Business growth does not happen accidentally; it is intentional and well-prepared for. For you to help your business growth goals reach its momentum, it is essential to have a strong and steady inventory. It is where warehouse management comes in.
Warehouse management is a business process that promotes operational efficiency through data automation, inventory management, and production planning. It is usually headed by a warehouse manager, a person who not only knows the functionalities of warehouse management tools but also understands different pallet storage methods. If you are looking for the ideal warehouse manager to join your company, here are the qualities you need to be hiring for:
The ideal candidate is technologically savvy.
More often than not, companies purchase some form of technology to help them manage their warehouse and inventory. As the person in charge of managing the stocks in the warehouse, the warehouse manager needs to master the company’s chosen warehouse management system. He needs to know all the necessary functions that can make the entire process more efficient. He also has to be familiar with trends such as expanded functionalities, which can make implementation easier.
At some point, a company may need to change its warehouse management platform to pave the way to the use of newer technology or to shift to a system that can integrate with their other platforms. When this time comes, your warehouse manager should be ready to adopt new software. The warehouse manager also needs to stay on top of new trends in warehouse management so that he may make sound recommendations to the management when necessary.
The ideal candidate is detail-oriented.
Warehouse managers deal with plenty of data daily. They check supplies and orders; they sort numbers and check for possible discrepancies, displacements, and miscalculations. They also manually spot-check inventory at times. Given these responsibilities, the warehouse manager must be quite keen and attentive to details. He must be sharp and observant at the same time.
The ideal candidate is organised.
When looking for a warehouse manager, make sure your candidate is organised. While most companies often have a warehouse management system in place, your warehouse manager should still have some knowledge and experience in organising and stacking inventory manually. That tests how well-equipped he is in logically arranging and rearranging supplies and keeping things in order at all times.
The ideal candidate thinks out of the box.
Problems in inventory and warehouse management are prevalent. Some are small and trivial; others could be quite complex. To solve these problems and issues, the warehouse manager needs to have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. That will help them understand the problem completely. Besides being analytical, the warehouse manager also needs to be a critical thinker.
A critical thinker is a problem solver. He looks into issues and sees things others don’t. He probes, he anticipates, and he thinks out of the box. This quality is indispensable for warehouse managers because these managers will likely encounter many problems along the way, especially if the company he is working for is in the advanced stages of growth.
The ideal candidate is authoritative.
The warehouse manager is a key decision-maker, especially when it comes to inventory and warehouse matters. To perform his duties and responsibilities well, he needs to exude an air of authority. He needs to be a strict and authoritative figure.
To pull off being an authoritative figure, the warehouse manager needs to show his staff that he is decisive and in control. If the staff does not reconcile his persona as a manager with his authority to give out orders, he will not be an effective and authoritative manager.
The ideal warehouse manager is an excellent communicator.
Last but not least, consider hiring an effective communicator. As you know, effective communication is key to building better processes and improving the status quo.
A warehouse manager may have new ideas about how to do things or how to make processes even more efficient. However, if he does not have the confidence to speak up, he will not be able to communicate his thoughts to the management. That is why you need to hire a warehouse that knows how to communicate well.
The technology we have today is unbelievable. Whereas before we needed to file, sort, and stack manually, now we can do all of these in less time with just a few clicks. But remember, no matter how up-to-date technology is, you still need to have the right workforce to support the proper use of technology and make sure the entire process of inventory and warehouse management remains at par with modern standards.
