Wonolo
- Rely on Employee Referrals
- Use an On-Demand Staffing Platform
- Be as Specific as Possible with Your Needs
- Make Sure You Have the Right Starting Pay
1. Rely on Employee Referrals
Frank Hurte, founding partner of River Heights Consulting, recommends relying on employee referrals when recruiting pickers and packers: “We try to encourage people to 
do that whenever possible. Not only are you more likely to find a quality worker, but the person who made the referral feels as if they’ve made a valuable contribution to the company.” Some organizations reward employees for referring candidates who are hired for such roles, but Hurte recommends proceeding with caution because employees may be tempted to recommend someone for the money rather than recommending someone they truly believe will be an asset to the company.
2. Use an On-Demand Staffing Platform
Warehouse and HR managers who rely on on-demand staffing platforms to recruit pickers and packers benefit from knowing the potential candidates are prescreened and available to accept jobs in minutes rather than days or weeks as is the case with most temporary staffing agencies. They also prefer knowing that thousands of qualified workers are made aware of their openings without needing to post jobs to multiple sites or conduct a time-consuming vetting process. Having the ability to choose workers after seeing their reviews and ratings on a staffing platform helps warehouse and HR managers quickly and easily fill open positions with workers who are ready to dive in and get the job done.
Today’s warehouse workers also rely on technology to find both temporary and permanent employment opportunities; they turn to on-demand staffing platforms to find them more quickly. Today’s job force prefers having access to multiple job listings and having greater control over the positions they choose to take, choosing openings based on their availability, qualifications, and other preferences. And, workers looking for part-time or short-term picking and packing positions enjoy the benefit of building a professional reputation and earning future opportunities based on high ratings and positive reviews from previously completed jobs.
3. Be as Specific as Possible with Your Needs
If you want to spend less time and money recruiting pickers and packers, you should be more specific when stating your needs. You need to write a concise job description listing the specific attributes the ideal candidate will possess. Mel Kleiman, a leading consultant on hiring and retaining the best frontline hourly employees, suggests that you should begin by knowing exactly when you need, much like when writing a grocery list.
Without a specific job description, you risk spending more money than you should or not getting everything that you need, ultimately wasting hours of precious time sorting through hundreds of unqualified applicants. It’s also worth noting that a written job description listing the mental and physical requirements of a job is a powerful defense against claims of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
4. Make Sure You Have the Right Starting Pay
IndustryWeek created a series of articles on the ResourceMFG Manufacturing Employee Opinion Survey and highlighted a few key considerations to make when hiring hourly workers such as pickers and packers. For example, HR managers should know that hourly workers are most likely to leave a job for more money because pay is the most important thing to them. They also would switch to a less desirable shift for as little as a $1/hour raise.
That’s why getting your starting pay right is an essential component of recruiting and retaining the best workers for picking and packing roles. Your starting pay rate should be competitive and fair; in order to make sure that it is, you need to research your market for companies recruiting similar skills and experience. Make it a point to be in the top pay rate quartile because you will see a return on dividends in recruiting, an improvement in the quality of applicants, and a higher rate of employee retention.
Of course, you want to ensure that your starting pay rate remains competitive over time. Keep in mind that pay rates in most markets increase, and you need to prevent your workforce from falling behind prevailing local wages so you aren’t left with a high turnover rate and more open positions to fill.
One way easy way to always keep pay compettive is to use Wonolo’s Fill Advisor Tool. The Fill Advisor uses machine learning to predict the likelihood of your job being filled based on historical data, for which pay is a heavily weighted feature. This gives factual proof points when determining how much to pay for your job vs other companies posting similar positions.
Warehouse and HR managers can hire the best pickers and packers when they improve their recruiting practices. Begin by relying on employee referrals, using an on-demand staffing platform, being specific with your needs when writing job descriptions, and ensuring the right starting pay rate.
Image via Pixabay by GRAPHICALBRAIN
