Looking outside the distribution industry for new recruits could help you find your next generation of high-quality workers, according to Paul Giler, regional industrial sales manager, Mayer Electric Supply, Birmingham, AL, in 10 Tips to Successfully Recruit Millennials.
The old ways of hiring – especially for sales positions – may not take into account the talents that millennials bring to the table. Looking outside the industry could land a hire with a more malleable skill set.
"The issue becomes finding someone with an aptitude, a desire, a willingness to move forward with us and learn,” Giler said, rather than someone who simply has a number of years' experience.
With thousands of boomers retiring each day, hiring capable salespeople with no distribution experience and then offering technical training will be a required HR practice. Make sure you’re bringing in the best and brightest talent, even if they don’t even know what a distributorship does.
“What we’ve done historically is recycle a lot of the older guys, myself included. You go from place to place,” Giler said. “That’s not the direction we’re trying to go. We need to bring in new folks."
Read about other best practices to engage younger workers in 10 Tips to Successfully Recruit Millennials.
