the manufacturing industry in Africa, and join a media interview.