FIDI gathered together a panel of six at the Edinburgh conference to discuss the tricky question of how to build a young, resilient workforce.
The meeting was chaired by Jackie Stouffer, FIDI 39 Club President, from JK Moving in the USA. The panel, which spanned the generations, was: Steve Jordan, Editor of The Mover magazine; Christina McCarte, AMJ Campbell, Canada; Simon Hood, John Mason International, UK; Daniella Krumdiek, Immediate Past President of LACMA Next from Express Transports, Peru; and Gordon Bell from Asian Tigers.
It was a lively discussion from the start with everyone agreeing that young people can be very demanding: wanting a good salary, flexible working and career prospects. Not all, however, agreed on the most appropriate response. Christina, for example, felt that companies needed to invest time in their new employees, establish what they wanted to do and, if possible, provide opportunities for them. Danielle agreed that work/life balance was important with people needing to have time for their families, hobbies, sports, etc.
Simon added a word of caution insisting that it is necessary to manage expectations. Working from home, for example, was OK, but only where it doesn’t impact on the business. Gordon struck a balance. He said that sometimes you can tell that someone will not fit, while others have potential. Then you can spend the effort to nurture them.
To encourage more people to join the industry Simon said that we should stop telling people that this is not a sexy business. He said it was only not sexy because we were not able to pay as much as some other industries. Steve said that he hoped the standard of sales training in the industry would improve (especially with the introduction of the new sales course through the FIDI Academy), which would help generate more profitable business and allow wages to become more competitive. Gordon suggested encouraging field trips from universities to visit moving companies to find out more about the industry.
Much of the session was spent discussing staff retention rather than recruitment ...
Photo: Steve Jordan, Christina McCarte, Simon Hood, Daniella Krumdiek, Gordon Bell with chair Jackie Stouffer.