The Right Talent – Recruiting, Training, and Retaining with Ryan Schreiber Ryan Schreiber and Joe Lynch discuss what it takes to recruit the right talent in the transportation and logistics industry. While Ryan is very much a techie, he believes that people are the ultimate competitive advantage. In the interview, Ryan shares his perspective on recruiting, training and retaining the right talent. About Ryan Schreiber Ryan is the Director of Engagement at CarrierDirect in Chicago. Ryan was born and raised in Tampa Florida. Ryan earned a degree in History from the University of South Florida and then a Law degree from Michigan State University.  Prior to joining CarrierDirect, Ryan worked at a variety of logistics companies and even started and exited a few tech-enabled freight brokerage start-ups. Ryan is a skilled technologist and strategist who has helped transform many leading transportation and logistics companies. In Ryan’s experience great technology is important but finding and keeping the right people is the key to success in the 3PL business. About CarrierDirect Since 2011 carriers, 3PLs, shippers, and logistics technology vendors have looked to CarrierDirect to deliver the efficiency, strategy, go-to-market plans, and technology that will elevate their business above their competition. CarrierDirect builds organizations and relationships, providing strategy and technology designed to maximize efficiency, reduce cost and make your business stand out. CarrierDirect advises clients on the elements of their business most vital to success: strategy, organizational structure, compensation, technology, training, recruiting, workflows, processes, and more. CarrierDirect clients include Werner, J.B. Hunt, Covenant, CRST, and FedEx. The Right Talent The right talent is the talent that will succeed in your organization, not just look good on a resume. To recruit the right talent, recruiters must understand the organization, industry, job responsibilities, and company culture. Turnover is very high in the transportation and logistics industry, which indicates that the people that get recruited to the company are not the people who ultimately succeed at the company. High turnover is demoralizing, upsetting to customers, costly, and negatively impacts company culture. Recruiting the Right Talent Many companies in the logistics and transportation business are “winging it” when it comes to recruiting and it shows. This is particularly true with start-ups where the founders and early hires do most of the work. The informal recruiting process works well when the company is new, and the founders hire their contacts and friends, but the informal process breaks down as the company grows. Just as the company is scaling, they realize that their recruiting process isn’t working anymore. Ryan compares the recruiting process to the sales process and believes the right candidate can be hired by following a sales process: Lean generation: Target and attract the right talent. Make sure your recruiters really have their finger on the pulse of the organization and the industry. They should also do their homework so they know exactly the type of person they would like to interview and eventually hire. Qualifying: Standardize the interviewing process and develop interview guidelines so there is consistency. In order to develop the guidelines, you must understand what type of people succeed in the organization. Closing: Recruitment is the precursor to the experience a candidate will have with your organization. Provide the candidate the best experience possible so that when you find the right talent, you get them. Design a recruiting process much as you would design a customer’s experience. Consider each step in the process to ensure the candidate is treated properly. Communication throughout the process is crucial. Don’t oversell, keep your commitments and treat the candidate like you would treat your best customer. Training the Right Talent