Talent recruitment remains top of mind for distributors in 2018, with about three-fourths of respondents (73 percent) to the most recent MDM-Baird Distribution Survey saying they plan to prioritize it this year.

This isn't surprising, considering that MDM identified talent as one of the Top Trends for 2018 – which it has been for a number of years as the industry struggles to attract the next generation.

When asked about their top three business-specific concerns for 2018, distributors cited a host of staffing concerns from “hiring skilled workers” to “finding capable people” to “recruiting new talent.”

The talent gap also was among the top pain points respondents said they are experiencing, with one respondent lamenting “not enough time in the day, not enough trained personnel.” Another listed “finding new talent and finding new talent” as both of his top two pain points.

But how will distributors prioritize talent recruitment? According to the MDM-Baird Distribution Survey, only 9 percent plan to use new approaches to finding new employees, while 28 percent will stick with previous strategies and 63 will use a combination of both.

As for specific recruitment practices, "word of mouth" was No. 1 with 69 percent of respondents saying they will ask current employees to recruit friends and family.

Another 67 percent said they will post job openings on LinkedIn and other career sites. The third most popular option, at 47 percent, was posting job openings to social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter.

Next was using a headhunter or other recruiting services, at 43 percent, and fifth was partnering with college distribution departments to identify candidates, at 38 percent.

Look for much more on how to improve your talent recruitment – and retention – practices from MDM blogs and articles throughout 2018.