With Brexit likely to make delays in shipments and other complications in supply chain more common, we’ve found more and more companies are recruiting for Expeditors in Greater Manchester and Cheshire. However, it’s not a common role to find on someone’s CV. Instead, expediting orders is more often just one duty within a wide Customer Service or Supply Chain job description. Finding the right person just on the hard skills and experience alone can be a challenge. So since the best person for the job won’t be obvious from a CV, here are 3 behaviours we look for when helping our clients recruit an Expeditor.
1. Process oriented
Getting customer orders from A to B means following a process. A good Expeditor needs to understand this process from start to finish and work with the process, rather than skip steps, rush things and go against the grain as this is typically where things will fall down.
To identify a process-driven person in their interview, listen to how they answer questions – more process-oriented people will give answers in a chronological order or logical sequence, telling things like a story.
2. Relationship building
Expeditors need to liaise across all different departments of a business as well as dealing with external suppliers to identify where blockages in the order delivery process are occurring. And while it may take a firm hand to ensure certain orders get prioritised, expeditors need to keep on the good side of all these different stakeholders! Strong relationship building skills are vital for an Expeditor to make sure things get done, and so there are no conflicts when things don’t go according to plan. Likewise, an expeditor may also be liaising with customers too to keep them up to date regarding any delays, so good customer service skills are essential.
To identify relationship building ability in interview, consider how well the candidate sought to build rapport with you. Alternatively, you can ask a competency-style question about how they have dealt with a difficult customer or supplier, or how they have built a relationship with a new customer.
3. Results driven
An Expeditor is responsible for ensuring delivery targets and SLAs are met in shipping orders to customers. While there may be a strategic element to the role, identifying inefficiencies or areas where processes can be improved, the main function of the job is working to ensure those targets are met. A bit like a salesperson, the right person for the job will be target driven, and motivated by making sure the customer gets the results they expect – you could even consider a bonus scheme regarding percentages of on-time orders to help attract the best person.
In the interview, ask about what targets the candidate already has to work to. And if their role isn’t targeted, listen out for them to talk about the outcomes of what they do in their role, rather than simply the duties they undertake day-to-day.
Having a dedicated Expeditor is a new role to many companies, which can make it harder to recruit for as there is no previous holder of the post to benchmark candidates against. However, as a role that is reliant on the soft-skills of the candidate, keep an open mind when reviewing CVs and keep an eye out for someone with the right behaviours in interview.
If you need any assistance in expanding your supply chain team with an Expeditor, get in touch with Keli Hewitt, our Account Manager for the manufacturing and engineering sector who specialises in Supply Chain Recruitment for Stockport and South Manchester.
