Recruitment Challenges? How Manufacturers Can Hire the Right Talent
Recruitment Challenges?
How Manufacturers Can Hire the Right Talent
Part 1 of 3
It’s no secret. Manufacturing recruitment has been facing challenges for the last several years. Finding the right talent may be difficult, but it’s not impossible.
According to our primary research conducted through members of MAM and the 2023 Wisconsin Manufacturing report, most manufacturing executives said finding and attracting qualified employees was the number one concern during 2023. We’ll cover some tips that you can use to recruit the right candidates to join your company.
An Overview: Challenging Trends in Manufacturing Recruitment
Baby Boomers continue to leave the workforce, taking their skills and years of on-the-job expertise with them. Manufacturing executives now face two challenges: filling the empty positions and dealing with a skills gap.
It doesn’t end there. Technological changes are forcing manufacturing employees to adopt new skills to compete. Some CEOs think the pace of change is too fast for their entire workforce to adapt.
Overcome Poor Perception
The public perception of manufacturing careers isn’t the best. It has a negative impact on recruitment. Many parents discourage their children from pursuing a manufacturing career because they think it’s hard on the body, lacks creativity, or harms the environment.
The best way to hedge against these misperceptions is to create educational content highlighting how fulfilling and sustainable a job with advancement opportunities a manufacturing career offers. Not many people are aware of the massive number of job openings in the manufacturing industry and the opportunities they bring.
Many people also fear the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) impeding their careers in manufacturing. While often exaggerated, these concerns aren’t completely unfounded. According to the World Economic Forum, roughly 54% of employees will need to upskill to prepare for the increase in automation, robotics, and AI.
As a leader in the manufacturing industry, it’s up to you to ease their concerns. Create content that explains to prospective employees how the industry has evolved, improved, and looks to the future. To create a perception of future-proofing their careers, you may also consider demonstrating how AI will benefit them regarding work-life balance, workplace safety, and productivity.
Establish Your Value Proposition ASAP
Before creating or placing media in the world to attract talent, you must establish what makes you different from your competitors. What makes you special? Why would someone be excited for a long-term career with your company? Here at Red Crow Marketing, we like to call this Separation (from competitors) and Elevation (of your value to prospects).
What does your company offer to entice prospective employees? The core of your marketing strategy rests in what you can provide job seekers. You want to identify your employee value proposition (EVP) early. Remember that your EVP will inform the bulk of your online marketing strategy. So choose wisely. There are a few ways to create an accurate EVP.
The best way to identify your real-world employee value proposition is through direct feedback from current, former, or prospective employees. Don’t underestimate the information you can acquire from internal market research.
Step into the shoes of your ideal employee. What do they need from a company? How can you fill the need? How can you fulfill these needs better than your competitors?
Consider this example:
Economic uncertainty is one of the biggest concerns facing American workers in 2024. Does your value proposition alleviate some of these concerns? Does your company offer upward mobility, job security, or stability? If so, lean into it. These benefits make for an enticing EVP.
Model your EVP after successful competitors. Take a look at how other companies are communicating their value. Look at the language they use, the images they show, and so on. It’s very likely that a company’s marketing was done by a marketing agency. Don’t just copy what has worked; utilize it as a resource on how to position your company and highlight what makes you special.
Create Content to Showcase Your Value Proposition
In today’s marketing atmosphere, there are almost unlimited possibilities for content creation and placement. While Red Crow can help determine the best platforms for your brand, we often recommend creating content in the form of blogs, videos, or infographics that reflect your company’s core value. Use employee testimonials, team photos, and videos of your workplace to bolster your brand’s messaging and showcase the reality of working for your company.
Select Multiple Platforms to Reach Your Audience
Cast a wide net. You want to reach your ideal employee anywhere and everywhere they may be spending their time and attention. Connect to them where they are. An individual might not be ready to join a new company, but they’re still curious about who you are. You should reach these people through informative, engaging blog posts or videos.
On the other hand, a job seeker might be comparing companies to see which one is a better choice. These folks are lower down in the funnel and closer to becoming leads. You’ll want to give these people easy ways to send in an application or get more information about the role and company culture.
But first, you’ll want to cover the basics, like attending job fairs and handing out flyers or listing your job openings on the Chamber of Commerce in your city and on mainstream job boards like Indeed.
After that, you need to get listed on manufacturing jobs boards and list your open positions to job seekers actively looking for a manufacturing career. Recruitment doesn’t have to be direct. Whether you’re actively looking to fill positions or not, having a well-known brand and online presence is helpful.
However, before you can hope to create consistent branding for your recruitment efforts, you need to be able to outline what you bring to the table.
Get Better Results with Red Crow Marketing’s Recruitment Process
With every company, culture, and industry being very different, Red Crow Marketing will conduct extensive research to determine the most marketable qualities of your company. We’ll show off those stand-out qualities that speak directly to the person you want working at your facility.
Once we have completed our research, we will generate campaign ideas to specifically highlight your company’s USPs, culture, and core value proposition — the exact reason why applicants should seek you out before competitors.
Utilizing our proprietary system containing what we call The 6Ts, we will align your campaign with the factors that have proven time and time again to create wins for our clients. The 6Ts focus on building a marketing strategy that shows the value of your company as opposed to the job (bonuses, paid leave, salary, etc.).
- Trust: Your company helps them grow their skills and get recognized for it.
- Team: Employees feel that they are a part of something they can be proud of.
- Time: You provide employees with a good work-life balance between career and family.
- Training: There are opportunities to advance at the role and receive mentorship.
- Tools: Employees can feel safe in the position and are given the tools to succeed.
- Treatment: Your company provides employees their basic needs – wages, benefits, safety, etc.
Leveraging the 6Ts is a powerful method for crafting exceptional recruitment marketing campaigns. It’s even better when your business is actively embodying all six of these qualities.
Outsource Recruitment Marketing to the Experts
Digital marketing is the best way to promote your company’s value to prospective employees. But rather than do it yourself, outsource it. You’ll save time, money, and frustration, and the results are often more integrated and effective in positioning your company to prospective employees.
Hiring a full-service marketing agency can take a lot of weight off of your shoulders, freeing you up to focus on what you do best and running your company effectively. Red Crow Marketing is experienced in researching your target market, crafting campaign strategies, and promoting consistent branding across multiple mediums.
An experienced marketing agency will be able to craft a compelling recruitment campaign, covering every part of the marketing funnel:
- Increase awareness: We’ll get your brand noticed by the right people.
- Generate interest: By creating great content, we will pique their interest in your company.
- Nurture the decision: We’ll highlight why you stand out from the other fish in the sea.
- Drive action: We’ll help you to simplify the application process and generate more leads.
- Tracking results: With industry-leading tracking technologies in place, we can determine what efforts are the most effective. This allows us to continue shaping the campaign as it evolves.
Red Crow Marketing has over twenty years of creating holistic digital marketing campaign strategies for manufacturing companies looking to have their unique brand recognized. Whether it’s through the strategic use of media placement, social media marketing, website design, or tradeshow events, we craft a compelling image for your core audience. Our clients have seen proven results.
Lets Discuss Your Recruitment Marketing Strategy Today
Elevate your recruitment efforts with the help of advertising experts at Red Crow. Contact us today to get started.
