Herr Foods is offering incentives to encourage employees to find people who want to work for the snack food giant.

That may sound surprising when one considers Herr’s, in its third generation of family ownership, already has a strong reputation for treating employees fairly and paying them well.

The need for quality employees at this time is not unique to Herr Foods, and may be the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that Herr’s Recruiting Specialist Jill Campbell thinks changed the mindset of many people.

“It’s almost like we did a restart,” Campbell says. “The pandemic gave people time to reflect and decide what they want to do, or make changes in their lives.”

Some may have decided to stay the course.

“The help they’re getting from unemployment gives them a little more leeway to wait for the next job offer,” Campbell says. “It’s all uncharted territory.”

With that in mind, Herr Foods continues to offer referral incentives to employees who find new workers, and is reaching out in other ways.

In August, Herr Foods held on-site job interviews. Prospective employees came in to talk with Herr’s officials about job openings with the chance of being hired the same day.

No phone calls. No long waits.

Herr’s HR Business Partner Stacy Zeager had the idea to find workers that novel way. Job openings are posted on Indeed and social media, and fliers with QR codes about available positions are provided all people who stop at the visitor center. Job fairs often have a Herr’s representative present.

“What we are finding, like most places, it’s quite difficult to find people in the market who want to work or are able to work at this time,” Zeager says. “Just recently, we’re noticing there’s more movement around, so many people are feeling more confident to make position changes. That’s adding to the difficulty of keeping all of our positions fully staffed.”

Zeager oversees warehouse and manufacturing, which had about 20 openings as of late July.

Herr’s does its research to make sure the pay it offers is competitive, Zeager says.

The referral incentive program is another way to find employees. Full-time employees who refer someone who lands a full-time job get $250 after the new employee’s first 90 days on the job, and another $250 after six months.

Another program offers more incentive for positions Herr’s has had a more difficult time filling. The company pays up to $1,200 if an employee refers someone to work on the first- or second-shift weekend crew, a second- or third-shift yard-truck driver, or a tractor-trailer driver.

Herr’s has paid out $24,000 in referral incentives for warehouse and manufacturing jobs since November 2018, says HR Specialist Hannah Ryan.

Meanwhile, Campbell is busy looking for DSD workers to drive trucks and deliver Herr’s products in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The company had 55 openings in the DSD ranks as of late July, she says.

DSD jobs pay well and — having gone on a ride with a delivery truck driver — Campbell knows the work isn’t easy.

“It’s a very active position,” she says. “I met the driver at the branch at 4 a.m. and we got back around 2:30 in the afternoon. They are road-runners for the company. They are on the move and know exactly what they’re doing.”

Herr’s Onboarding Coordinator Kelsey Woollens, who conducts a background check, medical questionnaire and drug screening of each new employee, has noticed a pandemic effect.

“It’s pretty slow compared to what it had been,” she says. “We definitely still have a lot of openings, but it’s just a matter of finding the qualified candidates for those openings.”

Drive past Herr’s and you’ll see job openings posted on the electronic bulletin board.

“We all have our creative thinking caps on,” Woollens says of recruiting for a company with 1,600 employees in Nottingham and 20 other branches.

Herr’s HR Business Partner Curtis Kodish, who oversees the DSD team, says having trouble finding employees is why some referral incentives have been increased by 50 percent to 100 percent.

“We’re trying everything we can,” Kodish says. “We’re in a bit of a pinch, but I do see this coming back in September, October, January — when kids are back in school and parents are able to work. There will be people looking for good jobs with a family-owned, local company like us.”