It is no surprise that the Warehousing and Logistics industry, like many others, are going through rapid business and recruitment changes throughout the pandemic. COVID-19 has expedited the already phenomenal growth of online shopping, which shows no signs of slowing down. This overnight shift in demand from consumers has meant the industry has had to react very quickly, and ramp up their hiring efforts to ensure their services and supply chains can deliver.
Delivery firm Hermes is set to create more than 10,000 new UK jobs as it invests £100m following a huge spike in online shopping caused by the Coronavirus lockdown.
They said they’re preparing for “a massive Christmas season", and expect to carry around 3.5m parcels a day during the period, nearly double last year.
"As a result, it is important that we have the right infrastructure and people in place to support this"
Chief Executive, Martijn de Lange, Hermes
The industry is also facing another major hiring challenge with the supply of labour for both skilled and unskilled workers. Peter Ward from the UK Warehousing Association highlights this in a recent edition of the Warehouse & Logistics news publication:
"For an industry like ours that relies on immigrant workers, particularly during peak seasons and already faces challenging labour shortages. Post-Covid lockdown and the UK’s drastically shrinking economy, there is of course the prospect of high youth unemployment in the UK for the first time in many years.
Perhaps then, it is time to shift our focus and consider what more we can do as an industry to attract young British workers."
With these challenges in mind - what can Talent Acquisition teams within this sector do to address these challenges?
Volume recruitment campaigns
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Hiring velocity
Screening and managing candidates can be a time-intensive activity in normal circumstances. However, even more so when dealing with a high volume of applicants. Understanding where in your process you have bottlenecks and being able to streamline processes quickly in light of these will support your hiring velocity. Essentially allowing you to move candidates through the process seamlessly and quickly.
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Simplified recruitment process
A two-stage application process allows key information to be gathered quickly from candidates in two stages rather than completing one lengthy application form. This could be used for an Expression of interest and initial sift/assessment with shortlisted candidates invited to complete the full application at a later stage.
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Automated communication with candidates
Application acknowledgement, interview invites and regret emails. They can all be personalised with their name, the role they’ve applied for and signed off by a member of the team. Set clear expectations as to when they will hear back from you and what the process and timelines look like. An applicant tracking system can do all of this for you automatically whilst still providing a personalised experience for candidates and showing consideration.
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Automated communication with Recruiters & Managers
Yes, we should always keep candidates informed, however, your internal stakeholders are just as important. Ensuring your recruitment platform allows automated notifications and alerts to be sent at all stages of the process will increase your hiring velocity even more.
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Are you catering for Generation Z?
Mobile optimised careers pages
If your online presence leaves a lot to be desired, this can turn Gen Zers away. A poor user interface can give candidates the impression that your organisation is out of touch and behind the times. So if your website is slow to load or not optimised for mobile, or your application process has a tendency to time out, it’s time to give it a tune-up or risk a high drop-out rate among this talent pool.
Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
Your EVP is your opportunity to tell employees and future newcomers what’s so great about your company and why they should work for you over any other. Gen Z are not so keen on flashy perks, so make sure the role and company is catering for their basic needs, such as holiday pay, career progression, and security.
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84%
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8 in 10
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According to Monster, 84% of Gen Z identify career progression and growth potential as their main priority when looking for a new job.
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8 in 10 Gen Z job seekers would like employers to help them develop job-specific and soft skills.
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Social media
It's no surprise that Gen Z likes to use social media. They are the first truly digital generation that grew up with social media, technology, and iPhones. Ensuring your recruitment technology supports the use of social media is key and accessible via mobile devices.
Communication
Gen Z prefer video over text content when they’re online. Using media rich images and video across your careers site and job adverts will increase the appeal to this audience. Also, they’d much prefer to be contacted via text rather than over the phone. Does your current recruitment process support the use of text messaging?
Does your recruitment strategy match up?
As you’re assessing your recruitment strategies for the rest of the year and beyond, consider how your Talent Acquisition platform can deliver on some of these areas.