Hiring from different areas of manufacturing in a candidate-led market

In today's market, candidates have never been more skilled or willing to broaden their skills to improve their careers. Businesses continue to grow, and with that, expand their teams. With this in mind, we continually urge our clients to grow their teams in a way that enables them to hire from the broadest talent pool possible. Hiring from different areas of the manufacturing sector and seeking out transferable skills is a recruitment technique that can allow businesses to hire top talent, whilst broadening the skills within their business.

So, what are the most desirable skills, and why should you hire differently to take your teams to the next level? 

Difficulties finding desirable skills

It may come as no surprise that over the many difficult job roles that sit within the engineering and manufacturing sector, the right skills can be scarce. It is becoming increasingly difficult to source and hire the type of candidate you are looking for. 

The bar has been raised in terms of what customers are expecting from you and how complex your supply chain has become. Therefore, you need to become more astute, better prepared, and be ahead of the game. To add to this, most companies are now aware of what they need to do to get to the next level. Your competitors will be doing everything they can to retain their best people, meaning that the top talent who will make a difference is in short supply, but high demand. 

The hottest skills in E&M

Most managers seek similar skills when hiring for specific roles. Here are some of the top skills that you can look for in potential candidates when you are recruiting. 

• Leadership 
• The ability to coach
• Training and development of individuals and teams

Most businesses are full of great people, but in many cases they need directions and a clear set of goals. A strong leader and people manager can help to deliver that. Good retention is also a huge factor in the ultimate success or failure of a business, and strengths in coaching, training, and development of staff is an invaluable skill to have at all levels. Strong managers and future business leaders are now highly sought-after across all industry sectors, and this is becoming more important in many environments, rather than focusing on a candidate’s product or market background. 

Transferrable skills across manufacturing sectors

Providing that the candidate possesses the leadership qualities above, it can be beneficial to hire people with skills across different manufacturing sectors. It will broaden your talent pool and enable your business to have a better chance of hiring top candidates.

• Quality management
• Continuous improvement
• Project management 
• Operations management 
• Production management

The benefits of recruiting different skill sets

We are experiencing a candidate-driven market and because of this, we are continuously advising our clients to consider candidates from different sectors as they will bring new, fresh, and effective ideas to a team. These new methodologies and ways of working will challenge the status quo, and help to deliver change, which can be just what some businesses need to help them to move forward successfully. For example, whether you are a quality manager within an aerospace business or an automotive company, we should firstly be identifying whether or not your transferrable skills around people management, leadership, and coaching are adequate enough to be considered for a specific role or organisation, regardless of the manufacturing industry it is in. 

Improving your recruitment strategy

Amending your recruitment strategy in a way that enables you to hire from different manufacturing sectors is helpful if you are unsure what professionals from different backgrounds would be suitable for your company and vacancy. We would recommend that you trust your recruitment partner if you have one, or form a strong partnership with a recruitment agency. You should allow this partner to pre-screen and shortlist thoroughly, assessing candidates from a wide range of industry sectors to establish who the best candidates with that skill set are within the market. This is in contrast to rejecting CV’s from different sectors simply because you want to hire someone who has a similar background to your organisation.

If you are interested in hiring professionals to your engineering and manufacturing business, get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today. Alternatively, submit a job spec, and we will call you. If you are looking for a new opportunity, create a MyPage account to make the most of our Job Match tool and find the jobs that are best suited to your unique skill set.
 

Huw Painter
Business Manager, Michael Page Engineering & Manufacturing