In today’s world of work, companies must be nimble, plan for unpredictability, and be built to withstand change. Nothing has demonstrated this more than Brexit.

For logistics employers in particular, the result of the referendum hit them hard. It’s an industry which has a significant reliance on non-UK talent, with EU workers making up 10% of the logistics workforce. At the same time, a number of demographic and talent challenges have already created a significant lack of skills in this sector. Today, there is a shortage of over 35,000 drivers; any reduction in the number of EU drivers will exacerbate these current pressures even further.

At this stage, we cannot be sure exactly how Brexit will affect future talent availability in the logistics sector. However, we can focus on alleviating existing pressures and unleashing the potential of previously untapped talent pools. This will ensure the sector is well-positioned for whatever lies ahead. Here are three things the industry needs to do:

Employers, industry bodies and the Government must work together

With the eyes of the world on the UK and Europe, employers, industry bodies and the Government must work together to promote the attractiveness of the UK as a labour destination.

The free flow of labour is one of the fundamental principles of the European Union. So greater clarity is needed, quickly, over what the Brexit immigration restrictions will mean. This is particularly important for the driving and logistics sector, which relies heavily on skilled and unskilled EU workers.

Early communication to provide certainty will allow employers to plan accordingly. At Manpower, we’ve already been liaising with the Home Affairs Committee to voice our concerns, and we will continue to keep in dialogue with them in the months and years to come.

Embrace the Skills Revolution

As digitisation continues to gather pace, the value placed on skills will change. Skills that are in demand today may not hold the same value in the future. And, in the years to come, new competency requirements will emerge too. A clear example of this is the great strides that have been made with driverless cars, which has the ability to have a significant impact on the value of driving skills. Going forwards, it’s vital that employers future-proof their workforce by nurturing the ‘learnability’ of their employees – their desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt their skill set to remain employable and relevant throughout their working life.

In the driving and logistics sector, nurturing learnability could take a number of forms. One way is through the Apprenticeship Levy, which logistics employers can use to invest in the training of future talent, as well as to upskill and retrain existing workers.

Driving traineeships are another option. We’ve developed a concept where we employ drivers who we then place on assignment with logistics employers, allowing them to gain industry experience through traineeships. We’re working with a number of organisations to test and refine this model, and we believe this will be a great way to attract and upskill further talent.

Finally, securing a licence is expensive; so cost can be a major barrier for people wanting to enter the sector. That’s why we pay for around 300 drivers to secure their licences every year, to ensure rising costs aren’t prohibitive. If others followed suit and supported drivers in this way, the cost burden would soon be eased.

Focus on industry awareness and diversity

As businesses, we all have a responsibility to ensure we are a positive contributor to the communities in which we operate. Employers need to embrace and promote diversity, to drive sustainability and employability for the long term. It’s not just the right thing to do, it makes clear business sense – allowing businesses to harness previously untapped talent pools.

The ageing logistics workforce is one area that needs to be addressed. Only 2% of employed drivers are aged 25 or under, compared to 12% of the total employed population. At the same time, the average age of LGV drivers is 47.9 years old. So – as drivers reach retirement age – there aren’t enough young people to replace them.

Part of the reason for this is a focus on universities as a destination for school leavers, rather than on vocational training and courses. As an industry, it’s important that we promote the diverse opportunities that are available in the sector to young people. It’s one of the reasons why Manpower is a supporter of Think Logistics; attending and speaking at a number of events every year to promote diversity and raise awareness of the long-term career opportunities that are available within driving.

Increasing female participation in logistics should also be a priority. Currently, women make up just 20% of the logistics workforce. However, women consistently achieve a higher pass rate for the practical LGV test than men – with 58% of females passing the test compared to 55% of male test takers.

Breaking down an entrenched male culture is critical, if we’re to attract more women into the industry. We’re doing our part at Manpower; through a pilot we’re operating to attract 150 Cat B drivers for one of our clients – where we aim for at least 35% to be female. We urge other employers, educational institutions and industry bodies to take a similar approach, and make a concerted effort to attract a wider talent pool.

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Now is the time to knuckle down and invest in workforce strategies that will alleviate pre-existing demographic and talent pressures. Doing so will ensure the industry is well-placed for a post-Brexit United Kingdom.

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To find out more about our expertise in warehouse and logistics recruitment and workforce planning, visit manpower.co.uk/warehouse-and-logistics or email us at [email protected]

Workplace flexibility doesn’t just mean working remotely. It includes a broad spectrum of working arrangements – such as flexible arrival and departure times; compressed hours; greater choice and control in shift patterns; caregiving leave, and much more.

40% of workers say workplace flexibility is one of the top three factors they consider when making career decisions. Added to this, two-thirds of workers don’t believe they need to be sat in an office in order to get their work done. It’s clear that candidates are looking for a way to achieve ‘one life’, which aligns and integrates their work and home lives.

While no employer can accommodate every single flexible working arrangement, it’s increasingly important that they implement and facilitate a range of flexible working policies. This will ensure their organisation appeals to workers at each stage of their career.

Flexible Working: A Win-Win Strategy

Flexible working also has plenty of benefits from an organisational perspective too. After all, as companies look to become more multinational in their scope of services, suppliers and products, they will need a workforce that can operate flexibility in terms of hours and locations.

As a result, organisations need to be ready to drop old work models that emphasise presenteeism over performance. Workplace flexibility as a talent management policy is no longer an option: it’s an essential practice that enables organisations to attract and retain in-demand talent and meet strategic business objectives.

To understand how important flexibility is to jobseekers, ManpowerGroup Solutions interviewed 14,000 workers in 19 influential countries about their job search preferences and motivators. Our whitepaper analyses the flexible working arrangements candidates are looking for from their employer; and suggests immediate steps and longer-term actions that employers can take to better meet candidate demand for flexibility.

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Click here to download a PDF of this infographic.

For years, UK call centres regularly offshored their operations, predominantly driven by a desire to create greater cost efficiencies. As most of us will remember, this was effective for some time, but soon led to a consumer backlash against the level of service received.

This is significant in today’s digital world. If someone receives a poor experience from their service provider, it’s not long before they’re telling their online networks. And, when someone hears of another persons’ negative experience of a service provider, it has an immediate impact on their perception of the organisation and their likelihood to engage with their services in the future.

As a result, more and more organisations are moving their call centres back to UK soil, in the belief that this will allow them to deliver a better customer service. While this may potentially increase workforce costs, this can be offset through investment in automation, as well as implementing homeworking policies.

Destination: UK

However, lots of companies are going one step further than this. They’re using the UK as the base for their Europe-wide contact centre; centralising a number of European contact centres into one centre in the UK. Often, their size and scale does not allow them to manage multiple contact centres across Europe, and the UK is an attractive base for their operations.

As a result, demand for multilingual talent in the UK has skyrocketed. So it’s become increasingly difficult to find people with these skills – particularly German, Dutch and Nordic language speakers.

However, while demand for these skills has increased, supply has decreased. One reason for this is probably quite obvious: Brexit. Many candidates are still unclear of the concrete implications of last year’s referendum; particularly as the free flow of labour is one of the fundamental tenets of the European Union.  With the eyes of the world on the UK and Europe, employers must play a role in protecting the attractiveness and desirability of the UK as a labour destination.

One piece of the puzzle

Finding someone who speaks the required language is just one piece of the puzzle though. The individual also needs to want to work in a contact centre, and have the required skills to do so.

After all, as I’ve already mentioned, there’s a very high expectation on customer service these days. UK consumers criticised the service received by offshore contact centres; business leaders don’t want to replicate this experience elsewhere.

It’s critical that the multilingual candidates who are based in the UK are able to provide exactly the same level of service as someone based in the same country as the caller. The customer should have no idea that the person they’re speaking to is based in the UK. The talent pool of people who are able to achieve this is small; particularly when recruiting for first line technical roles, which often consist of technical, jargon-heavy conversations.

The hyper targeted approach

What does all of this mean for employers who want to recruit multilingual workers into their contact centres? Quite simply, it means you need to think more long-term about candidate engagement. There’s no quick fix. It’s extremely unlikely that you will post an advert onto a job board and receive an application from your ideal candidate. There are simply not enough active candidates in this talent pool. Instead, you need making talent pooling a real priority.

To do this, a hyper targeted approach is required. This means investing in social profiling, demographic analysis, and extensive research and insights – to identify the precise individuals that your attraction activities should target.

With this intelligence in hand, the next step is to consider the best way of approaching and engaging with your organisation, and your job vacancies. After all, when you’re targeting a select pool of individuals, there really is no excuse for a bad candidate experience. They may not be looking to change roles right now, so this isn’t just about ‘selling’ your job to them. It’s about building trust over a period of time. This will mean you’re the first organisation they turn to when they’re ready for a job move.

Maximise your reach

That’s where Manpower can help. With a global network of more than 3,500 offices in over 80 countries and territories worldwide, we combine an unparalleled global reach with on-the-ground knowledge of local jobs markets.

We have the people, knowledge and technology to attract and retain the talent you need, no matter if they live down the road or on the other side of the world. That’s why some of the world’s biggest brands turn to us for support in resourcing and managing their multilingual contact centre requirements – including Ford Credit Europe.

If you’d like to find out more about our ability to recruit multilingual talent for the contact centre industry, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly on [email protected].

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To find out more about our expertise in contact centre recruitment and workforce planning, visit manpower.co.uk/contact-centres or email us at [email protected]