WAUKESHA, WI—Husco International, a manufacturer of hydraulic and electromechanical control systems for automotive and off-highway applications, has received a Human Resources Award from the Milwaukee Business Journal.

For many manufacturers, efforts to build the next-generation workforce feel like a plot from “Mission Impossible.”

There’s clear agreement that a company’s most important asset is its people, but there’s no consensus on the best recipe to develop them. And nor should there be, as every company’s situation is different. But are there major themes that cut across the spectrum?