How to meet the need for supply chain talent?
With the increase of the market activity and the pandemic, the Supply Chain job market has been disrupted by candidates with much higher requirements. With this in mind, companies must reinvent their recruitment and management methods.
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Why and how do I get "Best Employers" awards?
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How can we meet the expectations of the youngest in terms of impactful jobs?
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Why is Supply Chain The Place To Be?
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Why are nurseries so important to young candidates?
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Is flexibility a strong argument to attract Supply Chain talents, especially executives?
In order to answer these questions and many others, our HR Lab organized a round table on June 21. During this webinar, it shared its analyses and reference information concerning recruitment. Supply Chain actors, HR Directors, students, teachers, recruitment firms, etc. were all invited!
During this conference, accessible in replay for our members, the speakers highlighted the dynamics of the job market, the new opportunities and the methods to attract and retain talents in Supply Chain.
This round table provided an opportunity to learn about :
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Types of jobs in tension -
The means put in place by companies to meet the expectations of candidates -
The dynamics of teaching and students' vision of the supply chain professions -
Company practices, guidelines and cultures to promote the attractiveness of professions
Questions asked at the conference :
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Is there an awareness among companies that employees are losing interest in them and that this is leading to a rapid increase in staff turnover and the associated salaries, both among experienced staff and among the younger generation? What solutions are being put in place to bring this under control?
The question is rich! I don't share the idea of a general dislike of companies, but it is true that the Covid crisis, through the break it caused with the places and habits of work, has given many people a desire to change their lives... But they more often leave for another company than to open a bed and breakfast at the end of France... The job market being particularly dynamic in terms of offers, this effectively leads at the moment to an acceleration of turnover and a certain phenomenon of salary overbidding.
The company usually adapts in the very short term by increasing salaries on hiring and by retaining candidates by making counter-offers if they are very good, but then there is obviously the problem of internal equity with the other employees who work wisely without putting in their CV. The solution generally put in place by HRDs lies on the one hand in overall increase envelopes which are more generous when the market is on the rise, and on the other hand in identifying the best people, those whom the company is absolutely determined to keep and motivate in particular, and who will benefit from slightly exceptional measures and sometimes real salary catch-ups. The phenomenon described in the question of 2-3 years' experience being paid more than 7-8 years' experience should not occur in professional talent management, unless the 2-3 years' experience is endowed with specialised skills that are rare in the market (we see this in IT professions) or unless it is identified as having very strong potential for development. In this case, they may indeed be a little "overpaid" at the beginning of their career, but because they will very quickly take on higher responsibilities than the 7-8 years of experience...
As for the "young generation coming to consume the company" without any return on investment for the company that has invested in them... without any value judgement, yes, we can see that at the very beginning of their career, young people often envisage their first company as a complementary module to their studies, with a duration in post(s) of 12 - 18 months... before leaving, either for another company, or very frequently for a personal project such as a year abroad, or involvement in an NGO, etc. This effectively raises the question of the ROI of "incubator" or "young graduate" type programmes for companies...
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With the Covid supply crisis, the term Supply Chain has become more common but also synonymous with supply problems, which sometimes impacts even more on the attractiveness for recruitment. Your comments?
The mainstream press, media and politicians have been reporting extensively on the problems faced by supply chains since the pandemic began. Even President Biden, who spoke at length about why American children would have to wait for their Christmas toys. As a result of these supply problems, companies have discovered the vital importance of the men and women in the supply chain business. With this renewed interest, we are also witnessing an awareness of the existence of these professions among students. So, since last year, we have had more young people who want to enter these professions.
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Is the level of involvement of a company in CSR areas a criterion of choice for our future graduates?
The level of involvement of a company in CSR is no longer the right way to qualify the action and policies of companies in terms of CSR. Today, every company sends an image to young graduates. This image is mainly appreciated from the CSR angle as well as the quality of life in the company. If the image is not attractive enough, young people will not apply. Therefore, if a company wants to attract young graduates, it must practice real CSR policies and make them known.
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In the same way that COVID has highlighted these professions, has it not changed the requirements of our young talent?
The changes observed will affect all professions:
- In addition to the "better work-life balance", the proportion of teleworking is becoming more and more "acquired" around 2 days per week.
- The CSR dimension of the company. The change is that if the question was already asked "before", the young talents will not be satisfied with a declaration of intent and will challenge the implementation of these commitments.
- The reputation of the company, via sites such as google review, glaasdoor, or Job Teaser to find out about the company's values.
- The question of the meaning of the job: more diversity and what career path to follow? It should be noted that this is not so much due to Covid as to a favourable job market that allows a higher level of requirements...
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What managerial positions are available after graduation?
The jobs available after a degree in Supply Chains are very varied. We often see demand planners, logistics team leaders, data analysts, consultants, members of project teams in the integration of new information systems, buyers, customer managers, supply managers, etc.
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When interviewing a Master Supply Chain graduate, what are the critical skills/experiences sought?
If we talk about the necessary steps towards a Supply Chain Manager position: in Industry, experience in S&OP and/or planning is a prerequisite, in Logistics and Transport for the distribution and service sectors. Whatever the sector, experience in project management will be expected as well as international experience or at least in a multicultural English-speaking team.
Across all experiences (which also applies to recent graduates) we will be looking for the following skills
problem-solving and result orientation, internal/external relations, influence, "internal/external" customer orientation, openness/curiosity.
For more experienced profiles with a managerial dimension: emotional intelligence, ability to give meaning,
And of course... humility -
You did not mention the international dimension of the supply chain professions. Why not?
We can refer to the last half hour of the round table where the question of international careers was dealt with at length. In particular, we emphasised the importance of mastering English, or even a third language, the strong interest of assignments as soon as they include the management of multi-country issues, and the possibilities of working in a foreign country, increasingly on a local contract rather than as an expatriate
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Shouldn't our universities and schools start educating our young people earlier than in Master? Why not a Supply Chain course from the beginning of school?
A Supply Chain course from the beginning does not have only advantages. Indeed, the students who would follow it would necessarily have gaps concerning the other functions of the company and could consider that the functions of marketing, finance, information systems, or even human resources are secondary or subaltern. We favour a generalist training at the beginning of the course in order to help them consider business management as a whole with these different aspects. In the final year of the Master's programme, we provide them with additional theoretical training that enables them to see how the purchasing and supply functions are vital and how they contribute to the creation of value in the company. A good supply chain manager is a decision-maker who knows how to see all aspects of the company, how to dialogue with other functions and how to lead his or her teams towards stronger collaboration internally and with external partners. Today's training courses are moving away from the traditional model by emphasising the digitalisation of processes and the development of the individual talents of future managers. They must be able to step outside the usual framework to invent new solutions, apply new methods, and encourage and develop new talents.
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How do you recruit supply/logistics profiles when this is not the company's core business?
"If we are talking about companies outside the distribution and transport logistics sectors, these are the ones where there is the greatest diversity of professions and at the same time those where the function is sometimes little recognised... Supply Chain needs, and therefore the career paths in the professions, may be poorly known, the tools and/or resources under-dimensioned and the relations with the "related functions" sometimes complicated.
It is precisely in these environments that there is so much to do and that exciting projects can be found! Provided that you have technical expertise, self-confidence, emotional intelligence and a good capacity to influence, which includes the ability to give meaning to your teams, your general management and other departments (sales, purchasing, industrial, etc.)
The company should therefore promote the diversity and richness of the professions (in particular S&OP / planning, which is not or not very present in other sectors), the interest and impact of the projects... reassure on the committed means (current and future)... present during the interviews a Manager/Director of another function, which should shed light on the state of maturity of the Supply Chain or at least its internal recognition.
Finally, these companies have an enormous advantage: the gateways to other professions, outside the Supply Chain. -
Is the work-study route still the best way to get into supply chain jobs?
Work-linked training is very popular because it allows companies to participate in the professional training of future employees. In France, this training pathway is extremely constrained by the regulatory framework and it is possible that governments and social partners will significantly change this framework. This pathway, which is currently royal, may no longer be so. Other routes into supply chain careers also exist and are still well practised by a large number of companies, both French and foreign.
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In terms of experience? Do you prefer to recruit juniors or seniors?
My answer is "Everything"! ) has a place today, on one condition: to work on his employability: to train, to maintain his motivation and his ability to adapt, in other words, to "stay young in his head", and, perhaps, to talk to the recruiter about his passion for his job rather than the number of quarters left to do before retirement...
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How did FM work its candidate experience "concretely" to be 4th France?
The candidates who have chosen us already express the feeling of a rather pleasant recruitment process. Our recruiters and managers naturally pass on the "behavioural codes" of the FM culture in their dealings with candidates, for example simplicity in the relationship, transparency (since trust is our primary value), and questioning that is generally devoid of aggressiveness or putting candidates under pressure. This does not prevent the evaluation work from being carried out.
In person, candidates also emphasise the friendliness they perceive in the company, when they wait at the reception desk, they see that everyone says hello, they are offered a glass of water or a coffee. It probably sounds crazy to note this as a differentiator, but it is surely not the case everywhere ....
After that, yes, we pay attention to the quality of our process, we do our best to ensure that candidates have answers, know where the decision process is, if we offer them a questionnaire to evaluate their skills or their motivations, we always give them feedback, we are clear and precise about the salary offers, and in a search for a balanced, win-win and long-term relationship. We are not perfect, of course, and there are failures, but perhaps less than elsewhere?
Then, and above all I should say, we take care of the arrival of new recruits, with, for example, a small welcome pack, a written note from the manager, numerous meetings to get to know colleagues and internal clients, a sponsor or "buddy" to lean on during the first few months, to integrate and create an internal network, and training from the very first days. Here again, there is nothing 'rocket science' about it, but attention to the person, with a sincere desire to give him or her every opportunity to succeed and the feeling that we are happy to have him or her among us.
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On which job site do we find the most executive candidates?
You can find more executive jobs on the Apec and Cadremploi websites.
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Is the current HR trend more oriented towards permanent and fixed-term recruitment or towards temporary work?
The official figures (Pôle emploi) announce 71% of permanent and fixed-term contracts of over 6 months for recruitment projects in 2022.
Since 2021, at the level of our firm, for Supply Chain positions, the needs of our clients for permanent contracts have increased much faster than interim assignments. (+40% VS +15%).
