by Elizabeth Hines | Mar 10, 2016 | Blog, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Manufacturing could offer a career with upward potential for STEM students at low-profile colleges.
The college graduates of 2015 were the most indebted ever — until the next round of grads wave their diplomas in the spring. But is sinking deep into debt really the ticket to a great career? If you have the means (and brains) to invest in an Ivy League degree, all stats seem to indicate you get ample payback for the $200,000-plus expense.
But among those high school grads who may not qualify for generous financial aid packages and at the same time cannot afford — or even want — an Ivy League degree, there are still lucrative options, especially if they study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The skills gap in U.S. manufacturing, for example, is well known. While as many as 60% to 70% of executives say their current employees lack sufficient skills in technology, computer, and math, the problem is exacerbated by the lack of qualified job prospects — an expected 2 million manufacturing jobs will go unfilled due to the talent gap during the next decade, according to a Deloitte study.
As I’ve said before, herein lies opportunity. There is no reason seeking a career in manufacturing should break the bank if students weigh their choices wisely. Picking a low-profile school may “pay off big both in terms of getting a good job and salary,”according to John Walsik, a Forbes contributor and author of The Debt-Free Degree.
The opportunity is best illustrated by Business Insider’s recent list of underrated colleges in America in which the US News and World Report’s rankings of the best universities was compared with PayScale’s 2015-2016 College Salary Report. Rather than pursuing degrees from the highest rated schools, high school grads should also consider schools that, although ranked relatively low on the US News list, yield high mid-career salaries.
Interestingly, Missouri University of Science and Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology, and University of Massachusetts at Lowell, known for their science and engineering programs, all ranked in the top 5 (Pace University in New York City topped the list), with mid-career median salaries ranging from $94,700 to $102,000. Within six months of graduation, for example, 80% of New Jersey Institute of Technology graduates were either employed — top employers include IBM and ExxonMobil — or enrolled in graduate programs.
A college degree from a prestigious school means little unless your earnings quickly make it worthwhile. If only manufacturing could shake its lackluster reputation, a growing number of students may discover it holds the key to a career with a lot of upward potential — without necessarily going into big debt.
What is your take on the cost of college versus the payoff?
A version of this post previously appeared at EBN Online.
by Fronetics | Jan 25, 2016 | Blog, Manufacturing & Distribution, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
We know that diversity in the workplace has value beyond enriching company culture. A McKinsey & Company report found that diverse companies financially outperform companies that are not diverse by 15%. And in terms of gender diversity, specifically, research shows that when women are in positions of leadership, companies perform better — much better.
Data shows that gender equality has improved in recent decades, such as the 15% increase of women working full time in the workforce since 1979. But there is still much progress to be made. As a recent UN Working Group mission to the US to explore discrimination against women found: “In the US, women fall behind international standards as regards [to] their public and political representation, their economic and social rights, and their health and safety protections.”
Women in manufacturing and the supply chain
We see that women in manufacturing and the supply chain haven’t been faring as well as their counterparts in other sectors. The number of women working in manufacturing is the lowest it has been since 1971. In the supply chain, men hold between 70-80% of the jobs, and we see even more disparity at the higher levels — only 5% of women hold Fortune 500 supply chain top-level positions.
Beth Ford, executive vice president and chief supply chain and operations officer at Land O’Lakes, sees the positive in these numbers: “The representation of women in this area is not where it needs to be. At the same time, it could be viewed as tremendously exciting. The opportunities are there for women.”
Where opportunity lies
So what can be done to make changes that will benefit everyone, and the bottom line?
According to a Fronetics Strategic Advisors report on women in the supply chain, “it has been put forth that women are better suited for roles in supply chain management than men. Research conducted by SCM World found that the majority of men (63%) and women (75%) believe that the natural skill sets of women differ from those of men and that these differences are advantageous for supply chain management.”
One of the biggest ways is diversify entry into the profession and a pathway to leadership. The typical trajectory to the top roles in the supply chain starts on the shop floor. These jobs tend to be more male-dominated trade work. For the supply chain to seek new talent, especially women, they must look beyond their four walls.
Since there is a lack of talent being funneled into the supply chain, companies should look more closely at universities that offer supply chain management programs. Many of these programs recruit and attract women.
There are several women (and men) working in the supply chain who are cheering for other women to join. According to an interview with Bravo Solution VP Mickey North Rizza, “While business has traditionally been a man’s world, more and more women are now in businesses. Most women by nature have been relationship-builders. They encourage, collaborate and innovate with others for the best outcome. It is only natural that these tendencies gravitate to the business world, and most importantly into supply chain.”
by Fronetics | Jan 12, 2016 | Blog, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Recruiting and retaining top talent is one of the largest issues the supply chain faces today. It has, in many ways, become an industry of gaps: skills, talent, and gender, to name a few. How can companies secure their future by acquiring, developing, and keeping employees with the potential to undertake future leadership roles?
Fronetics Strategic Advisors works with clients to understand and execute on talent acquisition, performance management, learning and development, and succession management. We also work with clients to design and develop roles and responsibilities, on leadership development, mentoring and counseling, and on performance management and compensation strategies.
Here are our most-read talent articles of 2015:
While the number of full-time women in the workforce is up 15% since 1979, the number of women in the manufacturing sector is the lowest it has been since 1971.The gender gap extends more broadly to the supply chain, as well, with 70% and 80% of positions held by men. This article examines the talent crisis within the industry as an opportunity to help close the gender gap, and offers suggestions for building that bridge. Read the full article.
This interview with Rodney Apple, founder of the SCM Talent Group and supply chain recruiter for the majority of his 19-year career within the staffing industry, examines the challenges facing the industry and opportunities to address the talent crisis moving forward. Read the full article.
The outlook seems dire: by 2025, 60 million baby boomers will exit the workforce, leaving a gigantic gap when 40 million millennials take their place. What’s more, as few as 20% of the workforce will possess the broad range of skills required of 60% of all new supply chain jobs. The good news is that this looming crisis represents an ideal opportunity for recent college grads and mid-level supply chain management. Companies hoping to appeal to top candidates in the future should be proactive about meeting their professional needs through initiatives like competitive salaries and cross-functional training — or else, they might miss out. Read the full article.
Zappos offers new hires a $4,000 bonus to quit after an initial training program — and it actually has helped them retain top talent. Offering an early out to employees can be an effective method to detect personnel issues up front and ultimately can save your company from a major financial loss in the future. Read the full article.
When it comes to your career, connections matter. This article lists five reasons why building a strong network is crucial to your professional success. Read the full article.
Millennials — or, those born after 1981 — potentially could breathe new life into the graying supply chain industry. This article examines who millennials are and how companies might attract and retain talent within this oft-misunderstood generation. Read the full article.
Promising employees expect more from their employers when they outperform their peers — and not just in terms of compensation (though that is very important). When those expectations are met with disappointment, the company is at risk for losing top talent. This article discusses strategies for mitigating the loss of talented employees. Read the full article.
According to one study, only 12.5% of companies in the supply chain industry engage in formal succession planning, or the process of identifying top internal performers with the potential to fill key leadership positions. With the dearth of talent facing the supply chain, employers would be wise to invest in succession planning (and their most promising employees) — particularly through these three aspects of the process. Read the full article.
Focusing on education and training, employee retention and growth, and rethinking the talent pool itself does not address the bigger issue in the supply chain skills gap: the industry just isn’t perceived as sexy. What can companies do to overhaul their image and attract new and qualified talent? Read the full article.
Replacing employees is extremely costly — anywhere from 50 to 400% of their annual salaries, it is estimated — yet more than 2 million people voluntarily leave their jobs each month. Companies who are not tending to their human resource assets may be taking a major financial hit. Here are five employee retention strategies to help create a culture where employees are satisfied and interested in working for you long term. Read the full article.
by Fronetics | Nov 16, 2015 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
Recently a friend left her job for a new job that offered more money, a better title, and exciting work. She spent much of the last days at her job feeling excited about her new prospect, but something in her was unsettled. She had spent much of the last decade at her job forming and fostering incredibly close friendships. She’s the kind of person who skips over the small talk and digs into the meat of someone’s life fairly quickly. The level of her friendships at work was most likely what was keeping here there for so many years. Leaving felt like a huge loss, even though she had so much to gain at her next job.
Make New Friends But Keep the Old
According to the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2015 report, the first of the six “key findings” is that “softer” areas such as “culture and engagement, leadership and development have become urgent priorities.” Half of those surveyed said that culture and engagement were important to them. Companies who have an engaged workforce can boast up to 147% higher earnings per share.
A study conducted by Dr. Vanessa Boute at Plasticity Labs, confirms previous findings about the tie between valuing co-workers and job satisfaction. The study of over 450 employees showed that those who listed their co-workers as one of their top five things they’re grateful for were more satisfied and more engaged. According to the report, “people who value their co-workers are also more grateful and happy.”
Deep Talk Not Small Talk
We know there’s a connection between friendship and satisfaction, but how do we get people truly engaged with one another in the workplace? My friend, who likes to skip small talk and go straight to in-depth conversation, may be on to something.
According to several studies, people can form deep connections within an hour. One researcher, Arthur Aron, of State University of New York at Stony Brook, has been exploring interpersonal closeness for decades. He found that the kinds of questions you ask can make all the difference. If you ask superficial questions, in the way of small talk, bonds won’t be formed easily or quickly, however if you ask more meaningful questions people feel connected quite quickly. Rather than asking, “How did you spend your vacation?,” a question such as “What would constitute a perfect day for you and why?” will bring about more self-disclosure and more of a feeling of connectedness.
Space and Time
Allowing time in the workplace for employees to connect is critical to friendship development. These days many workplaces are dreary hives of fast production. Encourage mid-day group walks or lunches, and after-work outings. Plan staff development retreats and allow time and space for people to connect. When people have friends at work they will work harder in the end. The time a walk or lunch takes will come back to you and the company in the form of superb work and dedication. Think of that walk as an investment in the company’s future. People may not mind letting down a colleague, but they often mind letting down a friend.
by Fronetics | Oct 22, 2015 | Blog, Leadership, Strategy, Talent
Do we need to rethink the concept of happiness at work?
Do you like your job? It can be a complex question to answer when everything is taken into account. For some people that question is comprised of several other questions, many of which have different answers: If I could do anything with my life would I be working this job? Is this job my passion? Would I work as many hours if I didn’t have to? Do I feel productive? Is my work/life balance ok? Am I happy?
On average, Americans put in about 1,700 hours a year, which is much more than the French and Germans, but much less than the Koreans or Singaporeans. For Americans, this breaks down to 34.4 hours a week considering vacation time and holidays, however many adult, full-time employees report working more than 34 hours week. According to a Gallup poll, 4 in 10 workers reported putting in 50+ hours per week. So are all these hours bringing us happiness? First, let’s have a look at what happiness is.
People have always had a lot to say about happiness. Artistotle said, “Happiness depends upon ourselves.” Albert Camus said, “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” The Dali Lama says, “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” What is certain is that we seem to have a happiness obsession. We want it, we seek it, we’re told we need it so we believe we need it.
Harvard psychologist, Dan Gilbert, believes that happiness is not always entirely in our control and not entirely out of our control, and sometimes we feel it and sometimes we don’t. That’s ok, he says. In a TED Talk on happiness he says, “Happiness doesn’t last that long. Happiness is an emotion — it’s a feeling. The human brain isn’t built to sustain a feeling over the long term…Your emotions are a compass. They’re telling you which direction to go in. When you feel bad you turn left, you try something different in your life. When you feel good you keep on marching in the direction you’re going. What good would a compass be if it were perpetually stuck on north?”
So if we can’t feel happy all the time, and we don’t need to feel happy all the time, then why are we told we should feel happy all the time? Workplaces have been increasingly focused on employee happiness. Several studies have shown that happy employees are more productive and more loyal. Even tycoon Richard Branson is on board with this idea, “Your employees are your company’s real competitive advantage. They’re the ones making the magic happen—so long as their needs are being met.” How can the Virgin god be wrong?
A new article in the Harvard Business Review has gathered many studies and theories opposing the contemporary idea that happiness in the workplace is the key to success. The authors point to studies that show that people fail to feel happy when they are expected to be happy, that people can become emotionally vulnerable and needy when they expect their workplace to fulfill their happiness, that people may be more selfish when happy, and that people who value happiness often feel lonelier. The studies also pointed out that angry employees were better at negotiating than happy employees and better at intuiting actions of deception.
Perhaps our thinking about happiness needs to shift. Perhaps we don’t need employees bounding around the office with endless smiles. Perhaps the expectation we have for employees to be happy, and employers to be responsible for that happiness, is all too much. According to Dr. Vanessa Boute, a social psychologist, “One of the misconceptions about happiness is that happiness is being cheerful, joyous, and content all the time; always having a smile on your face. It’s not – being happy and leading rich lives is about taking the good with the bad, and learning how to reframe the bad.”
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a leading management consulting firm. Our firm works with companies to identify and execute strategies for growth and value creation.
We advise and work with companies on their most critical issues and opportunities: strategy, marketing, organization, talent acquisition, performance management, and M&A support.
by Fronetics | Oct 21, 2015 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Strategy, Talent
If you watch enough romantic comedies, you’ll start to recognize a pattern. It goes something like this: Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Movie follows antics of girl + boy, winding its way through the (oftentimes hairy) narrative. Throughout the movie we see the main characters discover what’s attractive, appealing, or annoying about the other. Eventually, these main characters end up together at the end – well versed in one another’s attributes, nuances, and idiosyncrasies.
If you think about it, the storyline of our main characters’ isn’t that different from the parallel storyline that could be drawn about lead nurturing activity in B2B marketing. When you first meet your lead, chances are they won’t be ready to purchase right away (a Marketo benchmark survey says that half aren’t). But if you spend time establishing a relationship and building trust, the moment your lead is ready to purchase, you’ll be miles ahead of your competition.
As more and more buyers are engaging with brands before they are ready to purchase, an essential function of any marketing department is lead nurturing. That is, moving leads through the sales funnel by leveraging what’s known about their needs and online behavior. Congruently, marketing software company Marketo describes lead nurturing as being “personalized, adaptive, and able to listen and react to buyer behavior in real-time.” Using a true multi-channel approach allows us to accomplish this. In a recent publication, Marketo endorsed the use of this multi-channel strategy:
“A typical buyer moves quickly from email, to social media, to your website and then back to social media, in the blink of an eye. Marketers need to prepare their lead nurturing strategy for multi-channel engagement. Buyers need to see an integrated experience across every single channel.”
Considering the multi-channel digital activity of buyers, building a multi-channel lead nurturing strategy is essential for companies that are looking to create an optimal end-user experience. Here are four tools that will help you deliver a series of targeted messages across multiple touch points and platforms to help move your leads through the buyer’s journey.
Email
Presuming that your B2B leads are derived online, email seems like a natural channel to use to connect with and nurture your leads. And it is. Create opportunities to educate your leads by sending them targeted emails that contain informational content. You’ll have to take it further than that though, or your emails will come across as spammy and annoying. Build trust with your leads by reminding them they’ve met you before – use personalization tokens (contact name, job title, etc.) within your emails. Similarly, don’t just blast the same email to your entire contact database; take the time to segment your leads based on where they stand in the buyer’s journey. A lead nurturing email you send to a lead that has only downloaded a top-level white paper should look vastly different than the email you send to a lead that has downloaded a case study, a product brochure, and a pricing guide. Above all though, make certain that the content you’re sending is valuable, relevant, and of excellent quality.
Phone
“No other interaction is more influential in the path to purchase than a phone call.” – Invoca Call Intelligence Survey
Call intelligence company Invoca has strong feelings for the telephone – and for good reason. Their analysis of 32 million phone calls found that phone calls made after parties had first engaged online had an average conversion rate between 30% and 50%. Sure, a rejection by email is less painful, but when the conversion rates are that high, you can’t afford not to pick up the phone. There are some ways to make it easier, though. Start by promoting your phone number. It sounds simple, but for those of us who work largely in the digital world, it can be easy to forget. Display your phone number in your company’s website header and throughout your site’s landing pages and blogs posts. Ensure simplicity for mobile users by making your phone number clickable on your mobile site.
Social Media
It’s not enough these days to simply post and pray, particularly on social media networks. Social media lead nurturing includes monitoring, listening, and engaging. Give your leads some love. Look for opportunities to favorite, like, or retweet the content of your leads. Monitor LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook for mentions of your company, similar products, or industry and then respond with activated content using both social media and a longer form of correspondence, like email. Finally, don’t discount lead nurturing activities that use paid social media ads. These ads can be particularly successful when you are nurturing leads based on specific attributes such as geographic location or company size.
Dynamic Website Content
Displaying personalized web content for visitors helps to keep leads moving forward in their buyer’s journey. Let’s say you’d gotten a great email response from a lead when you shared your product brochure earlier in the week. Displaying complementary web content, like a pricing guide, to your lead the next time he’s on your website assures alignment between your content and your lead’s proximity to purchasing. You can also use dynamic web content to target various verticals, organizations, or buyer personas.
Multi-channel lead nurturing is really about using all the tools at your disposal to meaningfully connect with your leads in order to build trust and establish credibility as you guide them on their journey to becoming a customer. Building a winning strategy does require attention to detail as there are many moving parts, but at the end of the day, if your messaging is credible and consistent it becomes less about channel and more about content. And ultimately, high-converting lead nurturing campaigns are only as good as the content they’re built around.
