Industry: Manufacturing & Industrial

Global Talent Acquisition Strategy: Time-to-Hire Cut in Half

Posted on by akessler
PeopleScout Cuts Time-to-Hire in Half with Global Talent Acquisition Solution for Manufacturer

GLOBAL RPO

PeopleScout Cuts Time-to-Hire in Half with Global Talent Acquisition Solution for Manufacturer

A global manufacturer of engineering solutions turned to PeopleScout for global recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) to fulfill their need for highly specialized, hard-to-find industrial engineering talent at their manufacturing sites, innovation centers and service centers across 16 countries.

50 % Average Reduction in Time-to-Hire
16 Countries & 9 Languages
16 Countries & 9 Languages
Scope Expanded After Exceeding Hires Target
Scope Expanded After Exceeding Hires Target

Scope & Scale

The manufacturer engaged with PeopleScout for a global RPO solution to make 150 hires for over 30 of their sites across 16 countries including Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

For most of their hires, they were seeking specialty talent with expertise in engineering and industrial design. These skills help build equipment for businesses all over the world that focus on chemicals, air and water treatment, mining, pharmaceuticals, marine, construction and other industrial applications.

Challenge

The client came to us after their previous RPO provider failed to deliver on the manufacturer’s global talent acquisition challenges. With some requisitions still open after 500 days, many of their site managers had taken recruitment into their own hands. Each manager had their own approach which resulted in a disjointed candidate experience and high levels of frustration for hiring managers and internal stakeholders. The global talent acquisition leader had very little visibility into time-to-fill and cost-to-fill metrics from country to country and wanted to see a consistent process across all regions that showcased their employer brand. 

The manufacturer also had growing concerns about the future of their labor force. With the average age of an engineer in the mid-50s, a huge portion of the global engineering workforce is due to retire in the next 10 years. The client needed to get ahead of this by recruiting talent with specific engineering skills to prevent a future talent gap.

However, engineers are highly sought after, with 63% of European manufacturers indicating the engineering skills shortage is making it harder to find qualified workers. The manufacturer needed candidates with unique experience in mechanical engineering and automation and who also matched their language requirements which varied by country and role. So, attracting these rare engineers—and convincing them to make a move—meant we had our work cut out for us.

Solution

Our diverse, multilingual and multicultural delivery teams in our Bristol and Krakow delivery centers plus remote teams got to work executing an end-to-end RPO solution. They sourced, screened and evaluated candidates in English, Swedish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Using Labor Market Insights to Inform Strategy

With competition from other well-known, international companies in certain markets, some roles were particularly challenging with over 200 similar open positions across competitors in one location alone. The PeopleScout Insights Team was commissioned to conduct in-depth research across markets and uncover potential candidate motivators that would give the organization a competitive edge.

In one case, our market data indicated that the labor pool for engineers in Czech Republic is small. So, we approached the client with the idea to expand the geography of our search to include candidates who lived across the border in Poland who could commute. By doing this, we filled business-critical automation engineer roles that saved their productivity levels. 

Global Process Meets Local Expertise

We created a global process to meet the requirements of the global talent acquisition leader and then worked with hiring managers in each region to adjust our approach to account for nuances like culture, job role and labor market across their sites.

Applying our team’s deep regional expertise, we adapted our strategy in each location, using the appropriate databases, job boards and online and offline marketing tactics to reach the right candidates for every role in each country. For example, in smaller cities, we knew it was less likely that blue-collar candidates would be seeking employment via online channels, so we took out ads at bus stops.

For other roles, we increased awareness of organization’s employer brand through targeted recruitment marketing efforts on job boards and social media. We also partnered with local universities to get in front of students who were looking for their first jobs after completing their studies. 

Talent Pooling with a Focus on Diversity

Because most engineers in Europe aren’t actively looking to change jobs, our recruiters found most success through proactive headhunting. By engaging directly with passive candidates via social media, email and phone, they filled many existing requisitions and created talent pools for future vacancies, which reduced the overall time-to-fill.

Since women remain underrepresented in engineering fields across Europe, the manufacturer put great importance on increasing the number of women engineers they hired. In addition to adjusting the verbiage in job descriptions to make them more inviting to a wider variety of candidates, our recruiters paid special attention to reaching out to women by targeting online groups for women in engineering and women in tech.

Results

In the first year, we surpassed the initial target of 150 positions to deliver 245 total hires across 30 sites with a quarter sourced through proactive search and engagement. We filled the 500-day-old roles and reduced the time-to-hire by approximately 50% on average through our talent pooling efforts. In the process, we won over sceptical stakeholder groups, including the client’s EMEA engineering leadership. In the second year, we’re growing our partnership with over 300 hires projected.

In one instance, we were asked to source specialist inside sales talent. These individuals needed IT experience, manufacturing experience and to be fluent in German. With such specific requirements, advertising wouldn’t have worked, but because of the talent pool we built, we filled these two positions in less than three days.

“We have forged an excellent relationship with the PeopleScout team. They fully understand our challenges and needs and are able to meet our recruitment requirements in an efficient and professional manner.”

– Talent Acquisition Manager

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY: Global Manufacturer
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS: Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • ANNUAL HIRES: 300
  • LOCATIONS: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom
Contact Sales

Global RPO: Hiring Solutions for Hard to Fill Jobs

Posted on by akessler
Global RPO: Hiring Engineers with Niche Skills for a Global Manufacturer in LATAM and Europe

Global RPO: Hiring Engineers with Niche Skills for a Global Manufacturer in LATAM and Europe

A multinational automotive components manufacturer at the forefront of electric driving technology engaged PeopleScout for a full-cycle, multi-country Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solution. To continue supplying automotive technology for millions of the world’s cars, they needed to source the next generation of engineering talent across 54 locations in 21 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia.

100 % New Hires Completed Ahead of Schedule
80 % Candidate Submissions Invited to Interview
1300 Applications Received for 150 Positions
21 Countries | <br> 5 Languages |<br> 3 Continents
21 Countries |
5 Languages |
3 Continents

Scope & Scale

A global automotive parts manufacturer partnered with PeopleScout to initially source 150 hires across locations in Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany and India as well as facilities in Latin America. They needed a global RPO provider who could handle sourcing for niche engineering roles in English, Polish, Spanish, Italian and Hungarian languages.

Challenge

As the client expanded manufacturing into new regions to support their global growth agenda, they turned to PeopleScout to partner with their in-house talent acquisition teams to drive their transformational change projects.

Hiring in Latin America had stagnated as the region became the go-to region for automotive manufacturing. With major car brands moving more of their operations into the region, competition for talent became more and more steep.

Meanwhile in Europe, a shortage of niche engineering skills was impacting operations in Poland. The talent war between organizations in the area hiring for similar roles was driving up salary expectations, but the manufacturer lacked the labor market data to make informed decisions to adjust their strategy.

Solution

Analyzing Labor Markets on Two Continents

Our Client Delivery team started by undertaking labor market and workforce analytics in each region. We worked with the client’s HR and operational teams to support their workforce strategy through a competitive analysis which led to recommendations on salary bands for each role and level of experience. For roles in Poland, we helped them explore the possibility of relocating new hires in order to widen their talent pool to other parts of the country where there was more access to experienced engineering professionals.

“PeopleScout has done a great job to support the project, showing high commitment and flexibility in this difficult and changing environment. We’ve had great collaboration together.”

Senior Director of Engineering

Sourcing Passive Candidates with Personalized Videos

Meanwhile, our multilingual teams in Bristol and Krakow began sourcing experienced Product Application Engineers in Latin America and across multiple European locations, as well as Design & Test Engineers in Poland.

Not satisfied with one outreach, we employed a different approach with candidates who were unresponsive after the first communication. Our recruiters created and sent personalized videos introducing themselves and the opportunity to the candidate. This personal touch drove higher engagement and interest from talent who hadn’t engaged initially.

Over 80% of applicants were identified via passive sourcing, with the remaining candidates coming from ongoing advertising campaigns across job boards and social media.

Leveraging Social Media to Boost Employer Brand Awareness

Through our Social Network Awareness Package (SNAP) we identified the best social channels to reach the manufacturer’s audience and created tailored posts, including imagery and headlines. We used this social media content to boost awareness of the client’s employer brand among relevant groups and individuals based on their locations, professional details and interests. Throughout each campaign, we provided a reporting dashboard and analyzed engagement which helped shape recruitment marketing activity going forward.

Testing Technical Skills with a Custom Assessment Center

These highly specialized engineers, regardless of region, needed to have a good command of English as well as technical aptitude. We assessed for both by designing and executing a technical testing program. Our assessors administered these exams virtually, freeing up hiring managers to focus on running their operations.

Once offers were made, our team continued to keep in contact with successful candidates during their notice periods and onboarding. We notified the client’s HR team of any potential concerns of dropouts, working together to mitigate risks.

Results

In just 10 months, we filled 100% of the manufacturer’s niche engineering headcount, including all openings in Poland—two months ahead of schedule. Our team reviewed over 1,300 applications and screened over 250 candidates, supporting hiring managers with initial phone screens, technical assessments and post-offer communications.

The hiring managers were thrilled with the quality of the candidates they saw, with over 80% of candidates put forward by our team being invited to interview.

Following this success, we expanded our engagement with the client to their India operation, taking over from local third-party agencies. This Recruiter on-Demand solution will support volume hiring challenges and drive cost savings.

“PeopleScout did really great work across hard-to-fill disciplines. We had a fantastic sense of partnership across the whole project.”

Global Head of Talent Acquisition

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY: Global Automotive Manufacturer
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS: Recruitment Process Outsourcing
  • ANNUAL HIRES: 150+
  • LOCATIONS: 21 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia
Contact Sales

Leveraging Technology to Improve Recruiting Efficiency and Candidate Experience

Posted on by jpatel
Leveraging Technology to Improve Recruiting Efficiency and Candidate Experience

Candidate Experience | RPO in Manufacturing

Leveraging Technology to Improve Recruiting Efficiency and Candidate Experience

This multinational manufacturing company turned to PeopleScout for full life-cycle recruiting support and a technology-based solution to hire of hundreds of retail store and service positions across the U.S. and Canada.

4,400 Total Annual Hires
77 % Increase in Annual Hires Across Commercial Service Centers
232 % Increase in Annual Hires Across Manufacturing Plants

Situation 

The client experienced less than desirable outcomes from their previous RPO provider and chose PeopleScout as a partner because of our exemplary reputation and proven winning record in volume hiring in their industry. In addition, PeopleScout provided what had been lacking in their talent acquisition strategy: technology-based solutions, market intelligence and analytics, talent consultation, and standard reporting and compliance protection precautions.

Solution 

Even with a stellar recruiting process, it would take the power of an integrated candidate management technology stack to make sure that hiring targets were being met with fewer human administrative tasks. 

PeopleScout’s proprietary talent technology, AffinixTM was implemented to accelerate recruiter efficiency and enhance the candidate experience. The recruiting team leveraged Affinix Automation to do much of the repetitive heavy lifting in the process and relied on robust analytics that turned historical data into actionable insights to identify opportunities for process optimization. 

Affinix End–to–End Process 

The Affinix experience begins with a requisition feed from the client’s HRIS, where all hiring needs are approved. 

The jobs are integrated into the Affinix Applicant Tracking System which provides: 

  • An interface to edit the job to prepare it for posting/advertising 
  • The platform that posts the job to the client’s Affinix career website and creates a job description and job page to post the job to media 
  • The platform for recruiters to manage all candidates during the hiring journey 

Once posted, jobs are live on the client’s Affinix career website which allows candidates to:  

  • Quickly find the job they are looking for based on keyword, location or job family through intelligent and responsive search technology 
  • Join the talent community by quickly submitting their profile information if they are not ready to complete a job application  
  • Apply for a job through Affinix’s Quick Apply application, which captures all required candidate information and consent on one continuous and seamless page 
  • Automatically create a candidate dashboard to update their information, upload a new resume or change their communication preferences   

The Affinix Quick Apply application sends the candidate data to the Affinix ATS and CRM which creates a candidate record. With knockout questions built into the application, Affinix processes candidates who are qualified and sends a text or email message to the candidate inviting them to complete a pre-screen. 

Affinix Digital Interview then sends pre-screen questions by text and email. With hundreds of requisitions open concurrently, the power of Affinix Automation saves the recruiter the time it takes to pre-screen a candidate before the interview process. Having the option for candidates to answer pre-screen questions by SMS improves submission rate. Additionally, the recruiting team created a sophisticated scoring rubric for the technology to score the candidate based on their response.

Affinix Digital Interview then automatically advances the candidate to be invited to a phone interview if they meet or exceed the score threshold. The event scheduling functionality in the Affinix Digital Interview platform gives invited candidates the opportunity to choose a time on their own from the recruiter’s calendar availability.
Candidate information, activity and status automatically flow through to Affinix CRM. Because of the volume of qualified candidates who do not get hired, recruiters can classify candidates as silver or gold medalists, manage them in pipeline folders, and engage them with robust email campaigns. Some markets or jobs are urgent and when candidate traffic does not happen organically, the recruiters leverage Affinix Talent Matching, a sourcing platform built in the CRM.

Sourcing from hundreds of social and lifestyle sites, Affinix Talent Matching unleashes the requisition out on the open web to find relevant candidates whose profiles match the job requirements.

Since this sourcing tool is built into the CRM, sourced candidates can be added directly to pipeline folders. The recruiting team can also quickly build landing pages from Affinix CRM to be used as destination pages for pipeline-building campaigns like diversity and inclusion or new grads.

Affinix Analytics gives visibility to the historic recruiting performance by job class, requisition, location and hiring manager. Most importantly, it provides predictive analysis so that the recruiting team can take action and make corrections if needed.

Results 

The PeopleScout recruiting team meets and exceeds the client’s hiring targets because of how they masterfully leverage Affinix and its one mission—to improve candidate experience and recruiter efficiency. With Affinix:  

  • Candidates find jobs and complete job applications faster 
  • Candidates feel they are being given proper attention by getting quick responses with pre-screen questions and interview invitation, all swiftly done with automation 
  • Recruiters do less administrative tasks with Affinix managing the screening and scheduling process 
  • Recruiters can source, pipeline and engage candidates in the CRM to boost requisitions that are getting slow candidate traffic 

Affinix Success with the Client: 

  • 4,400 Total Annual Hires
  • At 265 Commercial Service Centers:
    • 1,300+ Annual Hires—77% increase from 2019 to 2020 
    • 16,000 Annual Applicants—14% increase from 2019 to 2020 
  • At 19 Manufacturing Plants Across North America:
    • 1,300+ Annual Hires—232% increase from 2019 to 2020 
    • 25,000 Annual Applicants—48% increase from 2019 to 2020 
  • Time from interview to offer decreased from 9 days to 3.4 days 

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY: Tire Manufacturer
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS: Recruitment Process Outsourcing, Affinix
  • ANNUAL HIRES: 4,400
  • LOCATIONS: 265 retailer service centers and 19 manufacturing plants
  • ABOUT THE CLIENT: This multinational manufacturing client specialized in rubber and tire manufacturing. It has multiple manufacturing plants across the U.S. and Canada as well as hundreds of retail service centers.
Contact Sales

 

Women in Manufacturing

Posted on by suhlarik
Women in Manufacturing

Women in Manufacturing

A leading manufacturer turned to PeopleScout for a unique, technology-powered candidate attraction campaign to increase women in their workforce.

A PeopleScout manufacturing client operates in an industry that has historically been male-dominated, but the client wants to change that perception. The manufacturer partnered with PeopleScout with the goal of increasing the number of female applicants and hires.

PeopleScout worked with the client to develop the Women in Manufacturing campaign. PeopleScout interviewed nearly 20 women who work in roles across the company and who love their jobs. Using this information, PeopleScout built out candidate personas to target women interested in the industry, and created a campaign featuring real women who work for the client.

Using Affinix™, we built a dedicated landing page and talent community for female candidates. On International Women’s Day, the four-week campaign, Women in Manufacturing, launched to showcase the woman-friendly, inclusive culture at the company. The campaign features employee spotlights, videos and stories to showcase how women are integrated into the culture of the company and integral to the company’s success.

The campaign features profiles of women who work in a range of manufacturing positions.
Employee profiles feature advice and insights for female job candidates.
The customized, targeted landing page was created with Affinix. 
The campaign is featured on the company’s social media accounts.

“To make a lasting change, you need to consider both your stakeholders and the sustainability of your effort. Throughout the process of brainstorming, designing, and executing our Women in Manufacturing recruiting campaign, the team has balanced the technological, brand consistency, and tactical challenges to produce a thoughtful program of materials to support us. Through rapid, data-based decision making, they have quickly adapted to the fluid needs on an ongoing end-to-end recruiting campaign.”

– Matt W.

Director – HR Strategy, Analytics, & Talent Acquisition

AT A GLANCE

  • COMPANY: Manufacturer
  • PEOPLESCOUT SOLUTIONS: Talent Advisory, Affinix
Contact Sales
Download Case Study PDF

Manufacturing Recruiters: Retooling Industrial Recruiting for the Modern Age

Posted on by edyson

For many industrial and manufacturing recruiters, navigating the skills gap remains a persistent challenge. A study conducted by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute revealed that the manufacturing skills gap may leave an estimated 2.4 million positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028, the result of which may cause 2.5 trillion dollars in lost revenue.

Those numbers represent missing out on major contracts for manufacturers without the skilled talent to fulfill them. They mean extending or missing deadlines with longtime clients. They are the difference between expanding into new markets or experiencing stagnation.

In the past, as long as a candidate possessed a strong work ethic and commitment to getting the job done, few other skills were required. However, over the years, manufacturing has become more complex and depends on sharp minds and an agile mix of technical skills.

Whether your organization is planning to grow its operation, preparing for retirements in your workforce or upskilling in response to automation and productivity improvements, closing the skills gap relies on finding the right talent.

In this article, we will cover how manufacturing recruiters can better find the right talent to create a workforce with the right mix of competencies and skills for success in the modern industrial workforce.  

Dissecting the Manufacturing Talent Landscape and Recruiting Challenges

Manufacturing has experienced an ebb and flow in job loss and growth over the past few decades. However, industrial activity monitored by the ISM manufacturing index hit a six-year high in August 2017, indicating a growing trend in overall manufacturing output. What’s more, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), manufacturing output in the first quarter of 2017 was 80% higher than its level 30 years ago.

The increases in productivity in manufacturing is in part thanks to technological advances and improvements made in industrial production. To keep pace with technology-driven innovations, manufacturing organizations require a more technically skilled workforce.

Before optimizing your manufacturing recruitment strategy, it is crucial to understand the challenges that the manufacturing industry faces with reputation, the generational workforce divide and the changing nature of skilled work.

The Manufacturing Industry Has a Reputation Problem

A Kronos survey found that only 37% of those surveyed would encourage their children to pursue a career in the manufacturing industry. The survey also found that less than a quarter of respondents know that the manufacturing industry offers well-paying jobs.

To attract the next generation of manufacturing talent, you must address this perception and the bias many younger skilled workers may have regarding the industry. While campaigns to such as “Manufacturing Day” are helping improve the industry’s image, manufacturing recruiters must also be proactive in their efforts to communicate the new and exciting opportunities their organizations can provide to candidates.

The Retiring Manufacturing Workforce

The mass departure of the Baby Boomer generation continues to impact organizations across all industries. The Pew Research Center estimated that 10,000 baby boomers will retire every day for the next 19 years.

The results of this are being felt throughout the manufacturing industry – and is only predicted to get worse. When Deloitte calculated the impact of retiring Baby Boomers on the manufacturing industry, they estimated that approximately 2.7 million workers would retire from manufacturing between 2015 and 2025 – a figure that represents 22% of the manufacturing workforce.

Recruiting Engineers: The Changing Nature of Work Requires New Skill Sets

Recruiting Engineers

Automated processes like computer-aided design, 3D printing, robotics and computer numerical control (CNC) machining have replaced much of the manual workforce in manufacturing. Consequently, today’s manufacturers need talent with technical skills who are confident decision-makers, critical thinkers and quick learners.

Given today’s tight candidate market and widening skills gaps, finding candidates with the right mix of experience and technical skills within the manufacturing industry proves to be a consistent challenge. Organizations now have to carefully prioritize the “must-have” skills while hiring talent to fill these roles and consider which additional skills can be taught on the job.

What’s more, the specialization of manufacturing roles requires employers to be well-versed in technical and engineering recruitment to hire the talent needed for product design and production. RPO providers with experienced teams of technical and engineering recruiters can help supplement internal manufacturing talent acquisition teams by sourcing candidates with experience in product design, robotics, assembly engineering, automation, machine programming and control engineers. 

What is a Technical Recruiter?: The Benefits of Technical Recruiters in Manufacturing

Technical recruiters specialize in sourcing candidates for technical roles in the technology and engineering fields. While traditional recruiters and technical recruiters share similar responsibilities, there are additional benefits when engaging a technical recruiter:

  • Identifying the right experience and skills: An expert technical recruiter can identify work experiences that are transferable between industries, ultimately, increasing the odds that candidates will be successful in the new role.
  • Greater pool of talent: Technical recruiters have large networks of candidates they can reach out to since they are constantly communicating with individuals who are open to work. This means they already have access to top engineering, manufacturing and technical talent.
  • Understanding industry terminology: Technical fields such as engineering, robotics and automation are often jargon-heavy. So, the ability to understand and use the correct vocabulary is essential. Technical recruiters speak the language of candidates and can clearly communicate skills and requirements. They can also answer and ask in-depth questions.

Lack of Traditional Manufacturing Talent

While there are many new skills sets needed in manufacturing that require recruiting engineers and technical talent, there is still a need for traditional skills. However, just like technical roles, finding candidates to fill traditional manufacturing occupations is challenging.

According to the BLS, an additional 44,000 machine operator roles will be needed by 2026. Current trends indicate this number will be a hard order to fill for manufacturers. If left unchecked, manufacturers are facing a talent crisis that could leave up to 2 million roles vacant.

Retooling Your Manufacturing Recruitment Strategy

The time and resource investment needed for manufacturing recruiters to source, interview and hire the right talent is considerable. On average, it takes 94 days to recruit employees in the engineering and research fields and 70 days to recruit skilled production workers for manufacturing positions.

Manufacturing Recruiters

To improve manufacturing recruiting outcomes, organizations should stop reacting to talent shortages with a single-minded focus on specific skill sets or certifications, and take a big-picture, strategic approach to recruitment.

In this section, we will outline how to analyze weak points in your manufacturing recruitment processes, help you refine your approach to fill your most urgent talent needs with top talent and how to get this talent interested in your organization.

Rethink Job Descriptions

It can be easy to provide a laundry list of skills, experience and “musts haves” when writing a job description. However, this practice can scare top talent away from applying to positions within your organization, even if they are qualified.

Candidates who might be a perfect fit for a role may self-select out of the application process because they do not meet every single qualification. Worse, candidates who are not qualified end up applying because they recognize one or two items on the list and think, “Sure, I can do that.”

Instead of making a long list of qualifications, describe what the candidate’s onsite responsibilities will be like should they be hired for the role. Not only will you attract better candidates from the start, but you will also stand a higher chance of retaining employees because they understand what they signed on for.

Along with describing responsibilities, also be honest about working conditions in job descriptions. You will need to describe those conditions accurately to clarify any misconceptions and adequately prepare your candidates for their potential work environment.

Manufacturing Recruitment Ideas: Master Employer Branding

Manufacturing Recruitment

Top candidates want to work for dynamic, growing organizations. If you are trying to recruit talent from outside the manufacturing industry, these candidates need to believe that they will have autonomy and opportunities to ascend the ranks of your organization. Your team of manufacturing recruiters and your HR department should work together to create a plan to communicate your organization’s employer value proposition to candidates.

When engaging candidates, your recruiters should act as “culture carriers” and highlight what makes your organization an employer of choice. When pitching top talent, your manufacturing recruiters should research what will get candidates excited about your organization, whether it is your unique company culture, the opportunity for driving change or the potential to build a lasting and rewarding career.

Also, make sure to highlight the benefits of working at your organization. Do you currently offer insurance, profit sharing or a retirement plan? Are there discounts on the goods you produce for employees and their families? The extras you provide will help differentiate your organization and make it more appealing to candidates.

Manufacturing recruitment ideas to improve your employer brand include:

  • Promote onboarding and training: Your organization should put considerable thought into promoting your onboarding, training and continuing education programs (e.g., mentorships). Promoting your commitment to your employee’s early success, you can bolster a candidate’s confidence in applying to your organization. 
  • Tailor your manufacturing recruitment to target recently displaced workers: Unfortunately, many manufacturing workers were displaced during the COVID-19 pandemic. To attract these candidates, market benefits like increased job stability, new PTO policies, wage increases and improved workplace flexibility.
  • Communication is key: Provide consistent and regular feedback to candidates and encourage them to engage with your organization during the application process. Recruiting automation technology can help send texts and emails to candidates to keep them in the loop during each stage of the manufacturing recruitment process.

Work with Local Academic Institutions 

Most universities, community colleges and technical schools have a wide range of programs and courses in manufacturing processes, fabrication, welding, automation and machining. So it makes sense to target students at these institutions as part of your manufacturing recruiting program.

Create a list of local schools your manufacturing recruiters should reach out to and have them contact campus career centers at each school. Once they have established contact, ask them to inquire about chances to share internships and employment opportunities with students. It is important to establish a relationship with the career centers at your target schools, as each school has specific guidelines, events and timelines associated with its recruiting process.

Once on campus, it is important to establish a strong employer brand presence. Partnering with marketing can be invaluable in this instance, as a company’s marketing team can create materials that specifically appeal to the campus audience.

Invest in Building a Superior Candidate Experience

Identifying roadblocks and issues that can make it difficult for candidates to move through in your current hiring process is important in creating a better candidate experience. A lengthy hiring process or unrealistic job offers could be causing your organization to miss out on top prospects.

Your recruiting teams should ask for feedback about your hiring process from current employees and even candidates who turned down your offer. This can bring you insights from candidates who pass on your job offers and determine whether these roadblocks are culturally entrenched or can be changed.

For example, do candidates frequently complain about a lengthy interview process? If so, there may be a way to streamline the interviews to accelerate the decision-making timetable, such as video interviews.

Building a better candidate experience begins and ends with your manufacturing recruiters communicating expectations upfront with candidates, so they know exactly how long the process will take, how they should prepare and what each step of the process entails.

Conclusion

Organizations willing to rethink their manufacturing recruitment strategy now will gain a critical first-mover advantage. Rather than fighting for talent with antiquated tools and tactics, they will be leading the charge forward. If you establish a reputation for being an employer of choice in the manufacturing industry, top talent will seek you out, and be excited to be part of your dynamic, innovative organization.