The Hunt Continues

Most manufacturers came to value advice from creative HR professionals as they confronted the challenges of operating through the once-upon-a-time worker shortage.

Minnesota’s economic comeback will likely involve a whole new set of employee-related trials—and no one can yet tell us what they will be. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare. I asked Alissa Henriksen, principal and owner of Grey Search + Strategy to give me some insights about what manufacturers should be thinking about. She’s one of my favorite experts in this field, and she didn’t disappoint. In fact, I liked her advice so much, I’m just going to reprint it here, straight from her:

1. Re-evaluate your job descriptions. We don’t revisit them often enough. This is your first impression with prospective employees. Take time to rewrite and redesign your job descriptions to provide a clearly-defined overview of the position and your culture—and make sure they are eye catching.
2. Add an employer branding page to your website. More than 63 percent of applicants will go to your website to research YOU. Make sure you help them fall more in love with your company and how it supports your employees.
3. Focus on the roles you need to bring on, and don’t give up on the goal of adding that talent. Hiring should continue to take time because you want to bring on the right people that fit your culture, and this market is the IDEAL time to look for talent. This doesn’t mean you have to bring them on in two weeks. “This” market means that you can interview and have access to more people. This will help you make a more confident decision in the hire you want and need for your role. You can also build a pretty solid pipeline for when more talent is available. Never quit searching for good talent. Giving up will put you several steps behind when things turn around.
4. Be transparent with your current employees and with potential new hires about the current situation. They deserve to know what’s going on. Bring comfort to people by providing updates, even if that update is that you aren’t sure what the next week will bring, but that you are doing everything you can to keep the focus on your customers and your employees. The same goes for people you are interviewing. Let them know you have every intention to hire, but the process has been slowed down. Keep your top talent engaged and up to date by setting up a time to connect every two weeks. This will also leave them feeling good about how you communicate and handle yourself during this time.
5. Onboarding CAN STILL HAPPEN! You absolutely can onboard new hires in a virtual setting. Set up virtual meetings, provide processes, manuals, systems etc. for talent to learn in a virtual setting. One of the things we are creating is a virtual onboarding process for our clients and community to download because you absolutely can bring on new hires in this environment. It might take a few extra steps, but it’s something that will work out and will probably create closer relationships and clearer communication because of the environment we are working in today!

Sage advice!

Lynn Shelton is Vice President of Marketing for Enterprise Minnesota.

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Additional resources:

Enterprise Minnesota consulting services   |   State of Manufacturing® survey results   |   Enterprise Minnesota® magazine   |   Manufacturing in Minnesota

Enterprise Minnesota is here to help Minnesota manufacturing enterprises grow profitably.