Tom Andel

Finding and keeping talented people
December 11, 2007

The problem isn’t the fish. It’s the bait.

Welcome to Modern Materials Handling’s new blog site. Its purpose, as with any blog spot, is to provide a forum for practitioners to comment on industry trends and happenings. The difference with ours is, you know your audience. They’re your colleagues. They read Modern. They’re like you.

I’ll kick it off with a topic many of our readers have identified as their toughest challenge: finding and keeping talented people. I’m talking to a bunch of people about this right now for an article I’m doing for our February issue. The problem seems to be the image a material handling job conjures in the mind of a job applicant: “box kicker.” Many of the people I’m interviewing say that image is more stereotype than reality. In fact, many distribution centers offer a great introduction to the latest information technologies such as bar code scanning and RFID interfaces to sophisticated warehouse management systems.

It may be that many employers looking for materials handlers don’t know how to attract the kind of young talent they’re crying for. Just as materials handling is an art, so is describing what a materials handler does. The Warehousing Education and Research Council just came out with “A Guide for Establishing Warehouse Job Descriptions.” Under Appendix C, WERC offers some phrases that will help draw the right candidates to your door. You need to show them there’s not a dead end sign beyond it. It should be seen as a path to continuous learning. Do the following phrases match what you have to offer?

• Keeps updated on new products and processes;
• Quickly learns to operate new equipment and computer systems;
• Cross-trains in functions other than one’s primary role;
• Keeps up with industry trends and updates knowledge appropriately (e.g., export knowledge, use of automated equipment, advances in technology, e-commerce, etc.)

These are the opportunities that draw talented candidates. Do they match what you have to offer? If not, maybe a job makeover is in order. If so, maybe you have some even better bait to share with fellow fishers of men—and women. Blog away!

Posted by Tom Andel on December 11, 2007 | Comments (0)