The packaging industry is narrow and specific: the right specialists are scarce. HRD of ML GROUP shares his experience in team building
Search difficulties
Our company was originally located in Moscow, and then the owners of the company decided to move it to Tula. As a result, we had to start recruiting staff at the new location and replace almost the entire old team.
The new team took quite a long time to form, not without difficulties. Just so you understand, Tula is a city with its own peculiarities. The production facilities here are primarily oriented towards government contracts, not towards obtaining funds from business activities. Their main activity is defense, heavy industry. And suddenly a certain company appears, a packaging manufacturer, with prospects that are unclear to others, with processes that have not yet been built up.
In addition, due to the relocation, the company's production volume decreased, there was practically no profit, and it was hard to pay salaries above the market. The situation was also complicated by the remoteness from the city (the enterprise is located 30 minutes away from Tula), which is a significant factor for job seekers when choosing a job. Therefore, at first it was very difficult to find new staff. And it has to be said, at that time the company did not yet have its own HR.
The situation began to change as soon as the owners started to involve recruitment agencies and professional headhunters in the selection process. They looked for them on a point-by-point basis, investing a lot of money in this. So, a few years ago, the backbone of the team was formed, and the managers who still work in the company today came in. I am one of them.
Three strategies
It can be said that the company came by experience to its first strategy in team building - the use of experts in the field of search and recruitment. At first, the strategy was implemented only with the help of recruitment agencies, and later with the help of in-house HR, which was also necessary to implement a full-fledged system for attracting, developing and motivating employees.
The second strategy is to build a corporate culture, a culture of engagement, creating a positive atmosphere where employees are respected, their contribution to the overall result is valued, comfortable working conditions and opportunities for development are created.
To attract a qualified top manager or a rare specialist, a salary or social package alone is not enough.
Such a strategy presupposes a certain level of company development. To attract a qualified top manager or a rare specialist, a salary or a social package alone is not enough. You also need high internal standards, a well-developed corporate culture, interesting tasks, prospects and conditions for the realization of professional and career ambitions. Otherwise, people will simply not be interested. There are enough vacancies on the market now with similar employment conditions, where employers compete with each other.
And for any employer, I think it is important for employees to be motivated by more than just money. Especially if they are managers and key specialists. If a person comes only because he or she has received more favorable remuneration conditions, it means that he or she may leave the company if someone offers more.
ML Group's HR strategy offers not only competitive salaries, but also our culture, our brand of a leading company in its segment. This makes it possible to attract highly qualified specialists to the company from other regions and foreign companies as well. Employees move to Tula together with their families. In recent years, the city has been developing very actively, while remaining much less hectic than Moscow. Many people like this.
Of course, when recruiting, we are primarily focused on the competencies of the employee, on the potential benefits he or she can bring, rather than where he or she comes from.
A new specialist always looks with fresh eyes and sees things that we sometimes don't notice anymore.
But, on the other hand, a newcomer needs considerable time to adapt. That is why we also apply the third strategy: we nurture our own personnel. For example, our production managers have worked their way up from operators and foremen, the quality director came to her position from the position of quality management system manager, and the finance director has been working towards her position for almost 10 years, having joined us as a university student.
About the top's main qualities
I'm not taking professional experience now. It is undoubtedly important. But our company's practice shows that one of the main competencies of a top manager is the ability to fit into the team. And for this it is important that the person should be on the same wavelength with us, speak the same language, and that the same things should be valuable to all team members.
Second, a top manager is a strategist, a person who looks several years ahead, builds images of the future, plans and leads the team to set goals.
Thirdly, a top manager must always have the desire to grow professionally, to improve his qualifications, and must have the very ability to develop. He should always be looking for niches where he can realize himself and bring benefit to the company. And such self-realization is more valuable to him than praise, more valuable than money.
The fourth is the willingness and ability to take responsibility for oneself, one's words and actions, and the actions of one's subordinates.
And the fifth is engagement. We nurture this quality from within, we rely on it. If you don't love what you do, you won't be able to do it. If you go to work just for a paycheck, you are unlikely to become a successful manager.
Role of the manager
When I joined the company, the owner, who is also the general director, took me around the production facility until late in the evening, showing me the equipment and telling me about development plans. This probably played a decisive role in my accepting the offer: our general director was able to interest and motivate me. I saw his enthusiasm, his burning eyes and realized that I would be really interested in this company. And I have never once regretted that I made my choice in favor of ML GROUP.
A manager is a leader, he sets the tone for everything that happens in the company. He participates in management, shapes the company culture, inspires and motivates the team.
Team building: unlocking potential
To date, we have built a great team and continue to look for people to fill new positions.
At the same time, we can say that it is always difficult to form a team of like-minded people and lead it to new achievements. In Tula, and in any other city, there are a lot of talented, hardworking people who just need to create conditions for development and comfortable work. And they will be able to unlock their potential.
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