Corporate Flexibility - How to bring it on

Image Source: Savour the Success

Any business award or achievement in the current environment represents the highest recognition of the ability to take advantage of change in an extremely disruptive environment. The question is, how to inculcate this flexibility into a corporate culture?

Flexibility must be pervasive

Successful companies are those which embrace change, not those which employ a few flexible people.

A fundamental requirement of corporate agility is that decision making needs to be devolved to the lowest level possible. Only companies that have a dynamic workforce can hope to keep up. This suggests that those who directly interface with the client need to have both the skills and the authority necessary to make decisions which satisfy both the client and the company – not easy.

If flexibility decreases with age, then we live in times where we must bring younger people into leadership positions.

In Africa we have an advantage -- over 500 million people under the age of 35-- sponges of knowledge, vibrant, interconnected, tech savvy, family-centric, team oriented, and attention craving.

Successful transformation is therefore less about handing over to the previously disadvantaged than it is about handing over to the younger generation, the Gen Ys.

Gen Ys in the Workplace

There has never been a larger disconnect between two generations than that which exists between Gen Ys and their parents.

A strong characteristic of Gen Y’s is their sense of immediacy, that “want it now” attitude. They woke up to a world that was filled with a succession of events that was completely life changing- Africa is nothing if not a continent in transition. As a result, many of them have made a decision that they need to live life now. They need to get on with the most important parts of their life. And that sense of immediacy, of living life in the current, is something that is very pervasive throughout Gen Y.

It’s not surprising that, in a recent survey, Gen Y’s put career advancement and salary at the top of their list when it comes to factors that influence where they decide to work.

Interestingly enough Gen Y’s ranked training and mentorship in the top three things that will influence where they decide to work in the same survey

The “want it now” attitude goes directly to Gen Y’s eagerness to engage with their employer, drive immediate results and advance in their careers.

It therefore should not be unexpected that, in the workplace, those responsible for mentoring Gen Y’s often have the feeling that they are sitting in a tornado.

Harnessing the tornado

Strong communication and leadership within an organisation are factors that will positively impact Gen Y’s engagement in the workplace

Gen y’s have grown up in a peer-to-peer world, meaning that communication is hugely important to them. So they are used to sending information to peers based on their perception of who could use the information, where it would provide the most value.

These young people come into a corporate environment with that same set of assumptions. So if they have an idea that they think could benefit you, it doesn’t matter who you are, CEO, head of marketing– they’ve got an idea, chances are they’re going to share it with you. That’s the way they’ve always operated and there’s no sign that this will change the corporate world.

This creates huge opportunities to harness these energies. What is needed is a corporate learning culture which leverages technologies that have disrupted the market. Such a culture has stands on three pillars:

•     Harnessing the power of video learning;
•     Creating a collaborative environment in which the Gen Ys assist in generating     content; 
•     Driving engagement with targeted content based on objectively identified skills gaps.

What has your experience been in harnessing the Gen Y tornado?

Are Gen Y’s worth expending the extra effort needed to change them from good ideas and noble aspirations to value adding assets?

What specific mentoring programmes have you introduced for Gen Y’s?

Exploding Myths and Exploring Resonances to Exploit Opportunities

Those myths and uncanny resonances

                                                  Image source: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/444167581972455024/

Some myths around learning in the workplace and uncannily significant resonances between overseas and local research uncover significant opportunities for both the people and the organisations involved in Supply Chain Management. 

3 Preconceptions About Workplace Learning

According to Taub, three preconceptions which need to be managed in order to remove constraints in the path of successful training implementation are:

1.          People don’t have time for learning

People will make time, given the right motivation. As adults we are willing to invest in our learning and development — but only if convinced that it will improve our work performance, advance our careers and/ or enrich our lives. So, if it is clear that the training on which we are embarking will help us grow, evolve and stay marketable, the time will be available.

2.          Traditional training methods, like classroom training and even online courses no longer work

Whilst it is true that people, especially Gen Y’s, learn from a great deal more sources than previous generations, formally based training is very necessary:

•       Where courses are based on registered qualifications delivered by accredited providers, the qualifications acquired are becoming increasingly important to the marketability not only of the individuals concerned but also the institutions which employ them.
•       Formal courses which are structured in accordance with sound learning principles promote strategic thinking and impart problem solving abilities which are key in the Supply Chain Management environment.

It is however important to keep in mind that speed, simplicity and easy access are key to the success to any form of learning and it is here perhaps that academia has much to gain from studying these characteristics of less formal learning.

3.          The HR/ learning function owns responsibility for employee development

Once responsibility for learning is shared between the learning function, managers and individuals by building and managing a mentoring culture that empowers those in the workplace to discover and connect with the right people, experiences and resources, this is where effective training begins.

(Taub, 2016).

Where Should Our Training be focused?
Having established what works for workplace training, we find that there is an uncanny resonance between research carried out in the USA and the Barloworld Logistics supplychainforesight survey.

In the USA the leadership and professional competency requirements for future Supply Chain managers were found to be as follows:

• Ability to negotiate and collaborate with value chain partners
• Ability to collaborate across functions
• Ability to drive or support diversity and inclusion
• Strategic thinking and problem solving
• Ability to manage global/ virtual teams
• Ability to persuade and communicate effectively
• Leading and developing others

(Melnyk, S. and Seftel, C.M., 2016: Quoting Deloitte’s Third Annual Supply Chain Survey 2015)

Looking at the 2015 supplychainforesight survey we find that, in order to achieve the key strategic Supply Chain objectives which were identified below, very similar competencies are needed:

• Identifying and managing change
• Growth and expansion into new markets
• Increasing flexibility, agility and responsiveness
• Sustaining existing areas of financial returns
• Introducing new products and services
• Using supply chain as more of a competitive advantage
• Investment in business intelligence

(Frost & Sullivan. 2015: 17)

We can see that the role of Supply Chain Manager is moving from tactician to strategist. This represents huge opportunities for organisations which, in order to take full advantage of them, need to position themselves through effective, focussed training.

How do you promote learner engagement in your workplace training?

How is your workplace training aligned to or company strategy?

What competencies are needed to make your organisation more really fly?

References

Taub, T., 2016 3 Big Myths About Workplace Learning. http://www.clomedia.com/2016/08/01/3-big-myths-about-workplace-learning/?utm_source=MyEmma&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=CLO%20Today. Accessed 4 August 2016

Melnyk, S. and Seftel, C.M., 2016. The Emergence of the Supply Chain Leader: The Metamorphosis From Tactical To Strategic. Accessed 16 August 2016

Frost & Sullivan. 2015: supplychainforesight 2015: Embracing change for a sustainable future. Barloworld Logistics, Johannesburg

The prickly Supply Chain Management training dilemma

Pacifying the sleepless Training Manager

Something which keeps Training Managers in Supply Chain Management from sleeping at night is to know when to carry out training in house and when it is best left to others. This article aims to provide more restful nights to those people.

The arguments

As with any insourcing vs outsourcing debate, there are a number of pros and cons on both sides when it comes to Supply Chain Management training.

Those supporting insourcing point to the variable standards of outsourced training, the financial instability of some private providers and the difficulties in assessing what is on offer. They argue that, by using their own subject matter experts, they can build training interventions which are not only targeted on the competency needs of their particular organisations, these interventions can also be tailored to their unique organisational culture. Their most compelling arguments are that only insourced training is flexible enough to meet their companies’ changing needs (very important for the uncertain environment in which we operate) and that it is only such training which can be used to transfer those skills which give the company its competitive edge.

On the side of outsourcing, proponents suggest that the formal qualifications offered by outsourced training institutions are essential to both employees and organisations as objective benchmarks of competency. The economies of scale achievable through outsourcing are also very persuasive and added to this is the question of the core business of the company: are we in the business of providing supply chain solutions or training?

The merits of each argument are what give Training Managers sleepless nights: it is suggested that the dilemma can be resolved by looking at it from a different starting point.

Strategy is key

The primary driver of the organisation’s training strategy is the overall strategy of the business.

A thorough assessment of the business performance needs and desired bottom line outcomes leads to the identification of the competency requirements for each division within the organisation.

We will find that many of these competencies are generic to the organisations which occupy each space in the Supply Chain for example logistics and transport, procurement and supply, manufacturing operations, warehousing and distribution. Included here is a very strong requirement for compliance with local and international legislative measures, industry standards and local regulations, often bringing with it the need for formal, externally accredited courses.

It may be argued that the common nature of these technical competencies should indicate that training towards them should be outsourced. There is however a powerful counterargument that says it is excellence in these basics which gives companies their competitive edge and that there is therefore a strong case for insourcing the “company unique” aspects of this training.

It is also true that organisations need to raise the bar in terms of rigour, evidence, and more structured and scientific approaches to identifying, assessing and developing leaders, a process which needs to start earlier in potential leaders’ careers. Leadership training may have its foundation in generic courses but it is the bringing of those competencies to bear in strengthening the culture of the company and achieving active participation of employees in the values of the organisation that can only be honed within the organisation itself.

The Supply Chain Manager’s solution- an exciting trend

A pillar of successful Supply Chain Management is collaboration – this principle applies as much to education and training.

There is an exciting trend developing: to address the problem of the unemployability of institutionally trained graduates and to enhance the marketability of their offerings, public and private learning institutions are collaborating with businesses to an increasing degree in both the design and sharing of responsibility for the delivery of programmes which blend theory with practical, workbased experience.

When combined with accurate assessment of each individual’s skills gaps, this integrated model offers an end-to-end designed learning experience.

Discussion

• Are you able to align your training strategy with your company’s overall strategy?
• To what extent have you quantified the balance of insourced/ outsourced training in your organisation?
• Are there providers in your area who have shown an interest in collaborating with your company?
• Are you in need of more information regarding education and training collaboration in the Supply Chain Management field?