September 2022

Recruiters for the Copier Channel® for more than 30 years, Copier Careers® has been the only recruiting firm exclusively dedicated to connecting Copier Channel employers with experienced service technicians, copier sales representatives, sales managers, service & operations managers, controllers, support staff, and MPS/MNS experts. Start your month off right with Newsletter September 2022: Copier Channel news and career advice. Search copier jobs now.

IN THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER

The Top 5: Hiring Supply Chain Tips
News From Kyocera
Sound Off: Your Top 3 Interview Selling Points
Monthly Poll: Is your company managing their hiring supply chain?

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The Top 5: Hiring Supply Chain Tips

Everyone knows about the on-going supply chain challenges – companies are understandably motivated to find solutions. Everyone also knows about the severe staffing shortages – employers are desperate for candidates.

What everyone doesn’t seem to know is that the employee shortage is also a supply chain issue! You need product but you also need people to sell it, install it, maintain it, bill for it, etc. Your hiring supply chains needs just as much management.

1. Identify your suppliers. How did you find your current employees? Advertisements, job fairs, employee reference, recruiters, or just dumb luck? Rank your more reliable sources by their cost and their supply quantity and quality.
2. Improve your relationship with those suppliers. Speak with your contacts about what you can do to improve output. Do you need to dedicate more resources (whether that’s money, time, or people) to increase output? Is there anything your company is doing/not doing that is sabotaging your supply? Do you have clear decision-makers and are they fully aligned on the company’s needs and priorities?
3. Diversify. We’ve been warning for years that the industry’s current candidate pool is drying up. Employers used to have their pick of experienced candidates. Now you have to start accepting candidates with transferrable skills and a willingness to learn. Look at your job openings and reassess your requirements. What skills does a candidate have to have and what can you teach them?
4. Rethink safety stocks. Guy Courtin, of 6 River Systems writes, “Trying to ‘lean out’ our supply chains has been the mantra for ages. We strive to reduce working capital. Safety stock is ‘bad.’ Do we need to reassess this?” When it comes to your employee back bench, the answer is yes! Think about your best people and what a nightmare it would be to replace them. How long would it take, what opportunities would you miss, who else might leave if they do? With a job market this tight, companies simply can’t risk running with the bare minimum of essential employees. People get sick, they move, they leave. You need a safety margin to account for this human element.
5. Embrace change. When something’s not working, try something new – a new supplier, new type of candidate, new job description, new hiring team. If you can’t find any candidates, if you keep losing your candidates after the second interview or if candidates keep rejecting your offers, something is wrong. Don’t throw up your hands and shout, “No one wants to work any more!” That simply isn’t true – people are working, they just don’t want to work for you. It’s up to you to find out why and fix it.

Looking for a supplier? Copier Careers has been building relationships with industry candidates for over 30 years!

Contact us today!

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News From Kyocera

Kyocera founder, Kazuo Inamori, passed away in his home on August 24th at the age of 90. Inamori is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Japan Today:

“Inamori established Kyocera as an insulator manufacturing company in 1959, with a 3 million yen ($22,000) investment from his acquaintances.

While struggling to build his company, Inamori came up with his philosophy of management that emphasized people, doing the right thing and what he called “corporate character,” the old-style Japanese equivalent of professionalism and ethical standards.

“His thoughts, which were pioneering for modernizing Japan, were based on the idea that workers and companies must be motivated by pure intentions, not by greed, and ultimately the desire to serve society.

“His ideas spanned principles about fair competition, the proper pursuit of profit and the need for managerial transparency, as well as about living a virtuous life as an individual, for which he listed six principles: diligence, humility, reflection, gratitude, benevolence and detachment.”

Asia Times

“Inamori created what he called Amoeba Management, which has so far been introduced at about 700 companies worldwide. As explained on the Kyocera website:

Amoeba Management begins with dividing an organization into small units called ‘amoebas.’ Each amoeba leader is responsible for drafting plans and goals for the unit. Amoebas achieve their goals through collaboration and the hard efforts of all their amoeba members. In this system, every employee plays a major role and voluntarily participates in managing the unit, achieving what is known as ‘Management by All.'”

“An article by professors Ralph W Adler of the University of Otago in New Zealand and Toshiro Hiromoto of Hitotsubashi University in Japan, published in the MIT Sloan Management Review in 2012, noted that ‘Kyocera Corp’s distinctive management system seeks to promote profitable growth by extreme decentralization — with thousands of small, customer-focused business units.'”

Nikkei

“‘I’ve led an incredibly happy life,’ Inamori had said a decade and a half ago. His dedication to living well made him a unique character among Japanese business leaders.”

Sound Off

Last month we discussed tips for attracting and hiring Gen Z candidates so we were curious to hear about your top three interview selling points. We had a solid turnout of 16,433 votes this month!

Unsurprisingly, most (29%) cited compensation as a priority concern during the interview process. Other monetary or clearly definable selling points included the benefits package (12%), company car/fair car allowance (9%) and PTO (5%). In total this group took 55% of the vote.

Interestingly, softer criteria like connecting with the interviewers (13%) and compatible management / leadership style (12%) came in above the benefits package. Interesting / fulfilling work (12%) and the company’s reputation (7%) were each prioritized over PTO. The total soft criteria took 44% of votes.

The rest are still important but didn’t qualify in many voters’ top three. Flexible hours, hybrid work options and territory earned 1% each. Commute received 4 votes while attractive office setup and miscellaneous job perks each got 1 vote.

POLL QUESTION: