The labor market is tight, and companies that have been in business for decades are finding themselves less able to recruit and retain skilled workers.
In commercial printing, the pandemic has only amplified issues that have been in play for 20 years. An aging and retiring workforce challenges the gradual loss of technical programs that produce experienced commercial press technicians out of high school or trade school.
Today’s employers must consider transferable skills.
Transferable skills are skills a candidate brings from another paid or volunteer role that an employer can utilize in a future position. These attributes are often considered soft skills such as leadership, teamwork, or critical thinking. But they can be the most important skills a candidate brings to the role.
Here are five questions to ask yourself when hiring to get the most out of transferable skills.
What skills can I train in-house?
To make the most of a candidate’s transferable skills, you first need to have a clear idea of what you can train a new candidate to do in the role that you are filling. A candidate for a very senior operations role that needs to be filled immediately might have to bring 80% of the skills for that job with them while you train them up on culture and communication. A candidate for a junior technician role that can be onboarded over weeks or months, on the other hand, may only need to bring soft skills with them and can be trained in-house on the rest.
Which transferable skills are the most important to the role I am filling?
If you are filling a role on a fulfillment crew, your candidate will need demonstrated teamwork skills. They show up on time every time and bring new ideas to the team, help make workflow efficient, and listen to other people’s input. Be careful not to confuse a team player with someone who always picks up other people’s slack. A good team member must have solid boundaries.
Most roles require good communication skills, including writing, speaking, and listening. Figure out what mode of communication is most important to the job and ensure your candidate demonstrated that in their past positions. Customer service positions, especially, need a high-level combination of all three.
Creativity, curiosity, and the ability to solve problems are imperative in any print and graphics position. Customers know what they want, but sometimes they don’t know how to say it. They need help communicating their brands to their customers. They need to make the most of their marketing dollars. Every project must be approached with curiosity about the customer’s goals and a creative approach to solving their problems. All of this takes creativity and attention to the outcome.
How can I find out if the candidate will bring those skills to the role?
It can be challenging to guarantee a candidate will transfer those essential skills to their new role. You need to commit to a careful and multi-faceted process tailored to each role.
Rely heavily on references from past employers, crew members, volunteer leaders, and teachers whenever possible. In your reference calls, ask specific questions about how the candidate demonstrated the skills you are looking for. If the reference has trouble conjuring up examples, it may be because there aren’t many.
Meet the candidate in public or at your shop. Watch how they interact with your staff, from the receptionist to senior press operators to executives. Spend time communicating with them in various ways, evaluating how they engage by email, phone, and in person.
Give them a real problem to solve. Every shop—every role—always has room for improvement. Talk to your candidate about a specific problem you are grappling with, even it’s unrelated to the position they are seeking. Watch for curiosity, creativity, analytical reasoning, and critical thinking. You might even get your problem solved!
Vetting candidates takes considerable time and investment from leaders. It’s what we do for the graphic communications, printing, and packaging industries, so we know how tricky it can be. When you need a partner on the path to creating a team that works, seek out Semper Workforce Solutions for short and long-term staffing solutions nationwide. Register as a client today, or if you need immediate help, email us directly: always@semperllc.com.