Report out now: Next Generation Supply Chain talent

News just in! The results of our annual survey on next generation talent are out and available to download now.?

There is so much to tell you that it’s tricky to know what to share in a short blog but let’s start with a quick recap. Earlier this year we fielded a survey to both next generation talent (in the first five years of their career) and more experienced supply chain professionals with the aim of understanding what organisations need to do to attract, retain, and advance diverse next generation talent.??

The story that the data told us is wonderfully positive: we found that a career in supply chain is becoming an intentional choice (the majority of more experienced supply chain professionals fell into it by accident) and a whopping ninety percent of next generation talent say that they would recommend a career in supply chain. This is great news! We have young people intentionally joining the profession and loving it.?

It's not all sunshine and roses though; there are five distinct areas where we can step up and support these ambitious and enthusiastic young people.?

Attract me??

This call to action is around what more we can do to attract more young people to supply chain. While organisations are doing well at going into schools and universities to tell young people about the profession there is much more that business can do to raise awareness of supply chain as a profession.?

Develop me??

We wanted to know what skills were most useful to next generation talent when they started in supply chain and the skills they felt they were missing. What we found were significant skills gaps, yet few organisations work with educational institutions on curricula to close the gap.?

Equip me??

For a generation that has never know a world without smartphones, sometimes supply chain technology can be a shock, with one research interviewee saying “All the companies I’ve worked in are using surprisingly archaic systems, some of them are from before I was born!” This next generation of tech savvy employees present an opportunity to help accelerate technological transformation.?

Advance me?

Career progression is critical to retention, but our survey has shown many organisations lack key career progression enablers such as transparency in hiring and promotion decision criteria and visibility of career paths.?

Include me??

This blog is called Supply Chain 50:50, so of course we also wanted to know what’s being done in the profession to attract, advance and retain diverse talent. We were pleasantly surprised by some of the results but there’s still a lot of work to do.?

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Please download and share the report. There is a lot of encouraging news in it and also many, many action points on how we can attract, retain and advance more diverse next generation talent. A HUGE thank you to everyone who answered the survey and took part in the research interviews – we really appreciate your input. Last but by no means least, our thanks to the team at Kinaxis for sponsoring this independent research.?

PS We discussed the results of the survey in a live panel discussion with special guests Philip Roe (President, Logistics UK), Jake Dean (Director, Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management, Wisconsin School of Business), and Polly Mitchell-Guthrie (VP Industry Outreach & Thought Leadership at Kinaxis). Watch the replay here at your leisure, no need to register.