Iain Hatt: Why growing your own talent is far better than recruiting it for long-term growth
Iain Hatt has been Principal & Chief Executive at Wiltshire College & University Centre for the past five years and has overseen a huge growth in student numbers and employer partnerships. In his latest column he asks why employers choose to hire new people before looking at training their existing staff…
I started my career as an automotive engineering apprentice. Looking back, I can see how much that opportunity shaped my future.
It gave me practical skills, built my confidence and opened doors that eventually led me down a very different path from the one I first imagined.
When I hear employers talking about the challenge of finding the right people to keep their business moving forward, I often find myself reflecting on my own journey.
Before looking outward, is there an opportunity to look inward? Could some of the talent needed for the next stage of growth already exist within the people they employ today?
Identifying potential
In my last column, I wrote about people being the real driver of economic growth. If this is true, and I believe it is, then many of the answers to succession planning, workforce development and future growth may already be sitting within our organisations.
Recruitment will always be important. Every business needs to bring in fresh skills, experience and ideas. But long-term success is often built by identifying potential, investing in people and creating opportunities for them to grow.
I see evidence of that every day.
In 2024/25, Wiltshire College & University Centre trained 1,440 apprentices, including 920 within Wiltshire businesses. Many were people who wanted to take the next step in their careers, gain higher-level qualifications or develop new skills that would allow them to contribute more to their organisations.
What stands out to me is that these are not simply stories about qualifications. They are stories about employers recognising potential and giving people an opportunity to develop.
At our Graduation Ceremony in Salisbury Cathedral a couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting people who had balanced work, study and family life in pursuit of that opportunity. Many were already established in their professions but had chosen to invest in themselves and their future.
The pride on their faces, and on the faces of those who had supported them, was a powerful reminder of what investment in people can achieve.
Looking around the cathedral, I was reminded of the difference that opportunity can make and I believe more employers could share in that same sense of pride by investing in the development of their people.
The talent we need for the future is not always somewhere else. Often, it is already within our organisations, waiting for the chance to grow.
Find out more about support for business from Wiltshire College & University Centre at: wiltshire.ac.uk/employers/.
Pictured: Iain Hatt, Principal & Chief Executive at Wiltshire College & University Centre, congratulating a graduate at the college’s Graduation Ceremony at Salisbury Cathedral (IMAGE: Wiltshire College & University Centre)
