Download a print-ready version of this Hermie the HR Hermit Crab cartoon.
Manufacturers and other employers have tried just about everything to solve the talent shortage: job boards, recruiters, referral bonuses, career fairs, social media campaigns, and increasingly creative “Now Hiring” messages.
Boss Betta has another idea.
In this Hermie the HR Hermit Crab cartoon, Boss Betta decides the answer to his recruitment problem is simple: grab a megaphone and start shouting at potential workers.
There is just one small problem. His recruiting strategy scares away half the gerbils he just onboarded.
It is exaggerated for comic effect, of course, but the underlying problem is very real. Employers cannot recruit their way out of a workplace experience problem.
Recruitment Starts Before the Job Posting
Manufacturing organizations often approach recruiting as a communications challenge: How can the company reach more candidates? Where should it advertise? What message will attract people?
Those questions matter. But Ben Kleinman and Rich Cruz argue that manufacturers need to look further upstream.
In their recent SME article, “Make Your Shop Floor Stand Out as a Workplace of Choice,” they explore how manufacturers can become more competitive for talent by examining the workplace itself—not simply how it is advertised.
A compelling employer brand has to be supported by an equally compelling employee experience.
That means looking at the physical work environment, leadership practices, communication, career development, recognition, flexibility, technology, and the everyday interactions employees have with supervisors and coworkers.
A clever recruiting campaign may get someone through the door. What happens after that determines whether the person stays.
Candidates Are Evaluating Employers, Too
The traditional recruiting model assumed that the employer held most of the power. Applicants had to prove that they deserved the job.
Today, candidates are evaluating the employer as well.
What does the facility look like? How are employees treated? Does leadership communicate clearly? Are people given opportunities to learn and grow? Does the company appear organized? Does the organization seem interested in employees as people—or primarily as available labor?
Those signals begin during recruitment and continue through the interviewing and onboarding process.
Boss Betta’s megaphone fails because his message boils down to: “We need labor. Come work.”
That is very different from answering the question candidates are actually asking:
Why should I work here instead of somewhere else?
Employer Branding Cannot Cover Up Workplace Culture
This is where employer branding and organizational development intersect.
A manufacturer can develop an attractive careers page, produce polished recruitment videos, attend career fairs, and advertise competitive wages. Those efforts are valuable—but they cannot permanently compensate for poor supervision, unclear expectations, limited development opportunities, unsafe or unpleasant working conditions, or a culture in which employees feel disposable.
Eventually, the reality of the employee experience becomes the employer brand.
Employees share their experiences with friends and family. They post reviews. Former employees talk to prospective employees. Current workers either become enthusiastic referral sources or quietly warn others away.
In other words, every employee is potentially part of the recruiting function.
Make the Workplace the Recruiting Strategy
Manufacturers facing persistent hiring challenges may benefit from reframing the question.
Instead of asking only, “How do we find more workers?”, leadership can also ask:
“What would make talented people want to work here—and recommend this workplace to someone else?”
That question opens a much broader conversation about organizational culture, leadership, career paths, employee voice, workplace design, communication, recognition, training, and the overall employee value proposition.
It also turns recruiting from an isolated HR activity into an organizational responsibility.
Marketing can help tell the story. HR can improve the candidate and employee experience. Operations can improve the shop-floor environment. Supervisors can build trust and engagement. Executives can ensure the organization invests in the workforce it says it wants to attract.
When those pieces come together, manufacturers do not have to yell quite so loudly.
Want to build a manufacturing workplace people actually want to join?
Read Ben Kleinman and Rich Cruz’s SME article, “Make Your Shop Floor Stand Out as a Workplace of Choice,” for practical ideas about strengthening manufacturing recruitment by improving the workplace behind the recruiting message.
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