Attractiveness of supply chain professions: challenges of discovery and valorisation

The Supply Chain suffers from old clichés. Little known and very often summed up as masculine, physical and not very rewarding tasks, the Supply Chain professions are struggling to attract the younger generations. Faced with the lack of attractiveness of the sector, how can vocations be created? What are the levers that could be used to enhance the value of the professions and change mentalities? A look back at the dedicated Webinar, organised by France Supply Chain, in partnership with SprintProject.

Attractiveness of professions, a major challenge for an active supply chain

Fabien Esnoult, President of SprintProject(www.sprint-project.com) and administrator of France Supply Chain, introduces the stakes of the theme by underlining the indispensable and strategic character of the Supply Chain sector, revealed at the height of the health crisis. In this respect, the active maintenance of the workforce as well as the challenges of recruitment, loyalty and training take on their full meaning. How can we respond to the growing needs and HR problems encountered by the sector? Certain innovations such as autonomous vehicles, IOT, 5G and the dissociation of transport and logistics seem to be possible solutions. But are they the only ones?

In this respect, the LAB RH of France Supply Chain, represented on this occasion by Marie-Laure Furgala, ISLI Director of Kedge Business School, and Guillaume Noirtin, Talent Acquisition Director of FM Logistic, is a working group of about twenty professionals, partners or active contributors from the world of Human Resources or Training. The ambition of the HR LAB is to promote the Supply Chain and to respond to the HR priorities of companies, which are: to recruit better, to improve the attractiveness of the sector and to develop new skills in the Supply Chain professions.

"I didn't know the Industry and Supply Chain sector before I joined FM Logistic. I had many preconceptions myself. I finally discovered an exciting sector at the heart of company strategies, a creator of value and an incredible diversity of professions."
Guillaume NOIRTIN

The Supply Chain, in perpetual evolution, is constantly looking for new skills to meet new needs. But if companies are constantly recruiting, the employees themselves must be trained or trained in the new challenges of the sector and more particularly in: the environment, societal challenges and new technologies. These are some of the topics covered in the ISLI - Kedge Business School Supply Chain course.

Innovation to improve the attractiveness of supply chain jobs

My Job Glasses was created a little over 5 years ago with one ambition: "Professional fulfilment for all". But to be fulfilled, Emilie Korchia, co-founder of My Job Glasses, assures us, you must already be well oriented. My Job Glasses puts people at the heart of career guidance by connecting young people aged 15 to 30 with a network of 52,000 professionals from all professions and sectors, including the supply chain. As the leading player in mentoring in France, My Job Glasses has helped more than 100,000 young people in 2020 in their professional orientation.

It is also, for the company, the possibility to create a pool of young talents interested in the Supply Chain sector and to initiate a CSR action of corporate citizenship. For the employees, it is also an opportunity, by giving a little of their time, to share their profession with the younger generations, to represent their company and to deconstruct clichés, and sometimes to have the privilege of inspiring vocations.

"My Job Glasses is not there to sell glitter to the younger generation, but to share with them the reality of the jobs and allow them to discover all that is hidden behind the word 'Supply Chain'"
Emilie Korchia

Delivery Academy, takes its source at the crossroads of the last mile and urban logistics, explains Augustin Doumbe, its Founder: "where the men and women of the sector, route parcels from local warehouses, to the end customer". In 2017, there were 11,000 self-employed bicycle delivery entrepreneurs. Today, there are more than 60,000. At the same time, the increase in the number of salaried employees in the urban delivery sector confirms the evolution of consumption patterns and new needs, including the customer experience. How do you win over a customer and then build loyalty over a 30-second delivery?

"Customer experience is a job [...] While delivery drivers are the only faces the customer meets between ordering and receiving, training seems to be the solution to provide a quality experience! »
Augustin Doumbe

Indeed, while recruitment is a perennial problem in the Supply Chain, so is retention. By offering training courses ranging from a few hours to several weeks depending on the profile, the Delivery Academy offers a training solution as a means of increasing skills to make the jobs more attractive and to enhance their value.