Select International, Recruiting, RPO

The Truth about Recruiting Manufacturing Employees

By: Select International

Introduction

• How much should you pay to hire your next manufacturing associate?
• What factors affect recruiting costs?
• How does hiring affect turnover?

Our clients often ask us these questions, so this white paper is meant to give practical perspective to a seemingly complex series of questions. Let’s start by defining the key variables that determine recruiting costs for manufacturing associates.

Compensation package versus desired candidate quality. In every company there are some really great workers, some really poor workers, and many grades of average workers. Clearly, manufacturing companies with a high starting hourly pay rate, (e.g. $19.00/hour or more), attract many more really great candidates than those offering low starting wages. The bottom line is that higher-paying companies attract not only better candidates but many more of them. In addition, the cost to recruit these candidates is the lowest among manufacturing companies because top candidates flock to the higher paying jobs. Conversely, recruiting costs increase exponentially when manufacturing companies with really low wages decide they want the same talent as their higher paying counterparts. This is especially true when there is a strong economy and top talent has its pick of employers. As a general role of thumb, candidate quality will reflect organization pay status, resulting in an inverse relationship between entry-level wages and cost of recruiting talent.

Work environment and company reputation. While compensation package trumps everything else when it comes to attracting hourly talent, work environment and company reputation are strong secondary influences. For example, a company that has average pay but a great working environment and company reputation, (e.g., safe, clean, stable history, growth industry, reasonable work schedule, strong supervisory leadership, good career opportunities, good employee/management relationship, positive media coverage, etc.) will be able to attract and hire solid performers. On the other hand, a company with above average pay and a very poor reputation will need to recruit very hard to hire solid “B” performers.

Click here to download the full article.

Visit Select International