Roughly 35% of manufacturing facilities in the United States are reporting an inability to staff their skilled trades positions with qualified employees – and unfortunately – this trend is only going to worsen in the coming years.  
 The average age of a power plant operator is 54, and skilled trades employees in the petrochemical industry have an average age of 57.  This means that in the next five years, our clients can expect as many as eighty percent of their operators and maintenance personnel to retire.  The tribal knowledge these employees have allows facilities to operate in a safe and efficient manner, and when they retire, a marked increase in unplanned downtime and safety related problems will occur unless the issue is handled proactively. The common question is "What do we do?" The answer lies in one word: consequences.  Does your organization have consequences for good job performance and poor job performance?  If it doesn't, then you can expect more problems in the future.  World-class organizations are moving to structured qualification programs with pay rates based on an employee's ability, as opposed to a limited "one-salary-fits-all" model.  The employees who attend training will be rewarded by attaining a higher compensation for the skills they can perform.
 A bidding war for highly qualified operators and technicians is coming in the near future, and if you want to stay on top, you need to have consequences. There is a saying for the one-salary-fits-all company: "If you're good, it pays to stay and if you're bad, it pays the same." If this is your business model, you can count on your higher performing employees to move to another company for better compensation.Ton FoskeyCOO Technology Transfer Serviceswww.techtransfer.com