Manufacturing & Distribution

Race For Talent

Authors

2022 Manufacturing & Distribution Industry Prediction #1: Race for talent keeps turnover at 15-20%+

“You won’t win the race for talent simply by throwing more money at it.”

Organizations are experiencing elevated employee turnover levels, which have particularly impacted the manufacturing and distribution industry. 2021 saw sales force turnover reaching 15%, and this rate is expected to increase in 2022.

What is driving this attrition and how can you win the race for talent?

In the following video, Parker Thomas, Alexander Group’s Manufacturing practice research lead, interviews Kyle Uebelhor and Arshad Carim, principals for Alexander Group, on top current talent issues that are facing the industry including:

Retention
Culture
Customer Experience & Employee Experience

Talent Acquisition and Retention

Recent Alexander Group research unveiled some key drivers of turnover which are the great resignation, job shuffling between industries and companies, outdated career paths and culture, and even an aging out workforce. Companies are rapidly pivoting in both searching for new talent and retaining the current sales force. These drivers are forcing the evolution of conventional recruiting and retention strategies. Leaders are having to rethink their compensation and loyalty programs as well. Talent management must think about all these factors from start to end including: Attract > Select > Ramp/Coach > Enable > Measure

Arshad added, “You feel that tether between the individual development and destiny with the corporate mission and culture. How do we connect all that together in a tighter way?”

Culture is King

Executives shared with Alexander Group that a key factor to win this race for talent is culture. Your organization must have a culture that allows you to win the employee experience. Employees have to see how they fit into the corporate values, not just be another number to the organization. Kyle noted, “You don’t have to match to a certain type of culture, but rather be true to your culture and make that message very clear.”

EX = CX

Arshad shared how focusing on employee experience (EX) is just as important today as customer experience (CX). When the employee experience is good, that gets reflected in the customer experience through their engagement. “Empowering people is important,” noted Arshad. “Especially your people who are customer-facing. How they make good decisions in the name of great customer experience also comes back into a good and solid employee experience.”