Flexible in recruitment and agile in delivering quality for our customers
When Martin Jackson, our Managing Director, moved to Bristol some fifty years ago, the city was a hotbed for printing and print businesses. But over time, the number of people with specialist print skills and experience has declined as some major print and packaging employers either moved out of the area or became victims of the hugely competitive nature of the industry.
So, how does Kingfisher Labels recruit today and ensure the business is fit for purpose to face the challenges of the years ahead?
In a nutshell, we are incredibly flexible in our approach to recruitment. We consistently review the market and if someone applies for a job with us, or we see a person of interest with the relevant skillset, we will always judge each situation on its individual merits.
This could be a young person with the potential to excel as a machinist or an experienced salesperson with a thirty-year career behind them. Age really is of no concern to us. It is all about fitting in with the Kingfisher philosophy and bringing something refreshing, new and exciting to the team.
For example, we were recently approached by a sixty-five-year-old man to say he was retiring but was looking to work one or two days a week. It’s not often you have the opportunity to employ the knowledge and experience of someone who has worked in the industry for decades.
So, we jumped at the chance and he’ll hopefully be onboard in the weeks ahead. Having him in the team will broaden our scope in terms of what we can offer our customers, but this isn’t just about his contribution to day-to-day activities. It’s also about how our team can learn from a skilled colleague and develop their own capabilities.
It is sometimes difficult to recruit young talent into the label printing industry, but we are determined to give young, local people the opportunity to develop and progress at Kingfisher Labels. There is a general lack of printers, and interest in printing, and teenagers aren’t learning the trade at college, so training is always in-house, over a period of many months. We invest the time to train and develop new talent.
Quite often, we recruit production workers through word-of-mouth and this approach has also paid off for us. We have an excellent team of machinists, some of whom have been with Kingfisher for many years and learnt their trade with us.
More often than not we are looking for staff in the factory but our small office-based team also needs to be agile in how they operate. We recently recruited an excellent new member of our office team. She is young but has experience in the industry.
Most importantly, Alex is multi-skilled and willing to go the extra mile, so brings so much to our operation.
But what appealed to Alex about Kingfisher Labels?
Alex commented, “I joined Kingfisher because their team felt more like a family unit and working for a smaller company, I feel valued. They allow job roles to be flexible, meaning I’m able to cross over into other departments to fully support my customers’ needs and build great relationships across the board.
Kingfisher staff are also rewarded based on company sales; this is equal across all departments. I feel it’s important to acknowledge everyone’s contribution to the business rather than just reward individual performance.”
Some may see our approach as a risk but we have made a conscious decision to be incredibly flexible towards recruitment and the set-up of our team. Technology is constantly evolving, and the needs of our customers are ever-changing, so lack of agility is the biggest risk of all.
Through our approach, we can ensure we are in the strongest possible position and have the right people, in the right roles, with the right skills.
So, what could you bring to the Kingfisher Labels team?
For more information on potential opportunities with Kingfisher Labels, or to discuss how we can support your print requirements, please contact our Sales Director, Andy Watts on 01454 321456 or e-mail Andy