Written by Trevor McGlochlin, Managing R&D Consultant
The Australian New South Wales Bushfires in 1974-1975 is documented as the largest wildfire in recorded world history. It burned 289 million acres which calculates to about 15% of the total landmass of Australia. To put that in perspective, it would be larger than the area of California and Texas combined. So, what do forest fires have to do with industrial hiring challenges?
Not only do they both demand the highest level of safety, each is also fast-moving, tends to demand specialized resources and strategies, and have major repercussions if not planned for accordingly. Hiring in any industry can be a difficult, time-consuming endeavor that you want to make sure you get right. Industrial hiring challenges are unique as they have to compete with nontraditional work environments, hours, and safety requirements as well as physical demands. Given the pace of technological advancements and changing workforce expectations, our researchers here at Talogy recently completed a study that worked to identify the main challenges facing organizations in the industrial sector and provide potential solutions.
Industrial sectors can include manufacturing, construction, logistics, distribution, transportation, energy, utilities, warehousing, automotive , engineering, and other similar areas.
Top 4 industrial hiring challenges
The manufacturing industry is no stranger to turnover issues and a shortage of skilled workers, but these problems could be exasperated by a growing disconnect between the demands of a job and finding candidates with the desire, background, and fit for the organization. Over 800 participants who have hiring responsibilities across 13 countries around the world participated in our survey. With their expertise, we wanted to understand and define ‘quality of hire’ as well as how to improve it. As part of that process, we had to identify the top industrial hiring challenges being faced by those involved in recruitment and people management. Here is what showed up as the top issues they are facing:
Challenge #1: Hiring candidates with the right skills
In Talogy’s Quality of Hire study, nearly 40% of organizations indicated they always or often have a skills shortage. It’s actually somewhat remarkable to think about the fact that these businesses experience such a constant skill shortage yet are still able to keep production moving forward. The top four skills lacking in new hires were identified as:
- Attention to detail
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Advanced technical skills
It’s worth noting the top three skills on the list are referred to as ‘transferable skills’ – skills that are not tied to a single discipline or job, but applicable to a number of roles and functions rather than job-specific skills. It’s important to prioritize these four skills in your selection process as our research also showed that they were the most difficult skills to train on the job.
Challenge #2: Retention issues
Even the smallest fires can grow and shift directions if the wind changes. Similarly, organizational retention problems can spread destruction in the workplace. In most industrial settings, frontline jobs are tough. They’re physically demanding, repetitive, and often come with long hours, mandatory overtime, and harsh work conditions. It’s a physical and emotional grind. When people start leaving, it can cause a dramatic imbalance. Morale declines, onboarding suffers, and the sense of teamwork is damaged.
According to the research, one of the main drivers behind this turnover is a mismatch between what people can do and what the job actually demands. Nearly 44% of participants pointed to the skills gap as the biggest reason people walk away. Once that gap opens up, it’s like fanning the flames; employee disengagement spreads, more people follow the turnover trend, and the cycle keeps going.
The skills gap isn’t new. In fact, the evolution of manufacturing skills explores the idea of treating frontline workers in the same way as professional sports players whose roles demand the same kind of physical and mental readiness. One way companies tackle this challenge is by introducing realistic job previews (RJPs) which give candidates a clear, unfiltered look at what the job actually involves – everything from the pace, the physical demands, and the work environment. By seeing the job demands upfront, candidates can decide if the role fits their abilities and expectations which reduces the risk of mismatched hires and early turnover.
Challenge #3: High competition for talent
It’s common for multiple industries to be filling vital positions at the same time, leaving industrial employers to battle against competing sectors for entry-level talent. Most of these roles are physically demanding, which are failing to attract young job seekers who are instead focused on fields seen as less taxing, safer, and more sustainable. This shift has widened the talent gap, making it harder to attract and keep frontline employees essential to daily operations.
In this crowded hiring landscape, candidate experience can be the ultimate differentiator. The war for talent doesn’t end when someone chooses to apply to your organization – it plays out in every step that follows. A SHRM survey found that 47% of candidates withdraw due to poor communication and 46% drop after negative or disorganized interviews. Long processes, vague job expectations, and unclear pay only push more talent away.
In order to address this industrial hiring challenge, employers need to make the application process easy to understand, set clear expectations with an RJP, communicate quickly, keep candidates engaged, and treat them with respect. If this is done well, these steps can create a positive candidate experience and keep the best talent from walking through the doors of a competitor.
Challenge #4: Rush to fill roles quickly
If organizations are simply reacting to putting out the proverbial fires from bad hires, then it’s likely the damage will spread far and wide before real hiring issues are addressed. Our research shows just how intense the hiring pace is in industrial settings. 73% of employers feel pressure to fill roles quickly, and one in five say that urgency is a constant reality. Only 27% say they prioritize quality over speed. These numbers tell the story: nearly a quarter of positions in the industrial sector are filled in under three weeks, and 68% are filled within a month.
But moving this fast has its trade-offs. When speed becomes the top priority, thorough screening and thoughtful selection often take a back seat. The result? A drop in the quality of hires, which can lead to higher turnover, more training costs, and the likelihood of starting the process all over again.
The solution here might seem to contradict the solution to challenge #3. If we speed up our selection process to appease the candidate, don’t we risk rushing to fill roles quickly? Not necessarily. There is a big difference between speeding up the process and developing a scientifically backed selection process that is efficient and effective.
Some key steps in the selection process that can be reviewed or adopted include the initial screening questions, structured interviews, psychometric assessments, final interviews, and more. Depending on the position requirements, job level, and hiring volume, the hiring process can be adapted in various ways.
Fireproof your industrial hiring process
Wildfires, just like hiring challenges, can consume an organization and if not addressed quickly can start burning out of control. All it takes is one spark to start a potentially debilitating issue. When you’re always fighting fires, there’s no time to build the barriers that could’ve stopped them in the first place. If we can develop a selection system that identifies key skills through efficient and valid hiring assessments along with a transparent process where the candidate knows exactly where they stand, it will reduce the skills gap, minimize future turnover, and keep candidates engaged.
Before designing or tweaking your hiring process, we recommend speaking with an experienced I/O psychologist to understand the best approach. Here at Talogy, our experts have decades of experience guiding our Industrial partners through all of their hiring challenges and shifts in market conditions. Contact us today to see how we can collaborate with your organization to address those challenges and ultimately achieve your talent management goals.
About the author: Trevor McGlochlin has over 10 years of industrial/organizational psychology R&D experience focused primarily on selection assessment content, scoring and reporting used for screening and selection within manufacturing, service, healthcare, finance, and general professional roles.
