“It used to be easy to hire a supply chain planner. Today, the positions are open 9-10 months, and
they are tough to fill. I need to be able to build my own talent, but I just do not have the time.
Would you consider helping me?”
Supply Chain Vice President
We have heard the cry. This week, we are launching a new program to help companies build and retain mid-management supply chain talent. It is a two-day concentrated workshop.
We have scheduled three public training sessions in: Chicago, IL; Dallas TX; and Princeton, NJ. The sessions are limited to twenty-five attendees and the workshops are built based on experiential exercises and real-life case studies. Designed to be interactive, the materials for the workshops are built upon the research that we completed for the book Bricks Matter. The classroom discussions will build on the experiences of the class’ participants and the evolution of supply chain management. Through the workshop, attendees will get a better understanding of how supply chain excellence drives balance sheet results and why supply chain leadership matters.
Why are we doing this? We have been asked to do it. Today, there is more demand for talent than supply. The situation is growing worse. Mid-management talent is at a shortage due to three factors: growth of global economies and the need for supply chain talent in emerging markets; the growth of opportunities for supply chain leaders in general business; and the retirements of baby-boomers. We are moving from a time of surplus to a time of widening talent shortages. There has always been an assumption that there would be people available. If you needed someone, you would just post a job description and start a job search. This is not so today. We believe that supply chain talent is the missing link of the supply chain.
Companies have asked us to hold classes to help people in more available positions, like customer service, train to understand positions that are currently tough to fill like supply chain planning positions (see below). Another benefit is to accelerate cross-training and gain a better understanding.
For many companies, the term supply chain excellence is used a lot, but not well understood. To help companies better understand supply chain excellence, in the class, we will share a custom analysis of each participating company’s performance against a peer group. Through this analysis, attendees will get a better understanding of how decisions made affected the company’s ability to balance growth, costs, complexity and cycles. Attendees will leave with better insights on how potential supply chain strategies will improve operating results. We hope that the training will help alleviate the issue shown in the chart below. For more information on supply chain talent check out our report and webinar.
We hope to see you and your team there!
