by Fronetics | Jul 15, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
If the supply chain industry is going to attract new and qualified talent, it needs a face lift. The industry needs to be proactive. It needs to communicate what it is, what is currently happening within the industry, and what is in store for the future.
Who is responsible for making change possible? You.
Job seekers turn to the Internet for information. Job seekers not only use the internet to search for job openings, they also use the Internet to research industries, companies, and key players. The information job seekers gather by looking at websites, blog posts, articles, and social media shape their opinion and knowledge. According to the 2013 CareerBuilder Candidate Behavior Study 63 percent of job seekers turn to social media to learn about the employment brand of a company. Specifically, job seekers look to social media to learn about the culture of a company, to learn if the company is a thought leader, and to determine the authenticity of the employment brand.
Job seekers are likely seeing sensational headlines like this recent one from Forbes: Wanted: 1.4 million new supply chain workers by 2018. But what do they find when they move forward with their search for information on the supply chain industry and on your company?
The reality is that the supply chain industry has been slow to participate in social media and has been remiss when it comes to blogging. Even more basic, many companies within the supply chain industry do not recognize the value of their website and have created sites which provide little to no helpful information, are difficult to navigate, and are not up to date.
According to the CareerBuilder Study, 91 percent of candidates believe employment brand plays a role in their decision whether or not to apply.
If your company is going to attract great supply chain talent you need to step up to the plate. Make changes to your website, create and curate great content, and get active on social media.
Great talent is on the Internet. If you want to attract great talent you need to be there too.
by Fronetics | Jul 10, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Kale is the hippest and trendiest of vegetables.
The dark leafy vegetable has received Bon Appetit’s dish of the year award, it was served at the White House Thanksgiving, and it has received ringing endorsements by celebrities and celebrity chefs. Kale also has its own T-shirt, lawsuit, and day. Did I mention the book? 50 Shades of Kale is an Amazon bestseller.
The appearance of kale on restaurant menus has increased by 400 percent since 2008. A recent Guardian article reported that sales of kale at Marks & Spencer are already up 32 percent on the same period last year and that it expects this rise to continue in the longer term. Similarly, at Waitrose, sales of kale are up 20 percent year on year.
How is it that kale is cool? Much of it has to do with re-branding – communicating a new image for the vegetable and communicating new (and more flavorful) uses.
The supply chain is suffering from an image problem. If we are going to attract new talent we need to make an effort to make the supply chain hip. The supply chain should look to kale for inspiration. If a leafy green vegetable can realize such a rapid ascent to popularity, so too can the supply chain industry.
by Fronetics | Jul 10, 2014 | Blog, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
Kale is the hippest and trendiest of vegetables.
The dark leafy vegetable has received Bon Appetit’s dish of the year award, it was served at the White House Thanksgiving, and it has received ringing endorsements by celebrities and celebrity chefs. Kale also has its own T-shirt, lawsuit, and day. Did I mention the book? 50 Shades of Kale is an Amazon bestseller.
The appearance of kale on restaurant menus has increased by 400 percent since 2008. A recent Guardian article reported that sales of kale at Marks & Spencer are already up 32 percent on the same period last year and that it expects this rise to continue in the longer term. Similarly, at Waitrose, sales of kale are up 20 percent year on year.
How is it that kale is cool? Much of it has to do with re-branding – communicating a new image for the vegetable and communicating new (and more flavorful) uses.
The supply chain is suffering from an image problem. If we are going to attract new talent we need to make an effort to make the supply chain hip. The supply chain should look to kale for inspiration. If a leafy green vegetable can realize such a rapid ascent to popularity, so too can the supply chain industry.
by Fronetics | May 21, 2014 | Blog, Talent
According to R.J. Bowman, author of The Secret Society of Supply Chain Management, demand for supply chain professionals exceeds supply by a ratio of six to one. Looking forward, it appears that demand for supply chain professionals will only increase. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that demand for supply chain talent will increase by 26 percent between 2010 and 2020 – a growth rate that is twice as fast as 14 percent of all occupations.
In response to the demand for supply chain professionals, universities have introduced undergraduate majors, M.B.A. concentrations and even entire degree programs dedicated to procurement, inventory management and global supply-chain strategy. The Wall Street Journal has even gone so far as to declare supply chain management the “hot new MBA.”
The University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics is one university which offers MBA courses focused on supply chain management. This semester Fronetics has had the opportunity to work with students in one of the school’s supply chain management courses. Students in the school’s Supply Chain Management MBA course learn how to design, plan, and operate supply chains for competitive advantage; develop an understanding of how the key drivers of supply chain operations can be used to improve performance; and develop knowledge of logistics and supply chain methodologies and the managerial context in which they are used.
Over the next several weeks Fronetics will share topical supply chain management articles written by several of the MBA students. The students are inclusive of full-time graduate students and professionals who attend the MBA program part-time. The articles point to the diversity of this group of students as well as the student’s breadth of knowledge on supply chain issues.
A full list of the students’ articles follows below:
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?
