The Bi-Weekly Workforce Newsletter of the Council of Industry
August 26, 2021
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Manufacturing Workforce News |
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Creative Strategies to Attract and Hire Employees
by Rebecca Mazin, Recruit Right
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There’s probably a help wanted sign on your door, and you are all too aware that hiring has become a #1 challenge for most employers. Members of the COI HR Network met, in person at the new DCC@Fishkill Campus, to share ideas. While no one found the magic formula, we did come up with a healthy list of recommendations.
Traditional Hiring Methods 2021
If you are sticking with traditional hiring methods of posting a job and waiting for applicants there are some steps to take to increase the likelihood of a response. The first is to look at your job posting; skip the job description and or a long list of text. Create an eye-catching flyer that announces, “Now Hiring” or “We’re Hiring.” You don’t need a graphics department, find free options at canva.com and postermywall.com to create a flyer that can be used in a job posting, on social media and even printed and posted.
Make certain your job posting is pared down to the job title, hours, rate of pay and an easy way to apply. Text gets great results from younger job seekers; a phone number also works and walk ins may be helpful. Track sites where you post to see which get results.
While you are paring down your job postings look carefully at your recruitment process. Map out all the steps and decide which ones can be eliminated. The longer you take, the more steps, the more likely you are to lose candidates.
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Think Outside the Recruitment Box
Internal referrals are prime sources for candidates and can be part of traditional hiring methods but it may be time to loosen rules about employment of relatives and increase incentives. Keep in touch with referrals, even if you don’t have positions open, you can contact them when the right role opens.
Go the extra step to seek out referrals. Meet with team members to ask if people know former employees. A conversation will yield more results than an announcement looking for referrals. If alumni are not ready to return they may know someone who would be interested, they know the workplace. Form Alumni networks and keep them up to date on your company. Beef up your community connections with schools, churches, nonprofits and community centers. You can post on community FaceBook pages. Ask current employees what social media they view and go there to announce openings.
Schools and community groups may not yield immediate results but being a regular speaker, mentoring, offering tours of your facility and building relationships will lead to hiring, interns and job shadowing.
Watch your retention. It’s a good time to offer retention bonuses and identify mentors, or buddies to give a new hire a friendly face at work. This is not a trainer, it’s a person who is available for lunch, can answer a question and will say, “Hi, how ya doing?” every day.
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Look for Ways to Screen People In, Not Out
Not every candidate is good at interviewing and the best interviews don’t always result in the best employee. Look for reasons, in a conversation, to screen someone in. The opposite end of the spectrum from traditional methods is Open Hiring, maintain a list of job seekers and bring them on board as openings occur. Open hiring is not a guarantee of a job for life. Learn more about the concept at www.greyston.org/open-hiring.
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Upskill Your Workforce
The MIAP Apprentice Program
Email
to Learn more.
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For information on advertising in this and other CI publications
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Collaborative Recruiting – Promoting Manufacturing Careers to People Returning to the Workforce |
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As the we approach the end of the summer the Council of Industry is doubling its efforts to encourage people, young and old, to consider careers in manufacturing.
Finding workers (skilled or otherwise) is the greatest challenge facing manufacturers across the country and this is especially true in the Hudson Valley. While we believe this challenge will continue for the foreseeable future, we also believe there is a narrow window opening to fill some jobs. We think that, as we enter the fall, potential employees who have been sitting on the sidelines will be looking to re-enter the workforce. Schools reopening for in person learning, along with the end of enhanced and extended unemployment benefits, should motivate some people to get back to work.
With the support of a grant from M&T Bank the Council of Industry and our Manufacturing Workforce Center hope to get these folks to consider careers in manufacturing. We will be doubling our social media promotion and ad buy, guiding people to www.HVMfgJobs.com where there are hundreds of jobs posted. Additionally, we are partnering with the New York State Department of Labor to conduct a Virtual Manufacturing Career Fair on August 19th. This statewide event is expected to draw more than 1000 visitors.
Of course, we continue to spread the word that there are rewarding careers at Hudson Valley manufacturing firms with all of our partners and friends including community colleges, BOCES, County workforce and economic developers, elected officials and not for profits. Let’s hope these actions will chip away at the enormous hiring challenges you all are facing.
If you have any questions or want to learn how you can become part of the Council of Industry’s Collaborative Recruiting program, email Johnnieanne Hansen - jhansen@councilofindustry.org.
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Held annually on the first Friday in October with events that continue throughout the month, MFG Day—Manufacturing Day—helps show the reality of modern manufacturing careers by encouraging thousands of companies and educational institutions around the nation to open their doors to students, parents, teachers and community leaders.
This year, MFG Day also includes a strong emphasis on engaging digital and virtual events throughout the country. With manufacturing careers at the heart of some of the most impactful work being done in response to the pandemic we are excited to shine a spotlight on manufacturing careers.
Viking Industries will host WKIP' Hudson Valley Focus Live on October 15th. Your company can participate too! Contact jhansen@councilofindustry.org for more information.
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Council of Industry Wage & Benefit Survey - October 4th |
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The Council of Industry's 2021 Wage and Benefit Survey will be available for members to complete beginning October 4th. The survey is sponsored by Associate Members Ethan Allen Personnel Group and Rose & Kiernan Insurance. Watch your inbox for details. |
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iCIMS July Insights Manufacturing Report |
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Manufacturing application activity has declined, lagging behind the overall market. In 2019, activity was down 17% and down about 8% since the start of 2021. Openings for production occupations are up 61% since Q1 in 2019 and up 36% since the start of Q1 in 2021. The industry has continued to experience a shortage in applicants, as each production occupation role averaged only 13 applicants per opening in Q2 in 2021. Male applicants ages 18-24 decreased by 12 while those ages 55-64 increased 21% from May to June.
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Companies Pay New Workers Higher Wages, and Current Employees Ask, ‘What About Us?’ |
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Companies across the U.S. economy are raising pay to recruit workers in a tight labor market. So-called wage compression—when pay for new hires or entry-level staff approaches what longtime staff or senior colleagues make—poses a financial and management challenge for employers and has gained new urgency as companies fight to attract and retain employees amid record-high rates of job-quitting. When companies announce pay increases for entry-level jobs, they also send signals to their internal workforces, said Diane Burton, academic director of the Institute for Compensation Studies at Cornell University’s ILR School and a professor of human resource studies. Those signals can prompt companies and individuals to reassess the value of skills, experience and seniority.
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Moms in Manufacturing–How to Keep and Attract This Talent Pool |
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During the pandemic work-life balance became central to determining how employees were able to do their jobs. And for women especially, this became more difficult as balancing the needs of children no longer in school with work was at times impossible. In fact, increased household responsibilities during the pandemic forced many working women to not only scale back on hours but to leave the workforce entirely. According to Allison Grealis, president, and founder of Women in Manufacturing (WiM). “The industry needs to take into account that there are many women who graduate college, pursue careers and then step out of the workforce to raise children, but can come back if schedules are flexible to accommodate childrens’ school schedules,” Grealis points out.
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Upcoming Programs, Training and Events |
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For more than 25 years, The Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership program has offered attendees a range of leadership skills through concentrations of courses. Participants who complete the required courses are presented with the Certificate in Manufacturing Leadership by the Council of Industry.
All courses are interactive half-day sessions (8:30 am to 12:30 pm) with scheduled breaks, networking, and group discussions. These courses are offered online and require participants to have a working webcam and audio.
Though participants are encouraged to complete the course series for the most comprehensive supervisory education, the Council welcomes individual course registration as well.
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MIAP Apprenticeship Program |
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The New York State Manufacturers Alliance – of which the Council of Industry is a founding member – has created a New York State Manufacturers Intermediary Apprenticeship Program (MIAP). Administered in the Hudson Valley by the Council of Industry MIAP is an employer-led public-private pilot program for registered apprentices in manufacturing occupations.
This apprenticeship has two basic elements. The first, On-the-Job Training (OJT), consists of a seasoned employee, craft person capable and willing to share their experience with an apprentice, in a hands-on manner. The second, Related Instruction (RI), consists of learning more theoretical or knowledge-based aspects of a craft.
This registered apprentice program will typically be 16 months to four years in duration.
MIAP Registered Trades:
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Registered Apprenticeship in New York State |
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The Manufacturing Matters Podcast |
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Manufacturing Matters Podcast: Shawn George Manager Operations/Quality Assurance, Universal Thin Film |
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In this episode, Harold King speaks with Shawn George, about this growing business and important technology. Thin film coatings are used in a wide range of applications for many purposes. They can be used to protect displays from scratches or environmental exposure, create a specific degree of reflectivity on a lens or build layers of metallization on semiconductor wafers. Universal Thin Film has been in business for more than 30 years and Shawn is helping them expand into new industry sectors and further develop the technology. |
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