For manufacturing companies, great employees can make the difference between elite and mediocre products. Yet finding top talent for your manufacturing company can be challenging, particularly since you’re not the only company looking for top employees.

To find great manufacturing candidates, you must go the extra mile to appeal to top talent. In today’s job market, it’s not just about what an applicant can bring to the employer; it’s also about what the business can give to the potential employee.

Consider the following tips for locating great talent in the Garden State.

Cultivate an Attractive Brand for Workers

Brand-building is an essential activity for any company that wants to market products or services. Brand-building is also important when it comes to appealing to professionals, and it’s important to note building a great brand for consumers is very different from brand-building for workers.

One way to build your company’s brand in the labor market is investing in company profiles on job sites like Monster and LinkedIn. Online profiles should show how the company is doing important work and why people enjoy working for your company.

Being a regular presence on college campuses and in job fairs around New Jersey is another way your company can build its brand in the labor market, and it reinforces what job seekers might be seeing online.

Leverage Social Media

LinkedIn is an obvious social platform for manufacturers looking to find talent in New Jersey, but other social media platforms can be quite useful as well.

Throughout the year, your company should be working to connect with people on Twitter and Facebook with the goal of creating a large network. When your company needs to find great manufacturing candidates, you can tap into this network and even use targeted ads to put your job postings in front of only New Jersey residents.

Offer Competitive Compensation

If your business wants to attract and hold on to its best employees, it has it invest in its workforce with competitive wages and benefits. At the bare minimum, your company should be offering the average salary for its positions, as well as medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance. Most employers offer 401(k) plans that match a certain amount of employees’ contributions.

If you’re looking to attract and keep great manufacturing workers, you’re probably going to have to go above and beyond those standard offerings. Some companies offer profit-sharing to all staff members as a way of both appealing to great talent and rewarding employees directly for helping achieve company goals.

Offer Internships and Apprenticeships

One of the best ways to lock down top manufacturing talent is to identify exceptional workers before they even hit the job market. Internships and apprenticeships are two ways a company can identify and hire hardworking young people.

Looking for high-quality talent for your team?

At Cornerstone Staffing Solutions, we have a wide range of very effective methods for finding great manufacturing talent in New Jersey. If your company is currently in need of a custom talent acquisition solution, please contact us today.