Talent is everywhere, but the opportunity is not. All aspects of our lives are increasingly being shaped by digital technologies. However, technology itself is also creating disruption. There’s a gap between senior executives and new Supply Chain professional; this gap can be closed if institutions focus more on students, empowering all professors with the technological support they need to spark their students’ creativity and equip them for the jobs of the future, and organisation supporting TALENT. There has never been a more urgent need for a bigger change and greater progress. More and more companies are now talking about learning, knowledge, and skills.
How do we prepare students for the right technologies to fit with the Industry needs?
Companies around the world are competing for TALENT, so one of the things to do is to develop programs and to invest on this new graded professional. Developing leaders to understand what they are accountable of in terms of creating a great environment in workplaces to form leadership.
TALENT has to be modernised as this is how we complement that changing of technologies. Universities should teach in short-terms to cope with the pace of these always changing new technologies. We have to certify our students, as certification has become quite imperative to validate their skills. People + Knowledge + Training + Process + Technology makes an organisation more effective; the more trained the more effective.
Why is it so important to support young professionals?
Supporting young professionals to rapidly introduce them in the industry to catch up with people and innovative ideas and tools. Put an emphasis to invest in them as they are going to see to that gap over the generations to come. Encourage senior leaders to welcome new talented young professionals.
Supporting new TALENT by having roundtables to engage with the new professionals from the very beginning and see them moving forward; adding them to the board to have a fresh voice and that he/she feels being heard; bring more young professional traffic into the community, etc.
SC is not in the radar screen of many university students, as they find it a boring industry. There is a program in which new graduated Supply Chain engage in local school programs to get the students exited on what the new SC professionals are doing; the new professional has to go to the students to show the benefits, growth, opportunities, responsibilities, fulfilment SC career brings.
With a Rotation Program that puts the new professional in the front line, tackling different roles, not only from an academic perspective but a take-into-action approach, covering different areas as transportation coordinator, logistics analytics, etc.; one of the young professionals responsibility could be to give a presentation in front of executives teams about what they have done, how they have improve the program, or leading projects from each team, as running surveys for satisfaction services, special analysis on results, etc. In such a way, the new professional feels he/she is valued; receives advice from the executives or mentor in that team on how to be a better leader or employee, for example.
Rotational Program for the front line in a variety of experiences, so to build that future TALENT shortage and to see how it work for the communities, is a very practical approach to support the middle rank in the organisation. Instead of stealing them from somewhere else, better build that TALENT though very new attractive programs. That kind of experiences give the hirer certainty on the candidate to be the right person to hire.
What kind of skills should a student bring to the Supply Chain?
· Good communication.
· Problem-solving skills.
· Analytical mind.
· A more financial mind.
· Negotiation skills.
· Willing to learn.
· A collaborative mind.
· Working with an end-to-end perspective.
· Knowing how to fit in the new technology.
· Domain of technology software.
· More engineering.
· How to work under pressure.
· A high level of urgency.
· Influencing skills.
· Being able to connect with stakeholders and suppliers.
· Driving innovation.
Your ability to manage stress is one of the skills every organisation needs and the way you think under pressure because that is when thinks really matters.
What can SC teams do to avoid losing talent?
Understanding candidates’ key motivators are crucial to make the right hiring decisions for long-term performance and retention.
Get clarity on the candidate’s package: vital to get into details at the beginning of the process, to provide a full breakdown of the package and the value of it (bonuses, payments, pensions, healthcare, car, other packages, etc.)
Offer a healthy balance. what is the realistic work/life balance you can offer in the new role? Will this impact their final decision? It is crucial to be upfront about this from the start.
Ensure the candidate wants to join your people. If the prospective employee meets people they believe they can work with, and most importantly learn from, it makes the organisation much more desirable.
A competent recruitment process. Candidates often judge businesses by their processes, particularly at interview stage. Make sure there are clear timelines in place to manage expectations.
Bing well organised, thorough and effective or not at recruitment, can either impress or put a candidate off. Be coherent with what you are asking, do not sends out the wrong signals.
Make your offer compelling. An offer should always be made based on what the hiring business thinks the candidate is worth, in line with the rest of the market (salary; a bonus, private healthcare package or flexible working hours.
CONCLUSION: Success is all about people mainly, then comes process and tools, we need to hire passionate driving people that can influence all over the organisation to really fight for what is demand.
What are you doing to find the right people and keep them, we can help.
Dave Food