In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins expresses the importance of having the right people in the right seats on the bus. The bus represents the business, and he explains that every position within a company has two components. First, having the right position to fulfill the needs of the company and two, the right person to that job.
Many of us spend a lot of time dealing with finding the right person. Talk to anyone who hires or searches for the right people and they will most likely tell you how they are frustrated right now. With unemployment so low, good people are tough to attract and even tougher to hire because of all the competition to secure them. We are all struggling to attract top talent! Not to mention, top talent comes with a price tag.
W.I.S. Logistics takes an innovative approach to dealing with these specific issues. We hire employees to handle daily issues on site at the manufacturer, while supplying higher level logistics functions along side the manufactures own talent. We work as a team to handle the larger bid processes, and regulatory issues while assisting in daily paperwork and carrier selection.
One of the ways we engage and attract top talent at W.I.S. is understanding the first component, the right position. Understanding what the company truly needs, the salary expectation of someone in that position, and cultural aspects that are desirable to candidates. It only makes sense that if you hire someone under or over-qualified you run into issues. In addition, most workplaces are changing and as positions morph into what best serves the company, sometimes the people originally hired don’t meet those new requirements.
Since none of us can tell the future, how do we deal with those unknowns? W.I.S. Logistics serves as a 4PL that can help with specific logistics positions that can quickly adapt to your ever-changing needs.
Here’s how it works.
- We send a seasoned employee with process and operations experience to review current processes in the Shipping Department/Logistics. This is done only to the extent that the client is comfortable. We aren’t looking to make changes necessarily, as much as understand how the new position works with the existing positions within the shipping department.
- Once we meet as a group and discuss any recommendations, role specifications, salary, etc… we implement that new position by hiring a W.I.S. Employee to work remotely at a manufacturers site.
The advantage to the manufacturer:
• Receive a team of Seasoned Logistics Specialists for a fraction of the cost
• Employee benefits and liability is held with W.I.S. Logistics
• Manufacturer experiences no downtime; if the employee is sick or on vacation, WIS sends an alternate employee to complete tasks.
• Receive expertise on logistics matters that meet the most current regulations and laws.
Example:
Our clients business was growing 30% year over year. They struggled as seasoned workers were retiring and it was difficult finding new qualified employees that fit the company culture at a reasonable expense. This led the customer to re-evaluate the way their logistics were managed.
W.I.S. Logistics helped this client by providing an on-site employee. Seems simple enough, but it wasn’t. Finding the right person took almost 6 months. However, the manufacturer never lost a day of production! We supplied an employee that handled the role until a permanent employee who was both right for the job and great cultural fit to the company was found.
In the meantime, the manufacturer benefited from insight and cost savings; choosing what to implement and what to dismiss.
Attracting and keeping qualified employees with ever-changing circumstances forces businesses to be more creative and agile in taking care of their customers. This might mean outsourcing the “extras” that customers expect: speed to market, technology, and keeping up with constant demands. Contact W.I.S. Logistics to find out how our 4PL service can help you make strategic changes to improve your logistics department so you can focus on running your company.