Companies have great difficulty finding talents in supply chain. Despite all the technological developments, supply chain management remains mostly people work. How can you attract, retain and develop much-needed talent in a rapidly changing labour market where a 'war for talent' is raging?
This question was the focus of the SCELP session on talent development on 22 January. "Talents don't want a permanent job, they are looking for an organisation they want to commit to," argues Steven Gudde at the invitation of the Supply Chain Excellence Leadership Platform (SCELP). Supply chain professionals themselves need to take the lead in the search for talent, which often starts as early as the college benches.
The world is changing and our supply chains are changing with it. We need new talents to help shape the supply chains of the future, but those talents are extremely scarce. "The shelves are empty. If we keep shopping for talent in the shop we used to shop in and keep asking the same question, we will get nothing. We are asking the wrong question," argues Steven Gudde, who combines his job as director of bid management and business development at staffing organisation Olympia with a position as lecturer in labour strategy at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam.
Gudde gives his views on the labour market at the invitation of SCELP. It has changed structurally, but many companies have not kept up with this change. "Those still think in permanent jobs and permanent positions. When they are looking for someone, they start by drawing up a job profile. But by the time they are done with that, that job has already changed. And let's face it: if everyone in your company only did what was in their job description, your company would no longer exist."
'Knowledge is fleeting'
Thinking in functions is an old idea. It is better to think in roles and tasks. We should put these in the hands of talents who can fill them well. When selecting talents, we look too much at knowledge and experience, at the education talents have received. "But that knowledge is fairly transient. The half-life of an education is five to six years. At most, an education tells what someone was once able to do in the past."
So what should we select talents on? Gudde refers to '21st century skills' such as ICT literacy, collaboration, problem-solving skills, creativity, social skills and critical thinking. "But the question is not so much what the company wants, but what the company has to offer the talents. What do you stand for as an organisation? We need to communicate that."
Temporary employment relationships
One of the trends in the labour market is flexibilisation. Temporariness is emerging in labour constructions, so that long term hardly exists anymore. Talents do not think in labour relations, but seek connection with organisations. Gudde: "Once we have the talents, the question is how long to keep them. The answer: not until the end of time, but only as long as organisation and talent are of mutual value to each other."
You no longer bind talent with a permanent contract, a high salary and a lease car, Gudde argues. "OK, they want a permanent contract until they have a mortgage, but after that that permanent job can go. Even at HBO and WO level, 30 per cent of people are no longer employed on a permanent contract. You bind talents by giving them space and not mind them leaving."
Supply chain on the move
The group discussion that follows shows that when it comes to talent management, SCELP members do not have to rely on the HR department. Supply chain professionals should take the lead themselves; HR is facilitative at best. "Remarkable, because surely talent development is what the HR manager is appointed to do? Are we as supply chain professionals capable of developing talent at all?" said Jack van der Veen, professor of supply chain management at Nyenrode Business University and initiator of SCELP together with BLMC.
Supply chain professionals at DHL Supply Chain have also taken the lead in talent development. SCELP member Frans van Roosmalen explains how the logistics service provider, together with Fontys Hogescholen, presents fourth-year students with a real case. In groups of three or four, they are given 12 weeks to come up with a solution, which they then present to DHL management. "That may not always provide a lot of valuable input immediately, but it does help us find and retain talent," Van Roosmalen states.
Van der Veen makes an ardent plea for such partnerships. "Just as companies develop partnerships with suppliers, they should also develop them with training institutes. That creates a win-win situation for trainers, students and organisations."
