20 MiMfg Magazine April 2017
Win the War for Talent No Matter Your Size
By Lorraine Medici • Express Employment Professionals
Small- to mid-sized manufacturers face an age-old problem — finding the right person to add to their team . In a recent survey by Express Employment Professionals , two-thirds of businesses ( 65 percent ) report challenges to talent recruitment . i Today ’ s skills gap is largely to blame . The nationwide mismatch between employer needs and candidate abilities are growing wider . With so few skilled workers available , small and mid-sized manufacturers are forced to compete with the seemingly endless resources and reach of large businesses in the fight for talent — a fight they cannot afford to lose .
What ’ s a business to do ? The impossible task of competing against big business doesn ’ t have to be so impossible . Small manufacturers have unique assets to attract top tier talent — business owners just need to put a little extra thought and effort into getting noticed before success on the hiring battlefield finds them .
Pinpoint and Play to Your Strengths
Identifying the assets you have to offer is the first step . A recent Fast Company article says it best , “ by truly understanding what your team and potential candidates desire , you can better compete with the larger companies that appear to offer it all . Take a close look at what your team is truly passionate about inside and outside of work . Talk to them and get their feedback on what means the most to them .” ii You can take this knowledge and use it to attract the talent you need . Remember , you have something special to offer top performers , including more unique opportunities to develop as a professional , the chance to wear more hats , added access to business leaders within your company and a family-like atmosphere that can feel missing in a business stretching around the globe .
Don ’ t Limit Your Candidate Pool
Just as business leaders ask candidates to keep an open mind , employers must also keep an open mind about the types of candidate they ’ ll consider . Focusing on personality , culture fit and potential , rather than just strictly experience , education and skills , will widen the candidate pool and allow businesses to find amazing employees they might otherwise bypass . These diamonds in the rough could be lost to the purgatory of a database or internet program if you rely too heavily on the strict screening of a resume . At Express Employment Professionals , our goal is always to speak with an applicant on the phone or in person before screening them out based on their experience or resume . Big businesses rarely take the time to do this and they can afford not to , benefitting from an often substantially larger pool of applicants . Some even rely solely on applicant tracking systems for the first round of hiring . Small manufacturers that take the time to speak with a greater percentage of their applicant pool will have a competitive advantage over their larger counterparts in the search for top talent .
There are positives and negatives to businesses of every size and type , yet losing the hiring battle doesn ’ t have to be the domain of small manufacturers . Talk about what your business can offer , market its assets , and ease position requirements where possible and you will find yourself on an equal footing with even the most worldrenowned corporations . In the end , hiring the best candidate matters more than the process by which you found them . There ’ s a path for you to win the fight for talent — you just have to dig a little deeper . 6
Lorraine Medici is director of training and development at Express Employment Professionals . She may be reached at 616-281-0611 or lorraine . medici @ expresspros . com . i
Business Survey : 65 % Say It ’ s Not East to Recruit Talent , Express Employment Professionals , March 2017 ). ii
How to Compete with Top Companies for the Best Talent , Fast Company , posted online September 9 , 2014