Staff holidays to India help, but packaging must do more to reach out to future staff

It would be easy to dismiss this as the indulgence of a ‘trendy London design agency’, but there’s a lesson there for everyone in the industry, which needs to attract more young blood.

This doesn’t mean everyone has to follow Pearlfisher’s example by inviting the entire workforce to unwind at an ayurvedic resort in India, but it has undoubtedly created an atmosphere and ethos that is attractive to the majority of staff.

For example, hand on heart, how many of you would be confident that 73% of your staff would say they had found their dream job, as was the case with Pearlfisher?

At a time when packaging has to compete with an expanding pool of career choices, not to mention its negative public image, the industry must work to attract and develop talent; or else, it will be very difficult to replace ageing staff as they retire.

Whether it’s free coffee on tap, an admirable and explicit business ethos or a working environment that shows respect for everyone from the cleaner to the chairman, think about what you can do to satisfy the needs of tomorrow’s packagers.

You only get out what you put in, as an old teacher of mine once told me, so be careful that you don’t end up with something close to its sell-by date.

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