Why Supply Chain Leaders need a proactive recruitment strategy to secure the right talent
How Supply Chain Leaders can be proactively involved in the recruitment process to attract the best talent
A proactive recruitment approach is vital now more than ever in today's candidate market. As a Supply Chain Leader, having a proactive recruitment strategy and working collaboratively with Human Resources teams creates the best opportunity for attracting the right talent to your team and improves your candidate's experience, positioning your company as an attractive employer.
In a post-COVID world, supply chain companies are experiencing new challenges including wage rises due to inflation, cost of living and Australia’s unemployment rate at 3.9%, the lowest we have seen in decades.
Supply chain salaries across various positions advertised on SEEK had increased 11-30% in February 2022 compared to February 2020. Furthermore, the number of job ads rose 41.4% in February 2022, compared to February 2019 whilst job application numbers are at low levels, according to SEEK research. Having fewer candidates available is making it tougher than ever for businesses to find new employees. This increased demand for workers has led to a need to offer higher salaries to secure employees.
SEEK Laws Of Attraction suggests that whilst salary was the top driver attracting candidates to a role, work-life balance ranked as a very close second. This suggests factors such as flexible working hours, time in lieu and some flexibility with work from home arrangements are highly valued.
Not only is attracting the right people for your business important, but strategies to retain them are crucial to reduce employee turnover. Current SEEK research found “29% of Australian workers are looking to move jobs in the next 6 months” for higher salaries, career progression, lack of work/life balance, or due to company culture.
For supply chain companies, these changes mean a need to refine recruitment and employee retention strategies to be competitive and secure the right candidates for their company.
Salary may be a key factor when candidates are deciding whether to stay with their current company or look for a new role. However, there are a number of other ways a company can stand out to attract, secure and retain the right employees who can offer the most in-demand skills.
With candidates having more choice than ever in the current job market, it is key for supply chain companies to have straightforward strategies to position them as an attractive employee to candidates, including:
Hybrid working models: is there flexibility in the working hours, remote working arrangements, or additional leave that could be offered to employees? Clearly define these benefits in job abs to attract the best potential candidates.
Career progression: this may include employee promotions, opportunities for up-skilling, switching roles or other ways companies can help employees feel valued within the business.
Company culture and reputation: to attract the best candidates, social media and LinkedIn can be a valuable tool to promote your company values, culture and reputation so that potential new employees learn the benefits of joining your company.
To attract the best candidates, supply chain leaders should be proactive in their recruitment processes rather than relying on Human Resources. Reimagine Talent’s key tips in taking a proactive recruitment approach for supply chain managers include:
Share available roles on your LinkedIn profile. Follow up any potential candidates by sending a personalised message about your company and the role, and start a conversation with them about what they are looking for in a role.
Connect with past colleagues and contacts and ask whether they know anyone they feel might be interested in the role.
Collaborate with your HR team to create the role description, benefits of working with your company and key messaging about the role that will be shared across job ads, LinkedIn and when speaking to potential candidates.
Review CV’s of potential candidates. You understand the idiosyncrasies of each department and role best and are likely to find the right potential candidates for the role.
Engage your team to consider if anyone in their network might be a great fit for the role. You might assume that your team would automatically do this, but this is not always the case.
Read more about proactive hiring here.
For further recruitment support, the team at Reimagine Talent are always here to assist you in your recruitment process, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.