We don’t need Government interference
THERESA May, in a speech last week to the CBI, did a U-turn on her previous commitment requiring companies to have workers representatives on their boards. This was good news for the simple reason that business does not like being dictated to, and in many small operations this would not be a practical. So this projected unnecessary red tape will not happen under the present administration.
I am all in favour of there being a clear path from the shop floor to the board room, promotion being earned by demonstration of ability and keenness, two essential attributes for success. For the past 30 years-plus I have never had fewer than two members on my board who started on the shop floor, with one now managing director.
The important bit is that the experience they gained in their early years is invaluable in the running of the business today.
You cannot learn this from text books, only by dint of being totally involved. What irked the business community was the fact that Government was intending to try and force worker directors by legislation, a course of action which would not have been wise.
Many businesses have systems in place where employees can make suggestions for improving productivity. Sensible companies will financially reward such contributions in addition to giving consideration in due course to career advancement.
It is Government interference that got up the noses of many members of the CBI, let alone the thousands of smaller operations that concentrate on the tasks in hand. Mrs May has wisely decided to back track, especially at a time when the changes that are going to occur over Brexit will be high on the agendas of most businesses.
The idea was just as unwelcome as Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s suggestion that all companies would be required to say how many foreign employees they had on the pay roll. The problem is that there are very few politicians in Parliament that have business experience, let alone any who have worked on the shop floor.
Nevertheless, a welcome change of heart. Russell Luckock is chairman of Birmingham pressings
firm AE Harris