For centuries, the manufacturing sector has embraced new technology and opportunities to deliver impressive innovations throughout the world.
Manufacturing companies exist at the heart of the fourth industrial revolution – the new era described by Klaus Schwab as a fundamental change to the way that we live and work. To support this transformation, the industry is exploring a variety of new ideas, including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, robotics, and more. While some people worried that this would mean fewer jobs for human workers, the problem is actually the opposite.
There are plenty of roles out there for experienced manufacturing candidates. Unfortunately, in the next 10 years, 2.4 million of those positions may go unfilled, thanks to an extremely competitive hiring environment.
So, how do you ensure you’re getting the talent you need in a skills-short market? The simple answer is to work with a specialist team like Sigma Recruitment.
Finding the Right Recruitment Partner
While there are plenty of hiring professionals out there capable of aiding manufacturing organisations, they’re not all built the same way.
Finding the right recruitment partner means knowing how to separate the specialist in their field, from the countless groups that don’t know how to deliver future-proof talent for an industry as complicated as manufacturing.
Here’s how you can identify an excellent recruiter for your niche in 2019.
Step 1: Look for Knowledge of the Latest Trends
As mentioned above, the manufacturing space is changing at a rapid pace. According to PWC studies, 72% of manufacturing companies say that they’re increasing their digitisation strategies to become “digitally advanced” by 2020. This means that your recruitment team needs to be able to seek out talent with both traditional manufacturing knowledge, and an understanding of the latest trends like:
- Additive manufacturing and 3D printing
- Artificial intelligence and automation
- Sensors and the Internet of Things
Specialist recruitment teams in the manufacturing field like Sigma Recruitment know how to track down the most competitive candidates in your space. Whether you’re looking for someone to fill a new position like “head of additive manufacturing,” or you’re searching for a high-quality engineer.
Step 2: Make Sure They Communicate Well
Communication is critical in any business relationship. Unfortunately, some recruiters struggle to keep up with all their clients. This means that some companies are left without correspondence for weeks at a time, and others only receive brief emails to let them know how the search for their new maintenance technician or product manager is going.
Before you commit to working with your new recruitment team, make sure that they can provide you with consistent communication. Whether it’s face-to-face conversations or regular calls, you need to know that your team is making progress towards finding you the right members of staff.
Evidence of excellent communication practices will also mean that you can expect a quick response if you reach out to your team with any questions or concerns.
Step 3: Know Which Strategies They’re Willing to Use
In a skills-short manufacturing environment, finding the right candidate for your role may mean going beyond the standard job listing. While it’s still important to write a great job description and place it on a recognised industry forum, it’s also crucial to ensure that your recruitment team can take your search to the next level.
For instance, many of today’s most impressive talent may be open to new positions and opportunities while they’re still employed with another company. Effective recruitment teams will have pipelines and passive recruitment systems in place to help them connect with people outside of the job-seeker crowd, who may be interested in your position.
Step 4: Check That They Can “Sell” Your Business
Finally, the best recruitment companies are the ones that can listen to the needs of your organisation, understand your goals, and create a strategy for “selling” your business to potential candidates.
For instance, your recruitment team might work on improving your employer brand by demonstrating your position as an agile market leader with published case studies or news stories. Alternatively, they might encourage you to ask your existing manufacturing employees to share their positive experiences with your company online through forums and social channels.
Dedicated manufacturing recruitment teams like Sigma don’t just filter CVs and send them to your business leaders. We get to know what your business needs and partner with you to remove the roadblocks that are preventing you from finding the ideal candidate.
In a skills-short marketplace, make sure you work with a recruitment specialist that will go above and beyond to “sell” your open positions.
About Sigma Recruitment
We are ‘South Wales Recruitment Specialists’ based in Cardiff, Wales.
We offer a full range of permanent recruitment solutions to many of South Wales’ and the South Wests’ leading manufacturing, technical, automotive and life science organisations. This includes companies in Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Ebbw Vale, Port Talbot, Bridgend and the surrounding areas in South Wales.
Sigma Recruitment has one of the largest and most comprehensive recruitment candidate databases in the area. To get in touch with our team call us now on 02920 450 100. Alternatively, contact us here.
