Driving Talent Success in Manufacturing and Transportation Industries

The manufacturing and transportation sectors each encounter distinct challenges in recruiting and retaining talent. HR teams in these industries must navigate increased safety concerns and the effects of technological progress, all while striving to balance hiring efficiencies with employee well-being.

On day four of Industry Week, we connected with Jackson Kerchis, Co-Founder, Researcher & Educator from Happiness Means Business (HMB), and Meredith Wellard, VP of Talent Management at DHL Group to discuss common challenges and solutions that are directly influencing manufacturing and transportation businesses across the globe.

Let’s dive right into the insights this day has to offer.

The Serious Business of Happiness: Insights on Employee Well-being and Productivity

John Harrington, Director of Product Marketing at Phenom, interviewed Jackson Kerchis, Co-Founder of Happiness Means Business (HMB), to explore how employee happiness influences recruiting, retention, and productivity — and how these elements can be integrated into the manufacturing and transportation sectors to drive impactful results.

The Business Case for Happiness

Kerchis emphasized that happiness precedes success, citing studies showing that happier employees perform better financially and professionally. For example:

• University of Pennsylvania: Optimistic sales reps outsold peers by 31%

• US Army: Happier soldiers are more likely to win awards for bravery and performance throughout their careers

• Oxford University: Companies with high well-being outperformed stock market benchmarks

• Irrational Capital: Well-being models outperformed the S&P 500 and Russell 2000

It’s clear there are significant benefits to focusing on employee happiness in the workplace. But how does that apply to manufacturing, transportation, and logistics?

Happiness in Transportation and Supply Chain

The transportation and supply chain industries face significant talent shortages, with projections showing a 60,000 truck driver shortfall and 2.1 million unfilled manufacturing jobs by 2030. A key focus to help combat these rising shortages is the happiness factor.

Kerchis suggested using Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to gauge employee happiness. NPS scores and happiness have an interlocking relationship. “I think by investing in the climate of an organization, folks in this industry can really go a long way to combat some of the challenges, particularly around staffing and talent management,” commented Kerchis.

Prioritize assessing your existing workforce climate through the lens of happiness by looking at various elements, such as relationships, autonomy, competence, and work-life balance — all of which drive recruiting and retention.

Addressing Challenges with a Four-Day Workweek

WorkFour is a non-profit organization that advocates for reduced work time without reducing compensation. According to Kerchis, most pilot programs reduce hours by about 20% but maintain 100% compensation and productivity.

“What we tend to find is through initiatives like this — especially because we see how AI and technologies more broadly, have made individuals more productive — there's not much lost when employers make this transition.”

Pilot programs show that AI and automation can maintain productivity despite reduced hours. Benefits of a four-day workweek include:

• 38% increase in revenue

• 57% reduction in voluntary attrition

• Improvements in mental health and burnout

Enhancing Safety and Trust

Kerchis introduced the 4S model: skills, systems, shared commitment, and psychological safety. In one case, an agricultural goods transporter reduced claim costs by 80% by fostering psychological safety and shared commitment.

According to Kerchis, their goal was to change how managers communicated about safety, emphasizing emotional intelligence and personal connections. Communicating that everyone was on board with ensuring their employees get home safe went a long way to improving company culture around safety and trust.

Key Takeaways

1. Employee happiness precedes success, enhancing financial and professional performance

2. Improving happiness can attract and retain talent, especially in competitive markets

3. Reduced work hours with maintained productivity can improve revenue and reduce attrition

4. Focusing on safety and trust through the 4S model can lead to better company culture and profitability

Striking a Balance Between Tech and an Effective Employer Brand with DHL

Continuing with day four of Industry Week, we caught up with Meredith Wellard, VP of Talent Management at DHL Group to talk about how DHL has been tackling hiring challenges across the globe to effectively identify, engage, and convert talent at scale.

Keep reading to catch the highlights or watch the full session below.

The Challenges of Recruiting Across 220 Countries & Territories

DHL, with around 600,000 employees globally, recruits 150,000 to 180,000 new team members annually, many of whom are frontline workers. The shifting nature of work due to demographic changes, globalization, and advancements in automation and robotics necessitates finding resilient candidates willing to adapt and work alongside robots.

DHL emphasizes its employer brand to attract these candidates. Meredith Wellard noted, "We started a journey several years ago to articulate who we are as a company to the outside world." However, global brand dissemination and finding the right platforms and technologies have been challenging.

Aligning Talent Acquisition with Business Objectives

DHL's 2025 strategy focuses on digitalization, requiring tech specialists to lead the way. To attract this talent, DHL personalizes messages and targets the right people in the right places. “You have a whole new generation of workers that you need to introduce to your business,” Wellard remarked, highlighting the importance of showcasing DHL's culture and career growth opportunities.

Innovative Recruitment Strategies

DHL has implemented solutions tailored for 220 countries and territories, with career sites in over 30 languages. This improved the candidate experience, increasing traffic and applications. AI and Automated Interview Scheduling have sped up recruitment, reducing time to hire and enhancing engagement without requiring additional work from recruiters with an ever-growing to-do list.

This strategy shift — supported by the right technology — helps hiring teams find the best candidates and reassess those not initially successful for other roles, fostering a mindset of "next best opportunity."

Managing Internal Talent and Fostering Careers

The visibility of talent within DHL's 600,000 employees has improved with technology, allowing better tracking of skills, interests, and career aspirations across their global talent pool. This enables intentional development and meaningful career paths for every employee. “Now we have something really meaningful to work with,” Wellard noted.

Key Takeaways for Talent Attraction and Management

1. Ensure talent acquisition is fast, efficient, and adaptable

2. Know who you need and where to find them, challenging traditional recruitment mindsets

3. Focus on internal development, leveraging technology to build meaningful career paths

Wellard concluded, “We're finally giving recruiters tools beyond administrative tasks, allowing them to search, find, evaluate, and keep candidates engaged without the administrative burden they had just a few years ago. This technology is game-changing.”

Solutions for the Manufacturing and Transportation Industries

Phenom provides a comprehensive suite of tools tailored for the manufacturing, logistics, and transportation industries to attract and retain talent effectively. These tools help meet candidates where they are, build engaged talent pipelines, communicate the employer brand, and leverage automation to drive efficiencies. Here’s how we do it:

• Personalized experiences through Phenom CMS. Phenom's content management system (CMS) allows easy creation and adjustment of content to ensure relevance for each job seeker. For example, rising juniors see content about internships and tuition reimbursement, while candidates for frontline roles find information on benefits and the hiring process.

• Mobile optimization to meet candidates where they are. With over 90% of candidates using Google during job searches, often on mobile phones, Phenom ensures career sites are mobile-optimized. This includes search engine optimization and a 24/7 chatbot that engages candidates, answers questions, and provides personalized job recommendations, highlighting organizational strengths through video content.

• Consistent communication to nurture talent pipelines. Phenom maintains continuous engagement with candidates through regular emails and text messages, pulling them back into the application process. This ongoing engagement helps keep qualified candidates interested and more likely to apply.

• Always-on recruiting through a conversational chatbot. Phenom's 24/7 chatbot engages candidates, answers questions, and highlights organizational values. It provides personalized job recommendations and assists with the application process, making it easier for candidates to find and apply for relevant roles.

• Streamlined application processes. Candidates can receive personalized job recommendations and view videos about potential roles. If they leave the application process, they can be re-engaged via email or text. The streamlined process allows candidates to complete pre-screening questions and schedule interviews in less than three minutes.

• Industry-specific skills ontology that evolves alongside your business. Through the Phenom Skills Ontology, we’ve compiled billions of data points to understand connections and patterns within specific industries that are then enhanced by your company information, creating a wealth of data and knowledge at your fingertips. New information is automatically populated in the system while AI helps your team members craft job descriptions in line with industry standards as they continue to evolve.

• Personalized and scalable employee onboarding. Phenom helps companies standardize, consolidate, personalize, and automate onboarding. This creates a fantastic onboarding process that slingshots new employees from day one to ultimate productivity in the shortest time possible, driving staff training and safety while setting up new work relationships off on the right foot. Phenom provides customized onboarding and background checks to compliance documentation and even badging, IT allocation, and payroll setup for a holistic approach to hiring.

To take a closer look at all the ways Phenom can support your hiring and retention goals, book a personalized demo with our team.