Retaining top packaging talent
Whether it’s through natural growth, replacing hard to find skills or headhunting executive talent, it’s inevitable you will need to recruit into your packaging businesses at some point. However, retaining your top packaging talent is crucial for any business looking to maintain stable growth and break free of a constant cycle of recruitment and training new people.
There will always be areas of your packaging business where market supply of top talent is outstripped by demand.
Of course, there will be times when these areas of your business will shift due to both internal and external factors. Current market conditions have seen areas such as food supply and manufacturing undergo many changes due to the logistical challenges presented by Covid and Brexit, which, in turn, has had a knock-on effect on packaging producers and manufacturers.
What remains true, regardless of the pressures your packaging company is experiencing from the market, is the need to identify, nurture and retain your top packaging talent. By considering some of the following points, you place yourself in a better position to recruit and retain critical packaging talent.
Identify the right attitudes and skills from the start
It may seem obvious but when recruiting top packaging talent in the first place, it is only worth it if they remain with your business for a positive period of time. There are some key considerations to make when you are interviewing new packaging talent for your team.
- Is there a personal match? If the person will directly report to you, then it is important that you feel invested. Regardless of the persons track record in the packaging industry, if you are not invested in them then they will not reach their potential within your business.
- Is there a good team match? Again, the individual may be an exceptional performer but if it is at the expense of the wider team motivation then any benefit gained can be quickly lost elsewhere.
- Invite an understanding of the candidates long and medium term goals. Can the business support them? It may be that your opportunity does have a shelf life for both parties and that’s okay providing it works for both parties.
- Really work to understand if your opportunity is the right one for them. This creates much stronger foundations for the beginning of your working relationship.
Day to Day Engagement
Day to day engagement is important to realise that whilst most people are motivated by different things, it is important to approach team and individual satisfaction with a consistent and transparent approach.
Obviously meaningful weekly and monthly meetings are important and it is imperative to understand that the meeting is as much for them as you. Whilst performance and strategic conversations will take place, there are other areas to consider:
- Where are they in line with their professional and personal objectives. How can you provide continued support toward these goals?
- Use these opportunities to gain an understanding of job satisfaction and any changes that may become a problem in the future.
- Take a note of where team members engage in what you are saying where they switch off. A classic top performer will rarely like being told what to do and will sometime bristle at constructive feedback. Try to create an environment where they set the right action plans that run in-line with your wider business objectives. Additionally, seeking their opinion on subjects and making them part of solutions will have a positive outcome.
Rewards
The ability to understand that people are different and value rewards differently ensure that individuals feel personally rewarded for their part in the businesses success.
For some, it’s holidays, for others its money but it is important that team members feel fairly and adequately rewarded.
Accept that salaries, like the cost of anything, will change based on supply, demand and inflation. Just because you were paying a competitive salary once won’t necessarily mean that you are today.
Take advantage of your packaging recruitment partnerships in order to gain a better understanding of salary scaling and talent depth. We spent a lot of time imparting our packaging recruitment and industry insights to our clients to ensure they are well-equipped and up to date with crucial benchmark information. Why is keeping ontop of industry salaries important? Well, changing a salary when someone has asked has a positive impact but recognising and rewarding without prompting shows a level of awareness and a genuine investment in their future.
Using counter offers to retain your best packaging talent may be tempting. But rarely have a positive long-term outcome for either party. If it has taken until this point to realise that a staff member is not happy then there will usually be deeper reasons.
For others, a wider benefits package will carry importance depending on their personal situation. Take advantage of benefit scheme programmes that allow individuals to tailor elements of what they receive. For some it will be extra holidays or gym memberships, for others it will be private medical insurance.
Accept that other packaging companies will want your top staff. Be proud that you are fostering an environment of such talent. Make it okay for your staff to talk to you about these approaches and it will make you part of the process rather than separating you from it.
Remember that there is no substitute for a well-rounded team that has a cohesive and successful working relationship. Accept that on occasion you will lose top talent. The dream job, the salary that defies logic, relocation. By focusing on the team as a whole and understanding the individual needs of every member you ensure that you can ride these challenges and recover quickly from the loss of a team member.
As well as providing packaging recruitment and headhunting, Woods International also provide leadership and team assessments and outplacement services to help you better understand the talent depth within your packaging business, the reasons people leave and any improvements you can make to ensure a consistent supply of top packaging talent within your business.