Food for thought: investing in your people strategy could be the key you need to unlock your competitive edge...
...High levels of employee turnover, labour shortages and the struggle to find and retain the right people, with the right skills are common challenges faced by the food and beverage industry. This blog explores how SAP SuccessFactors can help organisations address these challenges and navigate the complexities of the industry to foster a thriving, skilled workforce.
According to the Office of National Statistics, supply chain challenges, escalating costs and labour shortages have led to a rise in the UK's food and beverage prices. While these challenges are not exclusive to the industry, they have significantly impacted the sector, especially in terms of workforce strategy.
The food and beverage industry is the UK and Ireland's largest manufacturing sector, with 250,000 agri-food jobs being directly linked to the overall performance of the economy in Ireland alone. However, despite its importance, 28% of businesses in the food and beverage sector reported experiencing difficulty in recruiting staff across both managerial and production roles.
This blog explores how SAP SuccessFactors, an innovative workforce management solution, can address these challenges and empower organisations in the food and beverage sector to thrive.
SAP SuccessFactors enables multi-channel recruitment, catering for all roles within an organisation. For example, the ability to set up evergreen recruitment requisitions supports talent pooling and delivers a continuous flow of talent by maintaining open vacancies. It also offers simple but robust employee referral processes and according to LinkedIn research, leveraging an employees existing network for recruitment has the potential to expand a company's talent pool by up to 10 times.
As reported by the Food Industry Executive, the significance of regular employee feedback surpasses concerns related to low wages when it comes to reasons for resignations. Furthermore, a Gallup Survey revealed that disengaged employees are prone to experiencing 64% more accidents compared to their engaged counterparts in the workplace.
SAP SuccessFactors offers cutting-edge employee experience solutions that empower organisations to swiftly uncover and act upon valuable employee engagement insights. Embedded surveys enhance workplace experiences by simplifying processes, making them more user-friendly and increasing employee satisfaction and productivity through improved usability.
Forbes highlights that inadequate communication and inefficient internal processes are additional factors contributing to employee attrition. Managing time off, accessing schedules and accessing reward and compensation details should be easy and efficient. The SAP SuccessFactors App empowers both employees and managers to perform these tasks in real-time, across various device types, prioritising user-friendliness. Moreover, the App maintains stringent security standards, manages mobile device features and functions, and delivers optimised procedures for mobile performance, ensuring it serves the needs of employees rather than vice versa.
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The Food Standards Agency mandates that individuals responsible for developing and maintaining a business's food safety management procedures must undergo training in food safety and hygiene. However, this requirement, like many other training programs, poses a challenge within the industry. This is due to the geographical dispersion of employees, varying shift schedules and the limited time available for front-of-house roles.
SAP SuccessFactors addresses this challenge by offering comprehensive onboarding and ongoing training capabilities, enabling rapid upskilling of your workforce anytime and anywhere. It also ensures compliance with training requirements, facilitating the establishment of a culture of food quality and safety for all employees right from their first day on the job.
Apprenticeship programs and initiatives like the Food & Drink Careers Passport, launched by the Food and Drink Federation in the UK, are aimed at enhancing the perception and appeal of the food and drink industry as an exciting career choice.
SAP SuccessFactors aligns with this objective by providing employees with a platform to explore opportunities for continuous career growth and learning. Employees can browse and apply for assignments, participate in mentoring programs, and set future career goals.
Consequently, organisations gain a deeper understanding of their workforce's skills, enabling them to match individuals with meaningful work where they can excel. This also offers valuable insights into employees' aspirations, motivations, and abilities, facilitating more informed decisions in staffing, reskilling, or reorganisation efforts.
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