Ethics and fairness in logistics recruitment
In the logistics and warehousing industries, it’s more important than ever before that employers recruit and manage their workers in a fair and ethical way. Legal ramifications aside, recent news articles have put a spotlight on the significant reputational damage that can be done when employers mismanage employees. And, having read these reports, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that drivers increasingly want to know what companies are really like to work for.
These days, many prospective drivers will visit your website or social media channels to find out about your organisation. This information is useful if they’re not too familiar with your company, but they often want to delve deeper. What type of shifts you offer? Which routes they can expect to be put on? What are your facilities like? They don’t just want to know what you think you’re like as an employer. They want to hear it from the people who really know: your existing employees.
The internet has made organisations more transparent than ever before. Employer review websites like Glassdoor often directly ask users about their employer’s weaknesses, as well as strengths. Added to this, social media is often the first place people turn to, when they feel they have experienced a wrongdoing. All of this means there can be a tendency towards negative content online.
In this situation, employers shouldn’t overreach and try to make the company seem perfect when replying to a negative comment. This can appear disingenuous to today’s candidates. Instead of squelching imperfections, use these occasions as an opportunity to engage and diffuse. Most people recognise that workplaces are far from perfect; but managing grievances in a positive way can be invaluable to your employer brand. Managing negative comments is important – prevention will always be the best cure, though. A fair, ethical approach is a key component in achieving this.
Doing well by doing good
We’re proud to have been recognised by the Ethisphere Institute as being one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for seven consecutive years. So, when our clients partner with us, they can trust that we have the robust processes required to always recruit and manage our drivers in a compliant, ethical manner.
Each of our logistics recruitment consultants is FTA-accredited. This means they have the expert industry knowledge required to identify the best, most suitable talent in the market. As part of this, we conduct face-to-face competency-based interviews and two-part driving assessments with prospective candidates, covering a wide range of tachograph and theory-based FLT questions. If required, we also have an arsenal of 72 further tests available. This means we can be confident that the driver is fully capable of doing the role, before they go on assignment with one of our clients.
Making sure they’re legally able to do the job is critical, too. That’s why our in-house compliance team is always on hand to ensure we always abide with UK transportation and employment legislation. Added to this, we offer a range of training opportunities, including Driver CPC training to allow our drivers to upskill and continually meet their legal obligations.
We do all of this – and more – because we believe in doing well by doing good. Providing people with training and meaningful job opportunities can transform lives and communities for the better. Not only this, but we believe that taking an ethical approach to logistics recruitment increases the success of our clients’ businesses too.
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] today.
