If you work in supply chain and logistics, you've probably heard about the growing talent gap. While it has been a hot topic of conversation for few years, how will supply chain recruiting be like in the future? MIC Magazine spoke to Patrick Ogwu, a specialist in supply chain and procurement talent recruitment services at DSJ Global.
For supply chain employers
The global jobs market was disturbed in 2020. However, the latest DSJ Global Job Confidence Index surprisingly finds that only 36% of the supply chain employees are likely to stay with their current employer over the next six months. Patrick believes that career progression and the need for an exciting challenge are two major factors.
Career progression has always been very vital for most professionals, as it gives a clear career path for them to look forward to and encourages their engagement. Most employees are also driven by the desire to take up a challenge, which signifies stepping outside their comfort zone, whether it means taking up more scope or even venturing into something outside their current industry.
In a situation like this, how should companies avoid a potential exodus of talent? Five suggestions are given:
1) Effective Communication
The uncertainty in 2020 is exacerbating workers' anxiety about the future. Companies must ease it by effective communication.
2) Transparency
Though costly, transparency is necessary to encourage employees’ engagement.
3) Adapt employees’ needs
Employers need to be willing to adapt and innovate to meet their employees’ needs. For example, recent polling shows that over 1,300 supply chain professionals, 82% say they want their work from home flexibility. Are you ready to take action on their needs?
4) Provide support and authority
Talent is attracted not just to the best positions or salaries but the best opportunities to grow and thrive. So make sure your company has been providing enough support and authority to your employees.
5) Foreground meaning and plan for the long-term
Staying at homemade people more aware of the importance of family, community and health, which sheds some unflattering light on the nature of their work: if work is deemed meaningless, engagement will drop and it will be harder to convince top talent to stay on. Make sure you have a long-term plan rich with purpose and opportunities for your employees to make genuine, meaningful contributions
For supply chain employees
The skills supply chain professionals need are constantly evolving. While the supply chain world was disrupted rapidly in 2020, it brought on the need for experts that possess skills more than using spreadsheets. The world is calling for a new set of skills.
In the short term, what happened in 2020 has paved the way for an increased demand for talents specialised in quality control and global sourcing. With businesses prioritizing de-risking and de-centralized strategy, these two business-critical roles are playing vital roles in activating the strategy.
In the long term, digitalization will be a key in-demand skill for supply chain talents. Industry 4.0 is a hot topic nowadays, especially while the normal work process was interrupted, businesses relying on automation and digitalisation more than ever.
Besides, most hiring managers find it difficult to identify top talents that possess the relevant soft skills needed, which include communication, influencing skills, stakeholder management and supplier relationship management.
How to find talents to trade with China?
China is the largest exporter of the world’s production and the main hub for suppliers. However, for many mid-to-senior supply chain professionals across APAC, the common struggles that they have while doing business with Chinese suppliers are the cultural difference and language barrier. Although the majority of Chinese suppliers are capable of basic business-level conversational English, this is still a roadblock for a lot of global buyers.
Both suppliers and buyers will need to overcome these hurdles, which has been reflected in their hiring requests. More requests on fluent mandarin speaking and experiences in working with Chinese networks have been seen recently. There are also more requests on sourcing talent who has a local network and able to deal with Chinese suppliers, at the same time with international experience or working in international firms.
The talent and skills gap affects the supply chain industries more than almost any other occupation. However, the strategies provided by Patrick are worth trying for employers who are eager to fill critical positions with qualified professionals and for employees who want to master skills needed to do supply chain jobs.
