The challenge of recruiting and developing new talent in distribution and manufacturing isn't a new problem; in fact, 55 percent of respondents to the fourth-quarter MDM-Baird Distribution Survey said the problem is "always an issue." And with employment rising, competition for top new talent in any industry is increasing.

The difference this year is that companies appear prepared to invest more time and money into making sure they have the right people in the right places at the right time. It's no longer a quest to find qualified talent, but a search for someone who fits the culture and can be trained on the technical elements of the position. "Companies need to be proactive in hiring less experienced talent and groom them for the future," said one survey respondent.

Another noted: "The only way to address it is to 'bite the bullet' and admit that more resources (money, time, personnel, etc.) need to be spent on training."

With that in mind, here are some resources from the archives of MDM to help you get started:

The Critical Role of Employee Training – A distributor that doesn’t provide training opportunities for its workforce will get left behind in today’s competitive market. But training resources abound for wholesale distributors, including online, on-demand courses, giving companies of any size the chance to continuously educate their employees.

Protecting Your Knowledge Base – As experienced employees leave the workforce, they take with them a lot of experiential knowledge. Do you have a plan in place to make sure that knowledge gets shared with the up-and-coming workforce?

Who's My Coach? The Changing Role of Sales Managers – Professional development should not be reserved solely for new employees. The next generation has different expectations of their employers, and providing guidance to veteran employees can help ease the transition.