From Turnover to Thriving: 6 Non-Traditional Sources for Finding Manufacturing Talent and a Key Differentiator for Attracting People
by Thomas Schultz, CLA Talent Solutions
This vlog is part of CLA’s Manufacturing Leadership Series… From Turnover to Thriving. With labor scarce across many industries, retaining top talent is a top priority. In this vlog, you’ll discover why money is not always the answer to finding and keeping top talent – also important is how you leverage your company’s name and reputation with new audiences you want to attract.
Competition for talent remains intense.
The unemployment rate in April was 3.4%, the second month since May 1969 where the unemployment rate was below 3.5%. With those numbers, manufacturing companies are getting more creative about finding and keeping talent.
While many manufacturers might start with the obvious –increasing wages and benefits–these steps alone cannot solve the problem of finding and attracting enough skilled workers, as confirmed by this Manufacturing Institute study.
What can help you find and keep people who have so many choices? It starts with considering non-traditional recruiting channels – beyond running ads.
Finding employees
Years ago, when I was working for a manufacturing company, our pay levels meant that we actually competed for talent with local fast-food chains. You might think that it would be easy enough to just offer more money, but that didn’t address the problem of finding workers. With such a small labor pool, the biggest challenge was reaching potential applicants.
There are many great ways to reach new audiences—beyond typical channels of recruiting.
Nontraditional applicants: Who are they? And where are they?
Non-traditional applicants can be anyone from outside of your usual hiring circles. Consider these five sources of skilled employees in your quest to fill open positions:
- Veterans. While their skills might not look like a 1:1 match to a manufacturing job description, military veterans tend to have strong values, a sense of service and loyalty. Their skills, training and experience often translate into excellent project management, collaboration and team leadership that supports manufacturing success.
- Retirees. While a worker might have retired from one line of work, that doesn’t mean they wanted to leave the workforce entirely. They may have decades of experience and knowledge they want to contribute to a new company. Part time might be an attractive option for them.
- People with disabilities. Local organizations often have programs that will recruit and train employees for manufacturing and other jobs. Partnering with those organizations saves you several steps in finding and recruiting workers.
- High school students. It’s never too early to recruit. Networking with high schools and GED testing centers in your area can help you socialize your company’s mission, vision and opportunities with students who are exploring what their next steps might look like. Many high schools offer vocational training programs in manufacturing, and companies can provide internships, apprenticeships, and job opportunities to students.
- Immigrant workforce. Immigrants can bring unique skills and perspectives to manufacturing jobs, and lend their knowledge and expertise to help companies expand and continue to recruit in the community.
- Ex-offenders: Many people with a criminal record have difficulty finding employment, but manufacturing jobs can offer a second chance. Most ex-offenders have completed vocational and occupational training programs designed to help them develop the skills needed to achieve success and can fill jobs for which skilled workers are hard to find.
Share Your Story
Your reputation and employment branding comes along with your name out in the market. A strong “employment reputation” as one people want to work for makes a spider web of connections in the community and region. Companies are well-advised to think about how they build information about their workplace culture, not just what they sell, within industry and trade groups, and with local non-profit organizations and events. Today, more applicants take time to know who you are before they take the next step of showing interest in you as a potential employer.
No matter where you find workers, potential employees will want to know about how your company contributes to society, how they can contribute to your company, how you treat employees, and how you will accelerate their growth goals. The “day in the life” experience working for your company is equally important to many potential employees as wages and benefits.
The Bottom Line – Build Community Capital
Talk to people so they’ll talk about you. Then when you place that ad, or advertise on social media, you’re addressing an audience who knows who you are and what you’re about.
Looking to more ways find and keep employees? Let’s talk.
Jennifer Clement is an executive sales and marketing leader specializing in value creation for the C-suite. In her current role at CLA, Jennifer collaborates on strategy with executives of global manufacturing and distribution companies to accelerate results. Previously Jennifer served as a Global Business Acceleration Leader for Complete Manufacturing and Distribution (CMD). During her time with CMD, Jennifer lived and worked in Asia from 2015-2019. Prior to CMD, she spent 10 years in senior care technology. Jennifer started her career at Johnson Controls (JCI) and spent nine years in leadership roles; followed by five years at Rockwell Automation (ROK) leading c-suite strategy and marketing operations.
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