Undercover boss digs deep to save skills

June 2009

By going ‘under cover ‘in his own company, Stephen Martin, CEO of Clugston Group has identified skills issues in his organisation that will have implications for industries with geing workforces across the UK.

Stephen worked as a labourer for two weeks at a number of Clugston’s sites as part of the Channel 4 TV series, Undercover Boss. By working at grassroots he saw at firsthand how the practical skills of a generation of ‘baby boomers’ are about to be lost and must be passed on before the older generation retires.

The Clugston Group employs 600 people and includes construction, logistics and property development with clients such as Corus, BP and Morrisons.

Stephen said: “I saw three big issues from a workforce perspective. Our communications – look great in head office but don’t work out on sites. On site people are reading tabloids, they don’t relate to glossy magazine style bulletins. I hadn’t realised the impact of the recession on communication – you need to do more, even if there isn’t much to say.”

“We’ve all heard about the ageing workforce coming up for retirement – but I saw firsthand how they have critical skills which are about to be lost.

“And for years now there have not been enough young people coming into some industries – manufacturing and construction are just two. While apprentices have reversed the trend I could see just how serious an issue this is.”

Since the programme, Clugston has been looking at how they pass on the skills of the older generation. Stephen added: “At Clugston, we have accelerated our own activities to address these issues as a result of what I discovered. But the advice and support out there to help us is fragmented, difficult to understand and not targeted specifically on passing on the skills of older workers.

“We believe businesses need a support package – which we are calling Bridge the Gap – based around three critical areas. First, an easy process to identify which people have the ability to coach younger people –possibly using a form of psychometric test that is not paper based.

“The package also needs to provide courses on coaching skills that are not classroom based and a way to identify skills which the older generation has and the where the gaps are in young people. The current process of a Training Needs Analysis needs adapting, allowing people on site who are not used to paper-based systems to use it.”

Stephen Martin worked by day on site and in the evenings wrote up a diary, analysing the key findings of the day. His co-workers believed he was an office worker looking at what he could learn from people who work outdoors.