Tamara Dickson’s Perspective on Recruitment Helps RCL FOODS Do MORE

Some time ago Tamara Dickson came across a sign board which read along the lines of not innovating to compete but rather innovating to change the game. After years of hearing ‘recruitment is recruitment’, that simple idea changed her career in Talent Acquisition forever.

Since 2018, Tamara has been helping RCL FOODS do MORE by recruiting talented individuals who change the game for us and what we do. As much as she has made an impact, Talent Acquisition hasn’t always been easy for Tamara. “Recruiting in specific functional areas is challenging, I knew it was for me,” she said. “Never having worked in Manufacturing and Engineering before, I felt out of my depth and slightly overwhelmed,” she elaborated in a recent interview we had with her. The one thing that helped her get through it was her knowledge of the basics like relationship building, networking, and understanding your customer and their pain points. “Without these fundamentals, partnering with them to achieve their goals is near to impossible.

Traditional recruitment was a ‘getting bums in seats’ game but gone are those days and I for one am so glad about that,” Tamara said.

Her new perspective of recruiting to change the game has seen Tamara revolutionise her approach to Talent Acquisition. Today, she spends time learning to understand the operations and processes to become better aligned to their needs and desired outcomes. “Visiting customer sites and chatting to employees on the ground has resulted in me gaining a holistic view of their goals and struggles and how I could best match make in order for their needs to be met,” she explained.

Women’s Month has been a time for reflection for Tamara, and as a woman in this industry, she hopes to make a difference and lay a path for future women in the industry. “As recruiters in a previously ‘male dominated’ space, we have a social and professional responsibility to effect positive change for women in the industry,” she said, explaining that it is the duty of women to break glass ceilings and stereotypes to continue the good work those before us have set in motion.

Tamara’s advocacy for women reaches into everything she does. She says building connections with women in Manufacturing and Engineering, across all levels, has helped her advocate for them when partnering with customers. She added that the mandate at RCL FOODS makes her proud. “I feel proud to have been an instrument toward achieving our combined goals.” We leave you with a moving analogy Tamara shared in an interview. She said that nowadays, a bevy of female engineers and artisans, built women a table at which we have a seat and a voice