How to Recruit Manufacturing Employees

Hiring new employees is a key concern for many businesses right now, but particularly in the manufacturing industry where delays are costly. But how do you recruit manufacturing employees when everyone is hiring? And how do you ensure they’re a good fit for your business?

Follow these tips to find qualified manufacturing employees for your open positions.

Emphasize the “Why” in Job Postings

A common hiring mistake starts with job postings themselves. Companies have a tendency to focus on the requirements for the job, and what they need. While that information is certainly important, it’s also important to think about a job posting from a potential employee perspective: why would they want to come work for you?

When writing to attract employees, you want to make sure your job listing also includes:

• Information about the company culture/mission
• If there’s a path for growth from the job, and what that might look like
• Benefits and salary information (you can use a range if you don’t want to give specifics)
  
  Job seekers have more choice than ever, and if you’re not speaking their language then they’re going to go to the next company who is.

  Use Social Media

When it’s time to post job listings, many companies put the information out on Indeed and call it a day. However, social media can also be a great way to find potential employees. LinkedIn in particular is often used by job seekers for exactly that purpose. LinkedIn offers paid job postings, but you can also simply use the free posting feature to post content about job openings and link back to your website. You should also encourage your upper management to use LinkedIn, if they aren’t currently. Job seekers will often scope out key figures inside of a company on LinkedIn to see what they’re up to. Posting at least once a month gives those potential employees an important glimpse into what management is up to, interested in, and engaging with on LinkedIn.

Review the Reviews

It’s important to know what job seekers are seeing when they research your company, and often one of their first stops is Glassdoor, Google, or Facebook to check out employee reviews. You need to see what reputation your business is projecting if you want to truly reach manufacturing employees. Take some time to review your reviews and see what people are saying – even if you disagree, there could be merit in their feedback. Are former employees citing the same issues over and over again? Is turnover high? These are the sorts of things potential manufacturing employees look at closely. You may need to do some work internally to ensure your staff is happy, satisfied, and willing to vouch for your company.

Offer Referral Incentives

Speaking of happy employees – don’t overlook your current staff! They very likely have connections with other manufacturing workers who may be looking for new positions. Setting up a clear referral program with incentives is a great way to find new, qualified employees. Incentives can be as simple as a gift card, small bonus or additional vacation time.

Partner with A Manufacturing Staffing Agency

Partnering with a staffing agency is one of the best ways to connect with potential employees, without needing to invest extra time on your end. A manufacturing staffing agency is specifically experienced in finding the right employees for your open positions, and have the extra knowledge to ensure that you’re getting a good fit.

Our extensive time in the industry provides clients with an unparalleled depth of experience. Strom’s overriding goal is to provide employers with powerful and reliable contract or temporary workers to give their business a boost in productivity.

Strom Engineering is a national staffing and recruitment agency, with a particular focus on manufacturing, engineering, assembly, and other trade positions. We match skilled candidates to temporary or project staffing positions. Learn more about how it works and check out our case studies for more information.

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