by Fronetics | Jul 24, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
The supply chain industry has a talent crisis. The question is: how can we solve this crisis? To answer this question I turned to Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group. Apple has worked as a supply chain recruiter for the majority of his 19+ year career within the staffing industry and he has filled more than 1,000 positions within the industry ranging from executive-level in Fortune 500 headquarters settings to leadership and staff-level roles across large networks of manufacturing and distribution facilities within North America. Apple’s role affords him the ability to witness the talent crisis from the perspective of the industry, the company, and the job seeker.
Kate Lee: The supply chain talent crisis is a hot topic. Is the job market as crazy as it is being made out to be?
Rodney Apple: The job market has been hot for years and there is always a crunch to find and source top supply chain talent. Baby Boomers are retiring in droves and there just aren’t enough people with the necessary skills and experience coming in to fill that gap. With that being said, I don’t think the job market is as crazy as the media makes it out to be. However, we still need the media to continue researching and reporting on this critical topic as this builds more awareness and helps to generate new ideas and solutions for solving the talent problem.
Lee: When it comes to supply chain talent, what is the biggest challenge?
Apple: We don’t have enough students at the K-12 levels that are saying “when I grow up, I want to be a Supply Chain Manager.” Many students coming up through our educational ranks don’t even know what supply chain is or they perceive supply chain as a blue collar industry where you either drive freight trucks or load and unload them at a warehouse dock.
There needs to be big thinking and big solutions to change this image at the macro level. The industry needs to make a concerted effort to communicate to K-12 students what supply chain is and what the career paths look like. Ultimately, it needs to find a way to brand supply chain as a top career choice. Investing into K-12 outreach programs and mass media campaigns, similar to how our military branches advertise for recruiting purposes, could be a great way to educate the future workforce about the supply chain and get them excited about pursuing degrees and careers within supply chain.
Lee: What other challenges do you see?
Many companies haven’t taken the initiative to develop best-in-class talent acquisition resources and programs. Companies that perform the best are the ones that treat the recruiting department like a strategic, value-added program versus a low-level, tactical HR cost center.
In addition, many companies are being too strict and inflexible with their hiring requirements. Instead of defining the job when they write out their job descriptions, they focus on defining the candidate by listing out a ridiculously long and unrealistic list of skills and qualifications that the “ideal candidate” must have to be “qualified”. This antiquated technique usually ends up deterring top candidates from applying and disqualifies candidates that have what it takes to do the job.
Lee: What can companies do to attract top talent?
Apple:
- Develop a best-in-class talent acquisition strategy and program
o People – hire the best talent sourcers and recruiters that you can find and make sure you have a properly staffed department so they’ll operate in a “proactive” versus “reactive” capacity.
o Process –streamline the end-to-end talent acquisition process with the goal of alleviating administrative, burdensome tasks and unnecessary touch points.
o System – implement a robust Applicant Tracking System, one that integrates with the company career site and ideally the HRIS or ERP system.
o Employee Referral Program – referrals are typically the top source for hires so companies should invest into developing a best-in-class employee referral program. Get the CEO and all senior executives to champion the program so all employees are involved and incented to participate.
o College Recruiting Program – partner with supply chain universities and proactively recruit students from these universities, early and often.
o External Supply Chain Recruiting Partners – identify supply chain recruiting agencies that specialize in the areas where hiring help is needed the most.
- Upgrade Career Branding Materials – Develop attractive branding/marketing materials to include a separate company career website that highlights company culture, history, key stats, job opportunities, career paths, etc. Incorporate interviews from employees and testimonials that illustrate why your company is a great place to work. In addition, learn how to write job descriptions that attract top supply chain talent.
- Create a Supply Chain Leadership Development Program –This is a great and cost-effective way to attract top entry-level talent and aggressively train and ramp them up to speed by rotating them into different functional areas within the supply chain. GE is well known for having best-in-class leadership development programs.
- Be open-minded when it comes to considering top talent from other fields/industries. Many candidates in other professionals have very transferable skill sets for careers within supply chain.
- Develop a program for employing Veterans, candidates with disabilities and long-term unemployed.
- Invest more into job training and mentoring programs e.g. supply chain certifications and tuition reimbursement.
Lee: What is the role of social media in recruitment?
Apple: Companies and their recruiters need to be on social media to establish their employment brand, to attract talent, and to share job openings and upcoming recruitment events. Furthermore, social media can be leveraged by all employees as a talent acquisition tool. For example, companies could require all employees to distribute jobs out to their social media connections/networks.
Lee: What advice do you have for job seekers?
Apple: A job search should be conducted strategically, not haphazardly. It’s all about laying out a robust job search strategy with a corresponding action plan. In addition, networking is where job seekers should spend the bulk of their time versus applying online and waiting for the phone to ring.
Lee: Do you have any advice for job seekers trying to break into the supply chain industry?
Apple: Changing industries is tough to do but not impossible. Start by looking at what skills are transferrable and highlight these skills on your resume, LinkedIn profile, and in interviews. In some cases going back to school may be necessary. This may mean a degree program, or it could mean obtaining a supply chain certificate.
Networking is paramount. Join local chapters of supply chain associations, attend their meetings and network your butt off.
Finally, remember that it may be necessary to take a step back in both job level and compensation. Often times taking one small step back in your career could result in three giant leaps forward.
by Fronetics | Jul 17, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Supply Chain, Talent
Because great talent doesn’t look like Waldo, here is how to spot great great supply chain talent.
Wouldn’t it be nice if great talent looked like Waldo?
If great talent looked like Waldo we could simply look at the pool of candidates and be able to identify them by their telltale red and white striped shirt.
Unfortunately, great talent doesn’t show itself like our friend Waldo. Given this, how can the supply chain industry spot great talent?
Smart companies realize that it is not the skills the candidate possesses today, but rather the candidate’s personality. This may seem counterintuitive, but consider this – skills can be taught, personality cannot.
Here are five traits that great employees share. When making your next hire look for candidates who possess these traits.
Smart – Smart doesn’t necessarily mean a high IQ. Rather it means having good judgment, being quick to comprehend, and having the faculty of reasoning and understanding.
Ambitious – Ambition drives innovation and productivity. An ambitious individual has high expectations for themselves and for their career. Their drive to succeed will positively impact your company.
Honest – Integrity is everything.
Gracious – A person who is able to admit failure, thank others, and able give credit where it is due will prove to be an indispensable member of your team.
Exceptional communication skills – Communication is the basis of success.
In addition to looking for these traits, also consider whether or not the individual is a good match with your company’s culture.
You can’t train personality
In the end, it is important to remember that you can train an individual to perform the tasks needed for the job, but you can’t change (or train) personality. Be flexible when it comes to specific job requirements, but be rigid when it comes to personality traits.
by Fronetics | Jul 17, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Supply Chain, Talent
Because great talent doesn’t look like Waldo, here is how to spot great great supply chain talent.
Wouldn’t it be nice if great talent looked like Waldo?
If great talent looked like Waldo we could simply look at the pool of candidates and be able to identify them by their telltale red and white striped shirt.
Unfortunately, great talent doesn’t show itself like our friend Waldo. Given this, how can the supply chain industry spot great talent?
Smart companies realize that it is not the skills the candidate possesses today, but rather the candidate’s personality. This may seem counterintuitive, but consider this – skills can be taught, personality cannot.
Here are five traits that great employees share. When making your next hire look for candidates who possess these traits.
Smart – Smart doesn’t necessarily mean a high IQ. Rather it means having good judgment, being quick to comprehend, and having the faculty of reasoning and understanding.
Ambitious – Ambition drives innovation and productivity. An ambitious individual has high expectations for themselves and for their career. Their drive to succeed will positively impact your company.
Honest – Integrity is everything.
Gracious – A person who is able to admit failure, thank others, and able give credit where it is due will prove to be an indispensable member of your team.
Exceptional communication skills – Communication is the basis of success.
In addition to looking for these traits, also consider whether or not the individual is a good match with your company’s culture.
You can’t train personality
In the end, it is important to remember that you can train an individual to perform the tasks needed for the job, but you can’t change (or train) personality. Be flexible when it comes to specific job requirements, but be rigid when it comes to personality traits.
by Fronetics | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Rather than focus sales efforts on seeking out prospects and making cold calls re-focus your efforts so that the emphasis is on demand generation. Why? Demand generation shortens the sales cycle and increases sales opportunities by nurturing and engaging potential customers. Moreover, demand generation is a commitment to long-term customer relationships.
Demand generation builds and nurtures prospect and customer relationships for the long-term. To do this effectively, companies need to do things like host webinars, create a blog, and promote blog posts through social media. Companies need to create and disseminate content-driven resources that establish themselves as a thought leader and as an industry influencer, and which engage prospects and customers alike.
Demand generation is not a sprint. It takes time to build and implement a successful strategy. However, once a strategy is in place and is consistently and continuously implemented, there will be positive results. Specifically, website traffic will increase and, by extension, so will the number of prospects. These prospects are warm leads. These prospects are ones which your sales team should focus on as they are more likely to convert to customers than the cold call prospect. In fact, prospects that come to you via a successful demand generation strategy are five times more likely to become your customers.
To grow sales through demand generation it is important to identify your target customers and their needs. In short, get to know your target customer and identify how your company can anticipate and respond to their needs. Furthermore, take the time to choose the right content and choose the right place to disseminate content.
Shorten your sales cycles and increase your sales opportunities by focusing time and effort on creating and implementing a demand generation strategy instead of on cold calls.
If you’d like to learn more about demand generation and what it can do for your business, get in touch. Fronetics Strategic Advisors works with companies in the logistics and supply chain industries to develop and implement a demand generation strategies.
A version of this post appeared on DC Velocity.
by Fronetics | Mar 18, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Rather than focus sales efforts on seeking out prospects and making cold calls re-focus your efforts so that the emphasis is on demand generation. Why? Demand generation shortens the sales cycle and increases sales opportunities by nurturing and engaging potential customers. Moreover, demand generation is a commitment to long-term customer relationships.
Demand generation builds and nurtures prospect and customer relationships for the long-term. To do this effectively, companies need to do things like host webinars, create a blog, and promote blog posts through social media. Companies need to create and disseminate content-driven resources that establish themselves as a thought leader and as an industry influencer, and which engage prospects and customers alike.
Demand generation is not a sprint. It takes time to build and implement a successful strategy. However, once a strategy is in place and is consistently and continuously implemented, there will be positive results. Specifically, website traffic will increase and, by extension, so will the number of prospects. These prospects are warm leads. These prospects are ones which your sales team should focus on as they are more likely to convert to customers than the cold call prospect. In fact, prospects that come to you via a successful demand generation strategy are five times more likely to become your customers.
To grow sales through demand generation it is important to identify your target customers and their needs. In short, get to know your target customer and identify how your company can anticipate and respond to their needs. Furthermore, take the time to choose the right content and choose the right place to disseminate content.
Shorten your sales cycles and increase your sales opportunities by focusing time and effort on creating and implementing a demand generation strategy instead of on cold calls.
If you’d like to learn more about demand generation and what it can do for your business, get in touch. Fronetics Strategic Advisors works with companies in the logistics and supply chain industries to develop and implement a demand generation strategies.
A version of this post appeared on DC Velocity.
by Fronetics | Jan 14, 2014 | Blog, Leadership, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Hiring: Why you should try before you buy
Source: http://www.lethbridgemusicaltheatre.ca
I just finished reading a great post on hiring by Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and the creator of open source WordPress software. The post focuses on the company’s “unorthodox hiring system” and how it has enabled Automattic to hire great talent and realize high employee retention rates. Although time consuming, I think Mullenweg and Automattic are on to something.
Before Automattic extends an offer, the candidate must first go through a trial process, on contract. The candidate is given real work and is compensated for doing the work. At the end of the trial process both the company and the candidate have a better picture of each other and if they are a good fit. Or as Mullenweg puts it: “There’s nothing like being in the trenches with someone, working with them day by day. It tells you something you can’t learn from resumes, interviews, or reference checks. At the end of the trial, everyone involved has a great sense of whether they want to work together going forward. And, yes, that means everyone — it’s a mutual tryout. Some people decide we’re not the right fit for them.”
Mullenweg acknowledges the “huge time commitment” of this process. But he points out the benefits and why they have not abandoned the system for an easier one: the process is able to identify great talent that works well within the company’s culture, the process weeds out candidates that are not a good fit before they become a part of the team, and the process had led to consistently high retention rates.
In my experience, too often both companies and candidates are guilty of moving their relationship forward faster they should – and regretting it later. For this reason “auditioning,” as Mullenweg calls it, or “try before you buy” as I think of it, is an hiring strategy that should be embraced more often.
What do you think of this hiring strategy? What are the advantages and disadvantages do you see?
