Tackling Talent Sustainability Challenges in Manufacturing with RWC

From skills philosophy to structural clarity in complex manufacturing environments

At the forefront of addressing workforce sustainability challenges within manufacturing is Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC), a global leader renowned for its innovative plumbing solutions and water control systems.

With a rich heritage and a clear commitment to excellence, RWC stands as a beacon of adaptability and forward-thinking in an increasingly complex operating environment.

At the heart of this evolution is Sarah Brook, EMEA HR Director, who has brought a creative and progressive approach to how the organisation understands capability, performance, and development.

Understanding the nuances of the current workforce landscape, particularly within manufacturing, Sarah has spearheaded a shift towards a skills-focused methodology, moving away from traditional proxies and towards a more dynamic and inclusive framework.

Navigating to a skills-focused approach

The manufacturing industry, like many others, finds itself at a critical juncture. A rapidly ageing workforce is colliding with a digital and operational shift that demands entirely new capabilities.

Recognising this, RWC began pivoting towards a model that prioritises core behavioural and transferable skillsets alongside technical expertise.

This strategic shift acknowledges a simple but often overlooked reality: Technical capability alone does not drive performance.Adaptability, problem-solving, and collaboration are what enable organisations to evolve.

However, while this philosophy was clear, operationalising it at scale presented a challenge. Across RWC’s complex, multi-site environment:

• Critical roles remained difficult to stabilise

• Workforce costs were increasing without improved outcomes

• Job structures had drifted from how work was actually performed

• Decisions were still largely based on judgement, not evidence

In short, RWC was facing a workforce problem it couldn’t yet see clearly enough to fix. 

Collaborating with Clu: Taking Control of Talent Sustainability Challenges

To address their talent sustainability challenges, RWC partnered with Clu, not simply to refine processes, but to build a clear, structured understanding of how work actually happens across the organisation.

Over a twelve-month period, Sarah and the HR team worked closely with Clu to:

• Challenge assumptions around roles and capability

• Facilitate candid discussions on how work is really performed

• Build a consistent, skills-based view of the workforce

• Identify structural inefficiencies and hidden constraints

Clu’s approach focused on creating an audit-grade baseline using existing data, avoiding disruption while rapidly surfacing insight.

This allowed RWC to move beyond theory and into something far more actionable: A shared, evidence-based view of work at the level it actually operates.

Academising core technical capabilities

One of the most innovative aspects of RWC’s strategy is the move to “academise” core technical capabilities. This approach goes beyond traditional training, embedding structured learning pathways and internal capability-building into the organisation itself.

By institutionalising this knowledge, RWC ensures that employees are not only equipped with technical skills, but are also able to navigate the broader challenges of a changing manufacturing landscape.

This is particularly critical as:

• Key technical skills decline in traditional education pathways

• Intergenerational knowledge transfer becomes less reliable

• The pace of change outstrips static role definitions

Through this lens, academisation becomes not just a learning strategy but a workforce resilience strategy.

As Sarah explains: “The concept of ‘academising’ our core technical capabilities is about more than just plugging our skills gap; it’s about building a foundation for lifelong learning within our teams. By partnering with Clu, we’re preparing our organisation for the future challenges we’ll face in an unpredictable environment. Focusing on what people do best and preparing them to thrive will empower them to be the problem solvers and innovators who will drive our industry forward.”

Challenging assumptions and building alignment

A critical part of the collaboration was not just data but dialogue. Clu facilitated candid conversations across RWC UK, helping to challenge entrenched views of capability and value.

By making skills more visible and structured, the organisation was able to:

• Reframe how capability is understood internally

• Reduce reliance on inconsistent or biased signals

• Build alignment between HR, leadership, and operations

This work also contributed to RWC achieving its first level of Clu’d Up Verification, marking a significant step forward in its commitment to building fair, consistent, and evidence-led systems.

Why it worked

The impact of the partnership was driven by a shift in how decisions were made:

• From roles to the reality of work

• From judgement to evidence

• From fragmented data to structured intelligence

By building an audit-grade baseline and surfacing structural issues such as duplication, drift, and role misalignment, RWC was able to take targeted, high-confidence action.

Importantly, this was achieved without disrupting existing systems or workflows.

The outcome

With clarity came speed and with speed came measurable impact:

• 55x ROI delivered against engagement cost

• 20% reduction in workforce spend pressure through identification of internal capability

• Immediate visibility of structural exposure, with first diagnostic delivered in days

• Zero operational disruption, using existing data only

A foundation for the future

For RWC, this work represents more than a transformation initiative. It is the foundation of a new capability, one that enables the organisation to continuously understand, evaluate, and evolve how work is structured as the demands of the industry change.

For leaders navigating similar challenges, the lesson is clear: You cannot build a resilient, future-ready organisation without first understanding how work actually happens.

RWC’s journey shows what becomes possible when that clarity is achieved.

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Cut through workforce cost, risk, and AI guesswork to see exactly how work is structured, where it’s breaking, and what to fix first.

Clu gives you audit-grade clarity from the data you already have, so you can redesign teams, deploy AI properly, and defend every decision with evidence.

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