by Fronetics | Jun 6, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain, Talent
Organizations that promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) are reaping the benefits of their good deeds, including increased brand awareness and employee satisfaction.
Corporate social responsibility is a hot topic these days. Generally speaking, it’s a pretty broad term to describe how a company is working to improve its community. Companies can demonstrate CSR in lots of different ways, including donations, employee volunteering, implementing environmentally safe processes, and more.
These efforts, whether large or small, say a lot about your organization. Companies that consistently demonstrate their commitment to CSR initiatives are recognizing their ability to help their community and acting on that knowledge.
[bctt tweet=”55% of consumers are willing to pay more for products from socially responsible companies.” username=”Fronetics”]
And the public is taking notice. 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for products from socially responsible companies. What does that mean for you? It means that corporate social responsibility is as good for your community as it is for your own brand.
Here are four major benefits of corporate social responsibility.
4 benefits of corporate social responsibility.
1. Increased employee satisfaction
The way a company treats its community says a lot about how a company treats its employees. People that feel respected and supported in their jobs are often more productive and satisfied at work. Giving your employees opportunities to volunteer, especially during working hours, creates a sense of community within your organization, as well as a connection to the surrounding community. Employees will gain motivation and pride in their work through these personal-development opportunities.
Employees that are actively involved in the community are also acting as brand ambassadors. The more engaged and invested they are in your organization, and the greater community, the more productive they will be. In fact, companies with highly engaged employees saw 21% better business profitability. What could be better than happy employees promoting your brand while helping their neighbors?
2. Improved public image
In today’s digital era, companies that demonstrate corporate social responsibility are gaining exposure — and praise — for their involvements. Your brand’s reputation can only benefit from good deeds in your community. Think about it: Consumers feel good when they buy products and services from companies that are helping their community.
Don’t miss the opportunity to publicize your CSR initiatives and spread the word about your community involvement. Tweet, post, and share your social programs. Letting the public know about your good deeds will only work to increase your brand’s public image.
3. Increased customer loyalty
In a 2016 Neilson survey, 56% of participants said “a brand being known for its social value” was a top purchasing driver. And 53% of participants said “a brand with community commitment” was a leading purchasing driver.
Customers are more likely to be loyal to your brand if your corporate values align with their personal ones. What’s more, millennials — the largest population, over baby boomers, by 2019 — are driving the market these days. According to Forbes contributor Sarah Landrum, millennials prefer to do business with “corporations and brands with pro-social messages, sustainable manufacturing methods, and ethical business standards.” CSR programs work to showcase your corporate values and demonstrate that team work, community involvement, and engagement are at the top of your core values.
4. Increased creativity
Want your employees to start thinking outside of the box? Want to increase innovation in your company? CSR initiatives encourage your employees to try new things and get re-energized about their jobs.
Through this social involvement, employees will feel empowered to start contributing to the bigger picture. They might come up with new ideas about products or internal processes or innovate new problem-solving solutions. When you demonstrate your company’s values and passions through community giving, employees will feel encouraged (and supported) to develop new and better ways to do their jobs.
CSR is a win/win.
A commitment to corporate social responsibility is no longer optional. Companies need to understand that CSR affects their internal (employee engagement, productivity, turnover rate) and external (increased sales, customer loyalty, brand awareness) growth. By creating and participating in CSR initiatives, companies have the opportunity showcase their core values and create trust among your employees and your buyers.
What corporate social responsibility initiatives have you implemented?
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by Fronetics | May 21, 2018 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Millennial talent seeks employment opportunities with companies that promote transparency, technology, excellence, and social change.
We write often about the supply chain talent gap and how supply chain companies should be proactively recruiting millennials to join their companies. So a recent Harvard Business Review article, which talks about how companies that “young people find dull” (like electrical distributors and manufacturers) can make their businesses seem “cool,” seemed particularly relevant.
While we adamantly disagree that the supply chain isn’t cool, we do think it’s important that logistics and supply chain companies think strategically about recruiting millennial talent.
Millennial talent and the vision thing
According to a new study by strategy firm Department26, “Transparency is the millennial standard operating procedure in the workplace.” Honesty and security are top of mind for this generation that came of age just as the country plunged into The Great Recession.
[bctt tweet=”Beer kegs and ping pong are nice, but millennials are more impressed with leadership that sets goals and delivers on them. ” username=”Fronetics”]
Beer kegs and ping pong are nice, but millennials are more impressed with leadership that sets goals and delivers on them. They want to know how their role contributes to the organization’s success, and they want to know the effort they’re putting into a job is worth it.
“Setting them up for success means regular check-ins, both positive and constructive feedback as a rule, and structured mentorship,” write the authors of the Department26 study.
People say millennial talent doesn’t work for money, and it’s true that they’re not motivated by salary alone. Younger employees want meaningful work that enhances their personal growth.
They also want flexible work rules that show an employer respects and trusts them. Sharing details of your strategic plan or examples of how your HR policies reward personal initiative can help millennial talent see your “boring” business in a new way.
“The thought of not being granted flexibility in exchange for hitting performance metrics is absurd to millennials, and it’s a concept that’s diametrically opposed to the freedom they crave,” the study concludes.
Talk tech
Logistics or trucking can sound dull to the iPhone generation — until you paint a picture of forward momentum and innovation that might surprise them.
Automation, robotics, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) are reshaping the industry. Companies like Amazon, Pfizer and Wal-Mart are experimenting with new technologies to reduce costs, boost productivity, and improve handling performance.
“Wearable technology could soon become a standard must-have in the logistics industry,” according to a recent story in The Business Journals. “As these technologies continue to carve out their role in the global logistics industry, we’re likely to see previously unimagined levels of optimization — from manufacturing to warehousing to delivery.”
Find ways to change hearts and minds by exposing young people to the realities of today’s supply chain. If they think it’s boring, it’s because they really don’t know what it is.
Be the best damn supply chain company anywhere
People want to work for “the best” — the most innovative, the most profitable, or the most admired brand — in every industry. Workers are proud to say they work for a company recognized as being the best at what it does because it says they’re the best, too.
Even millennial talent that has never thought about a career in logistics might reconsider if they’re being recruited by an industry leader.
Celebrate excellence at your company. Promote the awards you’ve won. Share customer testimonials, positive media coverage, and community recognition with prospective recruits.
It also helps to do well by doing good. This is a generation that trusts business, not government, to create positive social change. “Millennials are hungry for a work culture that inspires them. At a macro level, companies should communicate clear plans that reflect their core values,” says Department26.
HBR author Bill Taylor summarizes these sentiments well: “What [millennials] value is the chance to join companies that make a difference and where the work brings out the best in them.”
How is your company recruiting millennial talent?
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by Fronetics | May 15, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain, Talent
Use these 5 strategies to overcome the supply chain talent gap, filling critical positions with qualified hires and streamlining processes for future talent.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the number of supply chain management and logistics jobs will increase 26% from 2010 to 2020. That means, in the near future, for every five to 10 job openings, there is one qualified applicant. These are the kind of odds you hope for in Vegas, but not if you’re looking to fill positions, and quickly.
[bctt tweet=”One-third of supply chain and logistics companies have taken zero steps to create or feed their future talent pipeline.” username=”Fronetics”]
It’s no secret — the supply chain is experiencing a major talent gap. In fact, in a recent DHL survey nearly 70% of survey respondents list “perceived lack of opportunity for career growth” and “perceived status of supply chain as a profession” as having a high or very high impact on their ability to find, attract, and retain talent. What’s even more interesting is that one-third of supply chain and logistics companies have taken zero steps to create or feed their future talent pipeline. Don’t be one of those companies!
Let’s face it: Many don’t perceive supply chain and logistics as a sexy profession. But there are real benefits for people that get into the industry. Cutting-edge technology, career growth, and environmental impact are just the tip of the iceberg. There are ways to showcase all the industry has to offer, giving you qualified hiring options and helping manage processes for future talent.
These five strategies will not only help you start hiring supply chain talent quickly, but will also help you implement processes for prospective positions.
5 strategies for overcoming the supply chain talent gap
(Made with Canva)
Takeaway
The supply chain talent shortage is a hurdle, but not a deterrent. Companies need to step up their game when it comes to finding and retaining qualified candidates. Along with these strategies, highlighting your brand’s unique value and culture will make it stand out as an exciting place to work.
How is your company combating the supply chain talent gap?
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Apr 26, 2018 | Blog, Current Events, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
With the rising demand for professionals in Supply Chain Management and Procurement, there’s a lot of employment activity, especially in short-term contracts.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
As a boutique recruitment agency, we at Argentus are on the front-lines of the churn in the job market. We speak with potential job candidates every day. Some of them are passive, interested in moving into new opportunities when we reach out to them. Some of them are active, reaching out to us because they want to make a move. With the economy experiencing a prolonged growth spurt, and demand for professionals in Supply Chain Management and Procurement – our area of specialty – going up, there’s a lot of activity, especially in short-term contracts where companies are onboarding talent for their change management and business transformation expertise.
There are so many reasons why people seek out a new job. Sometimes it’s based on major life changes: a geographical move, say, or someone getting back into the workforce after a maternity leave. But why do passive candidates seek out new jobs, particularly in Supply Chain and Procurement?
We speak to a lot of candidates, so we have our ears to the ground in terms of the subtler reasons that star performers in these functions get the desire to make a move. It’s not out of a desire for more money as often as you might think. More often than not, it’s the more intangible factors.
Because employee retention is so important from a cost-saving and culture standpoint, we thought it would be useful to lay out some of the most common reasons why Supply Chain and Procurement professionals become passive candidates:
1. They’re siloed
We hear this reason a lot from candidates, but it still isn’t considered by companies as much as it should be. We know that one of the best ways to grow your Supply Chain career is to gain exposure to diverse parts of the function – from Logistics and Distribution, to Procurement, to Inventory Management, to Planning.
In too many organizations, these functions are siloed off from each-other, and that stops candidates from getting the experience they want to move up into more senior roles. It also stops the Supply Chain from being as effective as it would be if it was fully integrated. Next thing you know, your top performers are taking calls because they don’t want to be pigeonholed.
2. They’re tired of working with outdated technology
Supply Chain and Procurement technology is becoming more digital, just like the rest of the economy. And updating your technological profile can be a massive undertaking, with lots of risks. But the most forward-looking and high-potential candidates want to be working with the latest Supply Chain technology, keeping their skills relevant for the future. If you’re still working only with Excel, you might risk losing candidates to companies that have taken the plunge and invested in continuing technological improvement.
3. They’re not getting support from senior leadership
As we wrote about recently – and we received a ton of feedback on that piece – ineffective leadership in Procurement and Supply Chain can have huge ramifications all the way down a business. If leadership doesn’t have the people skills to help build buy-in for the function across the business, if they micromanage instead of letting managers and sole contributors shine, those people are going to start picking up the phone when a recruiter calls. But it goes upward too: effective leaders in Procurement and Supply Chain will get the itch to move if they don’t have support from C-level executives in a business.
4. Work/life balance isn’t up to snuff
Work/life balance is a hot topic in the talent world, to the point of being a cliché, but it’s worth mentioning: people who don’t have support from a work/life balance perspective will start to seek companies that have work from home policies, flexible schedules, educational opportunities, and other benefits. In 2018, companies can no longer see these programs as “perks” or “throw-ins.” Having solid, articulated work/life balance policies is vital to winning the war for talent.
5. They’re uninspired in the workplace
While Supply Chain and Procurement have historically been seen as “dry” functions, this reputation is changing fast. With the rise of digitization and globalization, they’re becoming more fast-paced, with more strategic potential and impact on a business’ long-term structure and profitability. But some companies still treat their Supply Chain and Procurement employees as purely transactional workers whose jobs are only to fill out orders and put out day-to-day fires. If you’re not being strategic, or not offering opportunities for advancement into more strategic positions, your best Supply Chain employees will, quite frankly, get bored and leave.
6. They’re realizing how indemand they are
As we’ve written about a lot, the retirement of the baby boomer generation as well as greater expectations placed on Procurement and Supply Chain are creating a deficit of talent in the marketplace. With the economy approaching full employment in 2018, this is even truer than it was before. But many companies still aren’t realizing the huge demand for Supply Chain and Procurement talent in this marketplace. Too many companies still have assume their employees are “just happy to have a job,” but take it from us as a company that speaks with dozens of candidates in the field every day: they’re realizing their worth, and fielding opportunities to meet their full potential. If your company isn’t providing those opportunities, they’ll go somewhere that does.
Sometimes it’s a combination of the above factors that causes a top performer to want to leave, and sometimes it’s even other factors we haven’t mentioned. So what does your organization do to retain star performers? As a candidate, have you ever left a role for one of the above reasons, or another that we missed? Let us know in the comments!
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by Fronetics | Apr 16, 2018 | Blog, Current Events, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
In the wake of the supply chain talent gap, try these strategies to fill critical positions with qualified employees and to create a pipeline of future talent.
It’s no secret — the supply chain is experiencing a major talent gap. In fact, according to Supply Chain Insights, 60% of companies within the supply chain industry have job openings, and 51% of companies are seeing an increase in turnover of supply chain leaders. So what can you do to overcome the talent shortage?
These five strategies can help companies feeling the strain of the supply chain talent gap.
5 strategies for overcoming the supply chain talent gap
1) Partner with universities and educational programs.
In an interview with Fronetics, SCM Talent Group founder Rodney Apple suggested that companies looking to attract top talent should “partner with supply chain universities and proactively recruit students from these universities, early and often.”
As more and more universities are offering supply chain degrees, these schools are a prime recruiting ground for highly qualified candidates for entry-level positions. This means “proactively reaching out to universities in the region and even nationally that match up with people in the workforce,” says Apple.
2) Be open-minded in your hiring.
A recent Google study has yielded what might be a surprising result that points to the importance of open-mindedness in hiring practices. While conventional wisdom suggests that recruiters should be focusing on STEM capabilities, it turns out that “soft skills” are often a more accurate predictor of innovation and success.
In the same vein, it’s increasingly being suggested that liberal arts grads could play an important role in the future of the supply chain. These majors emphasize the kind of critical-thinking skills that are crucial for future leadership potential.
3) Promote from within — from the manufacturing floor and beyond.
When looking to fill higher level positions, you may be overlooking a tremendously important resource: your own people. Promoting from within has several obvious advantages. Firstly, there’s institutional knowledge and trust built in — you already have relationships in place.
Promoting from within means that you’ll be placing people in higher level positions who understand the particular intricacies of your operations. This, in turn, means you save valuable time on training and eliminate what could otherwise be a steep learning curve.
4) Invest in talent acquisition.
Talent acquisition can quite literally shape the future of your company, and it’s crucial that you make it a priority. This often means working with a recruiting firm, particularly one that specializes in the supply chain.
In addition to partnering with supply chain universities, Apple suggests that companies “invest more into job training and mentoring programs, like supply chain certifications and tuition reimbursement.”
While the shortage of supply chain talent is often attributed to a skills gap, there’s a more fundamental problem: The supply chain just isn’t perceived as sexy.
“Perceptions need to change — fast,” writes Fronetics CEO and Founder Frank Cavallaro. While it won’t necessarily be easy, “convincing the public — young and old — that the manufacturing industry really is undergoing a renaissance” is ultimately the most lasting fix to combat the supply chain talent gap.
Placing the spotlight on new technologies like 3-D printing, robotics, and advanced analytics should demonstrate that the supply chain is a place for creativity, critical thinking, and fulfilling careers.
How is your company combating the supply chain talent gap?
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by Fronetics | Mar 14, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain, Talent
Logistics and supply chain careers are increasingly high paying, diverse, and in demand.
With the talent gap growing wider every day, ambitious current and future supply chain professionals have many interesting opportunities. And not only that — Logistics and supply chain careers are increasingly high paying, according to LinkedIn’s State of Salary Report 2017.
According to Rob Byrne of Logistics Bureau, “Through its extensive span of activities, the supply chain sector offers wide-ranging possibilities for employment and career progression. The variety of functions involved — product design, procurement, warehousing, production, transport, distribution, sales, for instance — encourage demand for new employees.”
Here’s a look at five of the top logistics and supply chain careers available to today’s professionals.
Top 5 logistics and supply chain careers
1) Customer Satisfaction Director
Automation and analytics are taking over in fulfillment centers, and the options for building a load, planning a route, and confirming shipments are extending. Forbes contributor Kevin O’Marah writes, “Customer contact at the point of delivery may be your best chance to make a great impression and renew the business.”
The industry once thought of the customer satisfaction director as a “logistics manager.” But as technology revolutionizes the sector, this role has — and will continue to — evolve.
2) Distribution Center Supervisor
These are professionals who administer all the daily activities of a distribution center. They manage expenses, minimize losses, and are responsible for ensuring that goods are sent to buyers at the right time. This role requires juggling complicated tasks to keep processes running smoothly.
3) Procurement Manager
Procurement managers are responsible for finding the most competitive prices to buy goods for their company. If you have excellent communication and negotiation skills, love working with numbers, and are adept at establishing professional networks, this could be a great career option for you.
4) Demand Planning Analyst
As a demand planning analyst, you would be responsible for analyzing your company’s inventory and billing processes, managing stock levels, and purchasing goods. If you’re someone who enjoys quantitative analysis, this is a fulfilling option.
5) Supply Chain Consultant
Supply chain consultants provide a third-party perspective to companies regarding vendor and inventory management, or any aspects of their supply chain and logistics activities. This is a great option for seasoned supply chain professionals looking for a career shift, as experience is a plus when it comes to consulting.
These logistics and supply chain careers represent just five of the many exciting options available to professionals these days. What career paths do you find most exciting/fulfilling/promising?
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