Pet food companies must roll out the red carpet to attract top talent in the current job market, said Ed Yuhas, managing director for Kincannon and Reed Executive Search, an administrative-level staffing agency, in a video from Petfood Forum 2018.
“What we are doing is we are telling our clients that sometimes the best client you see is the very first one,” he said. “Clients do not like to hear that. They want choice…There are just fewer people who want to make these kind of job changes today.”
When meeting with a prospective pet food company employee for an interview, companies have to put their very best foot forward, he said.
“Roll out the red carpet,” he said. “Make sure people on the interviewing team are well prepared to bring in the candidate and to really understand their background before they come in. We tell our candidates that the company should be on their best behavior that day and if they are not, it is probably a sign.
A pet food company must make sure that a potential employee will fit in well with the corporate culture.
“People are hired for skills and fired for fails,” he said. “It is all about the culture. The culture is the norms. It is the way they go about doing their business. It's how things get done. It's things that a newcomer really wouldn't know until they are there. So, it is really the most difficult choice that a client has to make about the candidate. Will this person fit? How are we going to know?”
About Petfood Forum events
Petfood R&D Showcase is scheduled for October 9-11, 2018 at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Registration is now open.
Petfood Forum is the not-to-be-missed trade show event for pet food professionals from around the world to network, exchange ideas and do business with one another and with the industry's leading pet food manufacturers and suppliers. Petfood Forum 2019 will take place at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, USA on April 29 – May 1, 2019. Super early bird registration is now open for Petfood Forum 2019.
