Melotte launches position switch initiative to tempt young recruits

Melotte (Zonhoven) is launching an innovative recruitment campaign. The high-precision metal parts supplier is hoping to arouse interest in young candidates by offering a position switch initiative. "Each new employee will be assigned a mentor – and the roles will then be switched. The mentor will enter the world of the mentee - the master will become the apprentice. We’re using this “position switch” to encourage young people to make the switch to Melotte," confirms CEO Peter Perremans.

"Our order book is well-filled, but we're having a hard time getting enough people on board," explains Peter Perremans. "This has everything to do with the current war for talent.” Fewer young people are qualifying in fields that are relevant to us, in particular mechanical design techniques.

Gear up

"This is our first recruitment campaign," continues Peter Perremans. "We need an extra push, as we continue to face a staff shortage, despite the efforts we are currently making." Johan Selis, Operations Supervisor in charge of recruitment at Melotte adds: "That's correct. For a while we’ve participated in job fairs, organized site tours, and talked about the great work our people do – we’ve done that in trade magazines, on our website, and on social media. But we’ve still not managed to fill all of our current vacancies. So we’ve now decided to take our recruitment efforts to the next level." 

The right stuff

"We’re looking for people living within a 30-km radius of Zonhoven, who enjoy working with metal and who have already had basic training in mechanical design techniques," Johan Selis clarifies. "Our employees mill, grind, turn, spark, and get to work with a 3D metal printer. They make and finish the precision parts that our customers, major international companies, need for their machines, robots, and motors. For us, the right stuff is in the mindset. It’s even more important than knowledge of the basics. It's all about wanting to keep learning - and helping to write Melotte's success story, together."

Time for a position switch

"With its 45 employees, Melotte is a typical Flemish SME. At Melotte, you’re not a number. We all know each other. We’re close to each other. And we are exploiting this concept to the full in this campaign. We value the talents that people already have and, with the right guidance from their personal mentors, we are giving them the opportunity to develop their talents further. In the first position switch, the senior colleague Alberto Angiolini enters the world of his pupil, Brandon Jooken. Brandon loves car tuning - not coincidentally a passion in which precision also plays a major role - and he is taking Alberto into his world. Check out the video of their position switch here. And stay tuned to Melotte's Facebook and LinkedIn channel to learn about the next position switches taking place."