Scalability for Distribution Center Hiring: Fueling Growth With an Agile Recruiting Program
Situation: Lack of Candidate Flow and High Turnover Impacts Production Times
A growing, global meal-kit corporation was struggling to staff its U.S.-based distribution centers where hiring demand can fluctuate greatly from month to month. These swings in hiring needs can be extreme and can go from at or near zero to several thousand hires. The temp-to-hire workforce development model was failing to create a steady flow of reliable workers and turnover was beginning to hurt production times and quality. Having leveraged Advanced RPO’s direct hire capabilities in 2019 to staff its nationwide sales team, the client turned to us for a best-in-class approach to solving their distribution center talent acquisition needs.
Solution: Advanced RPO’s Full-Time Hire Recruitment Process for Reliable Talent
Advanced RPO began by establishing a comprehensive full-time hire recruitment process to replace the hourly, temp-to-hire model and improve the candidate experience. Inconsistent communication and onboarding processes had been causing confusion for these production associate hires and contributing to high ghosting and turnover rates. By building consistency into every stage of talent engagement, from first contact all the way through onboarding, Advanced RPO created a highly effective process for identifying strong hires and reducing turnover and no-show rates. The onboarding solution alone has accelerated time-to-productivity while giving new distribution center employees an important and warm welcome into the company culture.
In addition to optimizing the recruitment process, we also provide a scalable team of expert, high-volume recruiters who know the industry and the local marketplaces, which means faster talent engagement and results. When hiring demands surge (and it can by the hundreds in certain months), we immediately activate additional team members to meet the need.
Our solution also includes recruitment marketing and advertising services. Having a team on hand to guide and execute recruitment marketing programs with speed and precision has helped the company compete for and win talent to fill production associate roles in local markets.
Results: Recruiting Agility and Efficiency, Increased Hiring Manager Satisfaction
Our full-time hire RPO solution began with four distribution sites in 2019 and has now doubled to nine locations across the country. We are responsible for all full-time production associate hires at each of those locations.
The transition from hourly, temp-to-hire staffing of distribution center roles to a full-time hire talent acquisition program has been transformative for the client in several ways:
18,500
18,500 production associate roles hired and counting.
Scalability
Unparalleled scalability with an average of 140 hires per week since program inception – with swings as high as 800 hires and as low as 0.
+34%
Increased fill rate of roles by 34% in a one-year time frame.
8 weeks
Staffed a new distribution center over the holidays in just 8 weeks, which required hiring over 2,000 full time employees.
+27%
Tenure in the distribution centers has improved by 27%.
+29%
Improved day one start rates by 29%.
“Adaptability is Advanced RPO’s most important attribute to us. During COVID, we went from 4 to 7 distribution centers to keep up with the unexpected growth. I knew they could – and would – jump in to help us scale. I’ve worked with and for other RPOs – and if it’s not in the contract, they won’t do it. Advanced RPO is different.”
— Talent Acquisition Director