How our European Partners could potentially assist your company and career
I wonder if the following scenario is something that you have encountered within your company? We recently visited a highly successful manufacturer who despite their premium priced range of products have had felt no ill effects of the recession and if anything their business model is gathering extra momentum. There appears to be great passion and pride as well as a positive culture creating a stable workforce. Manufacturing Nirvana? - not quite, as in any business there are always challenges and this business was no exception. Although the day shifts were producing excellent results and efficiencies this could not be said of the Night Shift.
The site has a strong contingent of Eastern European labour (mainly Polish) and in peak periods brings in agency labour. The key issues for this shift were problems with the language barrier preventing effective training and communication alongside a lack of leadership required to motivate what is traditionally for most manufacturers the 'forgotten' shift. This is obviously not an isolated case as I had the same issue raised today via an experienced Factory Manager from a major ready meals manufacturer and in this case across all shifts. You can create as many visual SOPs or translated SOPs as you like but verbal instruction, training and immediate interaction in the 'same' language is the more likely to yield better results.
Over the past year we have pioneered and developed a network of European Food Manufacturing recruitment partners which have added a new and creative dimension to client candidate sourcing. We were therefore able to offer in both cases an immediate solution to this 'language and leadership' problem by drawing on the database and networking expertise of our Polish recruitment partner. Within a week we will have a shortlist of highly experienced Polish speaking Production Shift Managers ready for our customers. This international partnership has proved invaluable to many clients as we have been able to seek specialist candidates in areas like chocolate, pastry and dairy products from our other contacts in France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Denmark.
With English being the most common language we are often asked by our partners to find high quality UK based candidates who would like a European opportunity. So if you fancy a foreign adventure to add to your food manufacturing experience then perhaps you ought to tell us how you could make a difference within a European manufacturer. Who knows that Factory Management role and Mediterranean lifestyle in the South of France may not be as illusive as you first thought!
The site has a strong contingent of Eastern European labour (mainly Polish) and in peak periods brings in agency labour. The key issues for this shift were problems with the language barrier preventing effective training and communication alongside a lack of leadership required to motivate what is traditionally for most manufacturers the 'forgotten' shift. This is obviously not an isolated case as I had the same issue raised today via an experienced Factory Manager from a major ready meals manufacturer and in this case across all shifts. You can create as many visual SOPs or translated SOPs as you like but verbal instruction, training and immediate interaction in the 'same' language is the more likely to yield better results.
Over the past year we have pioneered and developed a network of European Food Manufacturing recruitment partners which have added a new and creative dimension to client candidate sourcing. We were therefore able to offer in both cases an immediate solution to this 'language and leadership' problem by drawing on the database and networking expertise of our Polish recruitment partner. Within a week we will have a shortlist of highly experienced Polish speaking Production Shift Managers ready for our customers. This international partnership has proved invaluable to many clients as we have been able to seek specialist candidates in areas like chocolate, pastry and dairy products from our other contacts in France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Denmark.
With English being the most common language we are often asked by our partners to find high quality UK based candidates who would like a European opportunity. So if you fancy a foreign adventure to add to your food manufacturing experience then perhaps you ought to tell us how you could make a difference within a European manufacturer. Who knows that Factory Management role and Mediterranean lifestyle in the South of France may not be as illusive as you first thought!
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