Every food service distribution professional understands the costs of poor hiring decisions: high prices to advertise jobs online, the hours spent reviewing applications, the time to interview prospects, ergonomic testing, drug testing, the days spent training, the time spent to on-board the new worker and then. . .  then one day, that valuable human resource in which your team has invested so much time and energy misses their shift. Phone calls are made — no answer. E-mails are sent  — no response is returned. The hiring process starts all over again and it costs your operation thousands of dollars in time, money and opportunity.

Industrial Athlete University has developed comprehensive and easy-to-implement scouting, testing, and screening solution to help your team on-board top industrial athletic talent:

Industrial Athlete Scouting Profile (ASP)

Every foodservice distribution environment is different in terms of location, management and layout. Single distribution center operators make the mistake of borrowing employee success criteria and profiles from other operators. Large multi-unit operators make the mistake of using a “one-size fits all” approach by using the same employee success criteria across the entire company. This is like applying the same evaluation criteria for a baseball pitcher and outfielder — it doesn’t work!

Industrial Athlete University will work with your human resources team to develop a valid, reliable and accurate worker profile for every role in your distribution center — from night warehouse selector to delivery driver — that will serve as the foundation for everything from job advertisements and training to insurance assessments and benefits programs. An IAU-developed job worker profile includes 10-criteria points, including:

• • Outline of job demands
  • Baseline personality characteristics
  • Necessary physical capabilities
  • Management style & expectations
  • Environmental demands

Many human resources personnel make the mistake of screening and selecting team members through competency-based criteria. After extensive study, IAU has discovered that while competency-based hiring is effective for management-level positions, it is ineffective for hard workers. For instance, the skills necessary to be an effective distribution center selector include motivation, drive, and attention to detail. These are personality traits, not competencies. Through the use of IAU’s screening and training tools, IAU helps our clients scout the industrial athletes who will be most valuable team contributors. This process starts with a Industrial Athlete Scouting Profile.

Realistic Job Preview

The worker screening process should starts before candidates complete an application. The only team candidates whose paperwork reaches the front office should be those who want to do the kind of work for which you are hiring. A necessary part of any foodservice distributors hiring process should be the capability to weed out low-performers who are “just looking for a job”. In any economy, there are candidates available for virtually every role and who are driven by success.  Industrial Athlete University has produced short, high-impact (8 to 12-minute) videos that provide a realistic look at the common tasks, job challenges, work demands, and personal considerations that potential new hires would need to consider before taking a job within the foodservice distribution environment.  These videos have been custom-produced for:

• • Night Warehouse Selectors
  • Delivery Drivers
  • Sales Representatives

The IAU team has created customized versions of these videos for dozens of foodservice distribution companies of every size. Depending on the position, many of these videos were produced with the intent of talking the job candidate out of applying for the position. The IAU’s experience producing accurate and compelling short-format company and job video introductions, and capability to highlight an organization’s unique brand, history and culture through the video production – from treatment and titling to production quality and packaging — has made IAU a logical choice to produce these videos for an operation of any size.  A recent customer recently wrote: “We love them!!!!  They look so great and we are excited to start using them.  Thank you!”

Pre-employment Assessment Tool

Industrial Athlete University has developed a proprietary pre-employment worker capability screening tool to evaluate a prospects’ likelihood of success and job longevity in a variety of roles within the food distribution environment, including night order selector, delivery driver, and day crew.  Human resources personnel make the mistake of screening worker candidates for past experience in similar work environments. IAU has found a direct relationship between past experience in a competing organization and likelihood of quitting within six months of initial hiring, and no relationship between past experience and success with a new company. IAU’s PEAK pre-employment screening and worker evaluation tool helps clients to scout the industrial athletes who will be most valuable team contributors. PEAK is a 60-question assessment tool that measures traits associated with success in a distribution center environment, including a team candidates’:

• • Attention to Detail
  • Attention + Concentration Levels
  • Performance Under Pressure
  • Spatial Awareness
  • Reading + Math Skills
  • Motivation + Drive

PEAK results in a brief survey report, including a comparison as to how a candidate scores against top-performers working in a similar role in the distribution center and against workers hired into your operation. Each report also includes development areas if an offer of employment is made to a candidate.  PEAK costs $49.99 for 1-50 assessments/year; $44.99 for 50-150 assessments/year; and, $34.99 for more than 150 assessments in one year.