Kinsa Group Blog

You’ve done everything right up to this point.

Your know your new plant controller has the ideal skills, experience and personality to succeed.  You’ve thoroughly checked his references and background.  He’s enthusiastic about the opportunity and you’re excited to bring him on board.

He’ll be a success, for sure…right?

Don’t just “hope for the best” once you’ve hired a new manager or executive.  Take an active role in ensuring his success.  Use these tips from Kinsa to anticipate your new hire’s challenges and help him reach his (and your company’s!) goals:

Onboard him.  When you mainstream and orient a new hire, you set the tone for his work experience with your organization.  The more positive that initial experience, the more welcome and prepared the individual will feel in his new position.  This will, in turn, give him the confidence and resources to quickly begin making a positive impact within your company (which is why you hired this person in the first place, right?).

Get more tips for onboarding your food & beverage employees.

Manage his performance.  Keep your employee on track by making performance management a daily activity.  Give him honest feedback about what he’s doing right – and what he needs to improve.  Discuss new projects and the opportunities they present for his development and growth.  Talk about overdue assignments or project difficulties and how to resolve them.  Most of all, reinforce the importance of consistently doing a great job.

Get more tips for managing food & beverage employees’ performance.

Help him set and align his goals.  Make sure your company and your new hire are working toward the same objectives by helping the employee set short-term and long-term goals.  As you work with your new staff member to set higher standards for the next quarter or year, teach him how to create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) performance goals that support your strategic objectives and help him advance his career.

Facilitate positive work relationships.  Job skills are imperative to success, but so is an employee’s fit within your culture.  Even after the formal onboarding process is complete, help your new hire continue to develop and strengthen his work relationships.  Whenever possible, provide insight into your company’s culture and “how to get things done.”  Identify potential mentors and help facilitate the start of a mentoring relationship.  Bottom line, go out of your way to continue to make him feel welcomed – even after the first week is over.

With over 25 years of experience in food & beverage C-level and executive recruitment, Kinsa Group understands the challenges new hires face.  Our 8-step recruiting process ensures the candidates we refer:

• have the skills and experience to succeed;
• possess the “soft skills” and personality to thrive in your culture;
• bring the energy and the best practices to help your company achieve its objectives.

Contact Kinsa today to learn more about our executive recruiting services for food and beverage companies.

Are you looking to move from a plant level job to a corporate food & beverage position?

Are you a food scientist who wants to move up the ladder and become a VP of R & D?

Whatever your career aspirations, networking can help you achieve your goals.  If you want to get promoted, or change careers within the food & beverage industry, use these tips from Kinsa to develop more effective business relationships and land the job you want:

Set networking goals.  Create a plan for networking to focus your activities and keep yourself on track.  Find out which meetings, committees or volunteering activities are most likely to put you in touch with the right people, and then commit to attending and participating.  The more you are “out there,” the greater your opportunity to meet that one person who will connect you with the ideal job.

Know who you need to know.  Learn about the company’s organizational structure and identify those key influential, respected executives who have the ability to put you in the position you desire.  Once you determine exactly who you need to know, find a way to get face time with those people:  ask for introductions; offer to buy coffee; volunteer to serve on committees they spearhead; request them as mentors.  Engage in positive, productive activities that will put you one step closer to the opportunity you want.

Ask open-ended questions.  Networking is all about learning how you and your connection can help one another.  As you meet new people, uncover potential opportunities by asking “who,” “what,” “where,” “when” and “why” questions – as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”  Open-ended questions literally open up your discussions and show listeners that you are truly interested in them.

Offer help.  Business relationships are a lot like bank accounts – you have to make relationship “deposits” before you can make “withdrawals.”  Use the simple technique of offering assistance to those you meet – and follow through – to get the relationship started on a positive note.  When you help a professional contact first (i.e., before asking for something in return), that help is much more likely to be reciprocated.

Never underestimate the potential value of a connection.  Although most of the individuals you meet while networking will not lead you directly to your desired job, don’t discount their value.  These first generation connections may be able to introduce you to the people you really need to know.  Take the time to investigate every networking lead – you never know how, where or through whom that one critical introduction will be made.

Avoid office politics.  Networking  depends on great communication.  That communication, however, should not include petty office gossip.  As you develop new work relationships, make a conscious effort to speak positively about others; if you don’t have something favorable to say, it’s best to say nothing at all.

At the end of the day, landing your dream job is often as much about who you know as what you know.  With over 25 years in food & beverage recruiting, Kinsa has a vast network of relationships with the industry’s top employers.  We have the drive, experience and contacts to match you with your ideal food & beverage executive or management position.    Get started with Kinsa today or search food & beverage executive and professional jobs here.

It happens to the best of us.

At one point or another, most professionals seek greener pastures within the food & beverage industry.  Some change professions to broaden their experience base; some change careers so that their innate aptitudes more closely match their job; others make the switch because they wake up one morning and realize that they hate going to work.

Whatever your reason for contemplating a career change, know that – with careful planning, focus and commitment – it is possible.  Use these ideas from Kinsa to jump start your transition:

Conduct your research.  Start by researching your desired niches within the industry, using a combination of food & beverage job boards and search engines.  Identify the most in-demand positions that would be a potential fit for your experience, interests and new career aspirations.  If there is a significant skills gap between your existing position and your desired one, determine what you need to do to acquire those skills (job shadowing, volunteering for special project teams, obtaining a mentor and classroom/online instruction are all viable options for bridging a skills gap).  Kinsa Career Edge can provide additional assistance and recommendations as you redefine your career path.

Be flexible.  Breaking into a new segment of the food & beverage industry will be much easier if you keep your options open.  So remain as flexible as you can.  Being willing to relocate, to accept a job that is only a lateral move, or to consider a lower salary to transition into a new industry segment will greatly expand your opportunities.

Revamp your résumé.  Adjust your résumé to more closely match your desired position.  Using the research you’ve conducted, highlight the skills and experiences that will transfer well to the new food & beverage job.  Update your professional summary to reflect your passion and marketable skills for your new career.

Use your existing food & beverage experience to your advantage.  Everyone you compete against for your new job will be smart, experienced and hard-working.  Update your 30-second sales pitch to highlight the benefits your prior job brings to the new one.  Explain to the interviewer how your experience in a different segment of the industry will provide “big picture” understanding other candidates may lack.

Considering a food & beverage career change? 

Kinsa Group’s discipline-specific recruiting professionals can help you succeed.  We will review your career goals, innate aptitudes, work style, management philosophies and any personal circumstances that may affect your ability to make a career change.  To further ensure a successful transition, we also employ online psychological behavioral tests that will objectively assess your personality traits and habits related to your performance.

Best of all, our recruiters will confidentially search for positions on your behalf while you continue working.  Get started with Kinsa today or search food & beverage executive and professional jobs here.

What’s the best way to create a safer food & beverage workplace?

Start by creating a strong “safety culture.”  According to OSHA, creating a culture of safety has the single greatest impact on accident reduction of any process.  Why?  A strong safety culture is more than just a motto.  It’s a system of shared beliefs, practices and attitudes which makes everyone responsible for safety, even when nobody else is watching.  Food & beverage companies that sustain this type of operating environment experience lower accident rates, lower turnover, lower absenteeism and higher productivity.

In a recent Workers’ Comp Insider article, Lynch Ryan reviews safety culture best practices.  Whether you’re a VP, a food scientist, an HR professional or a quality assurance manager, here are a few questions to consider that will help strengthen your organization’s safety culture:

Does health & safety commitment start at the top?  A top-down approach to safety is essential, because what the CEO wants done is what gets done.  If health & safety isn’t part of your company’s mission or vision, it probably isn’t on key managers’ radar.

Is there accountability?  Health & safety goals should be a part of every job description and every performance review at every level of your organization.  Bottom line, everyone must play by the same rules and be held accountable for their areas of responsibility.

Do you have a safety steering committee?  A steering committee has the authority and resources to provide overall guidance and direction for fostering a culture of safety.  Key managers, employees and safety staff should meet regularly to facilitate, support and direct safety processes.

Is safety training and communication an ongoing process?  Creating a culture of safety is not a “once and done” affair.  To maintain it, employees must be continually retrained, processes must be re-evaluated and expertise must be regularly shared via meetings, newsletters, formal training, etc.  The best safety programs also “train up,” since many middle and senior managers don’t know the real day-to-day hazards inherent in their own business.

Do managers and supervisors truly “walk the walk”?  Safety is for more than just line workers.  Managers and supervisors can’t just preach safety; they must lead by example every day.  Do managers and supervisors adhere to the rules themselves?  Are health & safety goals part of managers’ business plans and goals?  Do supervisors indoctrinate visitors and vendors to safety rules when they tour your facilities?

Do you measure performance, communicate results and celebrate successes?  Publicizing safety results is critical to sustaining efforts and maintaining commitment.  Regular updates, progress reports, feedback to the steering committee and other input channels give everyone a voice when it comes to safety.  A safety communication system doesn’t have to be sophisticated to be effective – current meetings, existing newsletters, a bulletin board and a comment box are really all you need.

At the end of the day, workplace safety is everyone’s responsibility.  Whether you work in executive management, food safety or operations, creating a strong safety culture starts with you.  So, what do you do to foster a safety culture within your food & beverage organization?  We at Kinsa would like to know – please leave your comments below.

Kinsa Group – Executive Food & Beverage Recruiters

Contact Kinsa today to find out how our 8-Step Recruiting Process for food & beverage executives and professionals can deliver the high performers you need to create a culture of safety and drive performance in your organization.

Could asking few simple questions help you land your next food & beverage job?

Absolutely.  Here’s why.

An interviewer judges the questions you ask as carefully as the answers you give.  Asking irrelevant or ubiquitous questions (i.e., what are the work hours for this position?) shows a lack of preparation for the interview (and a lack of interest in the job).  Asking germane questions, on the other hand, shows that you understand the job, the potential employer and the food & beverage industry.  The right queries signal your genuine interest, help you get the vital information you need and ultimately impress the interviewer.

Regardless of the type of food & beverage job for which you’re applying, asking savvy questions during the interview can be the difference between getting the offer and going home rejected.  So what should you ask about, and how?

Every interview is unique.  Some recruiters and hiring managers will only give you one opportunity at the end of the interview to ask questions.  Others will ask for your questions at multiple points, so be sure you have several intelligent queries prepared.  To give yourself an advantage in your next interview, consider asking one or more of the following:

1. What was the company’s biggest strategic decision this past year?  How did they come to this decision?  You want to work for a company that is proactively planning its future.  These questions demonstrate that you are thinking ahead.  They may also clue you into what you will need to do to stay current in your field and continue adding value for the employer.
   
2. What would a successful first year in this position look like?  Ask this and you will get a general idea of what the interviewer will expect you to have mastered/accomplished in a year’s time.  Additionally, it will help you gauge whether the expectations for the job are realistic.
3. What are the three main factors you will use to select the right person for this job?  This question will help you understand what kind of employee the interviewer is seeking (and if you’re the right kind of person for the job).  It will also allow you to counter by discussing important skills or qualities the interviewer lists which you may have forgotten to mention.
4. Is there anything you are still questioning about my candidacy that would prevent you from offering me this position? – or- Can I clarify anything about my skills, experience or work style further for you?  These questions solidify your genuine interest.  They also show that you’re open to constructive feedback and eager to provide reassurance that you will make a great employee.
5. What are the next steps in the hiring process?  This is a great wrap-up question.  It will help alleviate your anxiety after the interview, by giving you some idea about the company’s hiring time frame.

Type up a list of the questions you want to ask – and take them into the interview for reference.  Remember, you may not have the opportunity to ask all of the questions you want, so be sure to prioritize them.  Ask the questions you genuinely want to know the answers to, not just the ones you think will impress your interviewer.

Ultimately, asking the right questions will help you determine if you’re a good fit for the job available.  Kinsa Group can help you find that great fit and ensure your long-term career success.  Our experienced and highly specialized food & beverage industry recruiters go to great lengths to match you with the ideal food & beverage opportunity.

Contact Kinsa Group today for more assistance with your executive food & beverage job search.  From food science and engineering, to executive management and quality assurance, we provide immediate access to a wide range of the industry’s best food & beverage career opportunities.

You’re a perfect fit.

You have the right skills, the perfect amount of food & beverage experience and top notch references for this job.

Unfortunately, you also have a six-month employment gap on your résumé.

Whether it’s due to personal or professional reasons, a gap in your résumé is a potential red flag to a recruiter.  It can call into question your commitment and focus – and potentially knock you out of contention for the job.  You aren’t doomed, though.  You just need to have a sound plan for addressing it.  If you do have a gap on your résumé:

Be prepared to explain it.  A recruiter will undoubtedly want to know why you left and what you did during your time off.  Prepare a concise, direct explanation for the gap.  If you don’t give a clear reason, your interviewer may make incorrect assumptions about your honesty, job performance or work ethic.

Keep the tone positive.  Even if your last boss was a nightmare, never say anything negative about him during the interview.  Doing so will only reflect poorly on you.  If you make disparaging remarks about a former employer, your interviewer will logically wonder if you will bad-mouth his company the next time you’re hunting for a job.  Try to find a way to turn your negative experience into a plus for your prospective employer.

Make honesty your policy.  In and of itself, a gap on your résumé is not a reason to reject you.  Lying about why the gap exists, however, is.  In today’s economy, unemployment happens for a variety of reasons – not all of which are under your control.  So if you were laid off, be honest about why it happened.  Practice your response to make sure it’s clear and positive.  To get you started on the right track, consider these sample explanations for why you have a gap on your résumé:

• I was laid off from my last position because my department was eliminated due to a merger.
• I found myself bored due to the lack of challenge in my last job.  I knew my unhappiness was apparent, so I chose to leave rather than negatively impact my previous employer.
• I relocated here for personal reasons and left my last position to make the move.
• I decided to change the direction in which my career was headed.  Since my employer had no opportunities to fit my aspirations, I decided to leave so I could concentrate full-time on finding the right job.

While we’re on the topic of honesty, if you were fired from a position, be forthright about it.  Accept responsibility for what happened and highlight what you learned from the experience.  By doing so, you demonstrate your true character as well as a willingness to learn from mistakes.  Though you may be tempted to point fingers or gloss over parts of the experience, the truth may surface down the line and come back to haunt you.

If you’re in the food & beverage job market and want to avoid a gap on your résumé, register with Kinsa.  As a leading food & beverage recruiter, we’ve helped thousands of professionals and C-level executives find the opportunities they desire.  Whether you’re a food scientist, brand manager, engineer, COO or plant production manager, we can connect you with the ideal food & beverage position.  Contact Kinsa today.

Would you hire a production manager who “cuts corners” to meet tight deadlines?

Would you hire a food safety manager who occasionally “bends the rules” when it comes to refrigeration guidelines?

Certainly not.  Solid ethics are vitally important to your organization’s success.

Unfortunately, however, intangibles like ethical standards are typically the most difficult characteristics to assess in an interview.  If you ask a candidate outright whether or not he is ethical, he will invariably say, “Yes.”  So how can you ensure that his on-the-job decisions will align with your company’s standards?

While there is no definitive “litmus test” to gauge a food & beverage professional’s ethics, a behavioral interview approach will yield the best results.  Used properly, behavioral interview questions about ethics-related situations the candidate has encountered will provide meaningful answers about his principles.  Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• What potential ethical challenges might you face in this position?  This is a good opening question.  While it is general, it also shows you how well the candidate understands the ethical standards of your company and the available job.
  
• Describe a work situation that challenged your ethics.  Be wary of a candidate who says he’s never faced an ethical dilemma at work.  You want to hire a professional who avoids misconduct when tempted – not someone who says he’s never been placed in a tough ethical spot.
• When faced with an ethical dilemma at work, with whom did you discuss the problem?  In the candidate’s response, look for evidence that he took action.  Ethically responsible professionals never “sweep something under the rug.”  They discuss concerns with co-workers and managers or seek out other company resources to help resolve issues.
• Under what circumstances would you be willing to lie to protect your boss?  The correct answer is:  “None.”  An individual who would not lie for someone would not lie to someone.

While it’s unlikely that a candidate will come right out and admit past ethical mistakes, asking the right behavioral ethics questions will give you a good sense of his true character.

Kinsa Group – A Better Way to Hire Food & Beverage Professionals

As a national food & beverage recruiter, The Kinsa Group has the resources and expertise to deliver executive and c-level food & beverage professionals with the skills, experience and ethical standards to thrive in your organization.  We use professionally trained interviewers, a wide array of assessments, thorough background checks and satisfaction guarantees to ensure the long-term success of your next hire.

Are you in or are you out?

By the end of a brief phone interview, this is what your potential employer will have decided.

You have just a few minutes to convince an interviewer that you’re worthy of a face-to-face meeting.  Make sure you do everything possible to create a great first impression and keep yourself in the running:

• Keep your answers concise (less than two minutes).  If a recruiter wants more information, he can ask for clarification.
• Speak clearly and slowly.  When you are nervous, you are more likely to speed up your rate of speech.  Before you answer each question, take a moment to gather your thoughts.  Slow your speech just a bit so you don’t trip over your words.
• Convey your enthusiasm for the job.  During the phone screening, state directly that you are looking forward to the opportunity to come in for an in-person interview.
• Practice, practice, practice.  The better prepared you are, the more comfortable and poised you will sound over the phone.

If you’re on the job hunt in the food & beverage industry, use this list of common phone interview questions (and suggested responses) to make a recruiter’s snap decisions work in your favor:

Tell me a little bit about yourself.  If you practice answering just one interview question, make it this one.  To impress an interviewer, you should be able to give a 90-second personal sales pitch convincing him that meeting you is absolutely essential.  Your answer should include a brief review of your education, work history, recent accomplishments and future goals.

Why are you interested in this job?  To answer this question well, describe how your skills and experience match the qualifications listed in the job posting.  This way, the employer will see that you understand the job for which you’re interviewing (not everybody takes the time to do this) and that you also have the qualifications needed to do the job well.

What are your weaknesses?  Most job seekers will be able to state their strengths; far fewer will answer this question well.  Resist the temptation to fall back on clichéd responses like “I’m too much of a perfectionist” or “I tend to work too hard.”  Instead, identify an area in your work where you could improve – and figure out how that could be an asset to the potential employer.  For example, if you didn’t have an opportunity to develop a skill in your last job, explain how eager you are to gain that skill in your next role.

What can you do for our company?  To nail this question, you need to do your homework.  Before the phone interview, research the employer online (check the company web site, LinkedIn, recent press releases and anything else you can find on Google).  Once you are familiar with the company and its mission, compare how your experience and professional goals might complement the company’s goals.  Your response to this question should include examples of why your education, skills, accomplishments and experience will make you an asset for the employer.

Seeking a Job in the Food and Beverage Industry?

Kinsa Group has a wide range of professional and executive food & beverage jobs available, including:

• Executive Management

• General Management

• Sales

• Marketing

• Operations & Plant Production Management

• Research & Development

• Food Science

• Quality Assurance 

• Food Safety

• Human Resources

• Engineering

• Maintenance

• Supply Chain and Purchasing

• Warehouse Management

• Finance & Accounting

Register with Kinsa today.  Our team of food & beverage industry recruiting professionals will listen to your needs, match you with a perfect career opportunity, and then prepare you to ace the interview.

Superstars.  Overachievers.  High performers.

Whatever you call them, you know your organization’s success depends on hiring and retaining them.  The following list will help you identify what sets the best and brightest apart:

1. They have found their focus.  High performers know their strengths and have found an expression for their talents in the workplace.
2. They are forward-thinkers – about projects and their own careers.  To thrive, they need to know how what they’re doing now will impact the future.
3. They are accurate appraisers – of peers, projects, and themselves.  They can spot talent in co-workers and chinks in their competitor’s armor.  Likewise, they recognize their own weaknesses and strive to improve them.
4. They are self-managers.  Research has shown that high performers consciously apply a systematic approach to every project they tackle.  This disciplined approach makes them more organized, productive, and fulfilled.
5. They are intrinsically motivated.  While money is undoubtedly important, high performers are fueled from within.  Their need to attain personal and organizational goals is often as great a reward as compensation.
6. They are optimistic.  High performers see the glass as half-full.  They tend to treat obstacles and setbacks on the job as temporary and therefore surmountable.
7. They respect other high performers.  Rather than focusing on hierarchy, high achievers operate within a society of mutual respect.  As a result, they will lend a hand to others with talent and help them flourish.
8. They are results-oriented.  These individuals won’t sit quietly and do a job just because they’re told to.  Top performers need to know how their efforts affect the organization’s “big picture,” and measure their efforts in terms of bottom-line results.
9. They take risks.  “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” is a personal mantra among high performers.  They do their homework, accept change easily, and are calculated risk-takers.

Kinsa Group’s recruiting professionals are experts at identifying high achievers who will perform well in your organization.  Whether you’re looking for a single plant manager, or a team of food technologists, we offer a variety of search and assessment services to deliver the best and brightest for you.

If you’ve watched the news lately, or followed the markets, you’ve probably found the economic data as puzzling and disconcerting as I have.  Up one day, way down the next.  One economic analyst talks about a slow recovery, the other warns us of the next recession.  The roller coaster we’re on isn’t showing any signs of smoothing out, thus leaving companies – and employees – wondering what’s next.

The honest answer is that nobody knows.  And for the people who work in your organization, that may be the most stressful part.  Uncertainty breeds fear.  And fear breeds discontent.  When people are unsure of their futures, they fill their minds (and waste their time) with irrational fears and “what ifs.”

During hard times, companies rely on their employees to help pull them through.  But unfortunately, that’s precisely when top performers are most likely to quit.  Watching others get laid off, chronic overwork and nagging uncertainty can all drive your best people out the door.

When your staff is worried, it’s up to you to control the outcome.  Now is the time to motivate, retain and even re-recruit your top employees, using the following ideas:

• Be honest. When times are tough, there’s a natural tendency to buckle down, work harder and avoid others.  This is a deadly mistake.  Without good information from you, your employees will draw their own (possible incorrect) conclusions.  In general, it’s far better to be forthcoming – even about bad news – than to withhold information.
• Involve top performers in developing solutions. Talk about the problems facing your organization and challenge your best employees to help create the solutions.  With a vested interest in the company’s success, and control over the ways problems are tackled, your staff will be more likely to stay through difficult times.
• Invest in one-to-one management. Layoffs, customer attrition and other sources of bad news tend to create a turbulent workplace.  Calm the waters by scheduling one-on-ones with each of your key team members.  Review the improvement plans being enacted, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead.  Outline clear expectations for each employee’s performance and the outcome that will occur if that performance is achieved.  If layoffs are likely, clearly delineate the situation that will trigger the cuts and what must occur to avoid them.
• Offer market pay. While this may not be the ideal time to consider increasing personnel expenses, don’t short-change yourself by under-compensating your staff.  Evaluate your pay and benefits package to ensure it’s competitive.  While money alone typically won’t drive high performance, a compensation package that is perceived as being unfair will create resentment – and drive employees out the door.
• Actively re-recruit top performers. Your company surely invests in marketing to existing clients.  Why?  Because it costs five times more to get a new customer than to retain an existing one.  The same is true of employees.  Top performers are incredibly expensive to replace.  Rather than take chances, be proactive about keeping them satisfied.
  Ask your employees to help keep the team together, by identifying those they feel are at risk of leaving.  Tell your employees how much you value them – regularly.  Find out what frustrates your best employees and develop ways to alleviate the sources.  Help top performers define career paths within your organization.  Bottom line, do whatever you can to keep your best and brightest inspired to continue working for you.

During times of crisis and uncertainty, true leaders emerge.  Get out of your office and go invest in your biggest asset – your people.  Let them know that they are more than just survivors; they are the champions who will create your company’s future success.

Contact Kinsa today to find out how our 8-Step Recruiting Process for food & beverage executives and professionals can deliver the high performers you need to thrive in this tough economy.