- Laurie Wherley
- July 20, 2022
Your products and services are the core of your warehouse, but your workers are its lifeblood.
Hiring the right team is crucial. A great warehouse employee can exceed goals, improve productivity, and contribute to a winning culture. A bad employee can slack off, waste company resources, and even bring others down with them.
To prevent costly mistakes, you need to know what to look for and how to avoid making a subpar situation even worse.
Below are the top five most important ways to avoid warehouse hiring mistakes.
1. Start with Current Employees
If you’re willing to take inventory, maintain a stable environment, and take out insurance policies on your physical merchandise, why would you treat your employees any differently?
Each of your employees represent labor-intensive training, education from past mistakes, knowledge of your warehouse systems, and potential to train new workers. Remember that your employees are the vibrant, living heart of your warehouse. Losing a team member to resignation or retirement? Conduct an exit interview to learn what you can before they leave. Better yet, talk to your current employees now to learn what you’re doing well and what you can improve!
2. Get Serious About Prospecting
Treat prospecting like you would a roof leak or a broken loading dock door: with urgency. Waiting until hiring has reached a crisis point is not a viable strategy!
A few key tips are:
- Set a goal for the number of interviews and hires you need to complete in a set period. Keep this goal top of mind as the weeks go on.
- Make a habit of informing candidates that the role they applied for has been filled. Then, ask them if they’d like to stay in touch in case there’s another opening later.
- Be active in industry-specific spheres like LinkedIn.
Don’t be shy about asking your domestic supply chain vendors where they source candidates or consult with a digitized temporary staffing agency like Jobble. Jobble is an all-in-one staffing platform that helps businesses connect with the workers they need. Learn more about how Jobble can help you staff your warehousing needs here.
3. Don’t Stick to 1990-era Techniques
Staffing agencies are an option, but they can be cost-prohibitive and use outdated technology. Cut out the middleman and don’t be afraid to approach your candidates where they already exist:
- Ask your newest hires where they were looking for jobs
- Take to social media to post about openings
- Use a staffing platform like Jobble to set the parameters you’re looking for in a candidate.
Think of it like marketing. Pushing your product (i.e. your job position) at potential hires worked in the 1980s, but these days, it’s different. Now, candidates prefer to find and observe opportunities, learning as much as they can about your company before applying. You can help applicants learn (and apply) faster by sharing video tours of your facility and/or interviews with longtime employees.
4. Nip Tech Concerns in the Bud
Warehouse technology is evolving, which can make teams feel both excited and nervous. Handheld scanners and RFID tech are making picking easier. On the other hand, warehousing robot innovation might make some fear for their job security.
Talk to your teams and let them know which, if any, tech your company is planning to implement. Be sure to emphasize why it won’t negatively impact their jobs, hours, or pay–and how it will improve their work, too. Warehouse technology improvements should help everyone on your team. Lead with that attitude.
5. Be Aware of Your Brand
Is your website old and outdated–or worse, non-existent? Do you have a presence on industry networking sites? Has anyone from your company written columns or articles for industry publications?
Job-seekers want to align with a “winner.” If your company isn’t moving at the speed of innovation, you’re asking incoming candidates get you there. For management, that might be an interesting proposition. For other workers, however, it’s a red flag that your open role may be more work than it appears.
If you have negative comments on review sites like Glassdoor, make sure you address them publicly and professionally. If you don’t, candidates may see you as uncaring or aloof, and they’ll choose another employer.
Ready to become a staffing expert?
