It is hard to remember when I was ever more proud in my life. This past month an ALOM staff member was named the 2019 SDCE Supply Chain Pro to Know of The Year. Lisa Dolan, the ALOM VP of Strategic Supply Chain, was recognized for her supply chain knowledge, collaborative approach and impact on transformative supply chain technology. Nothing is as gratifying as seeing your staff members recognized in such a distinguished manner.
Having great staff members is gratifying on a personal level, but also brings an incomparable competitive advantage to our customers. With unemployment at record lows and especially so in supply chain, companies are struggling to add qualified supply chain staff. Highly motivated supply chain program graduates, or workers with industry relevant experience are quickly being absorbed into the workforce. The U.S. alone is expecting a workforce deficit of several million people with manufacturing and supply chain skills over the next 5-10 years with younger professionals taking over responsibility in pretty short order.
As new generations have entered and are entering the workplace, we have seen a shift in employee expectations and priorities, along with a shift in longevity. Employers and management must be ready to address these changes. The strategy that has benefitted ALOM to attract and retain the next generation of supply chain experts has been an investment in training and professional development.
Newly minted supply chain staff may not be able to see the full picture. It is easy to be caught up in unimportant details instead of the big-picture and game-changing strategic advantages that an optimized supply chain can deliver. Seasoned pros have scrapped inventory and seen the impact on the bottom line, lost out on sales opportunities due to lack of inventory, seen business change because of regulations, and developed the tools and contacts to get out of most jams. They have seen successes when execution was aligned with strategic goals, and they have seen failures when the alignment was missing. Therefore, it is important to have staff who can provide the right answers. But it is more valuable to have leaders who can ask the right questions.
One way to acquire and benefit from these skills and experience within an organization is to develop long-term outsourced supply chain partnerships with best-in-class suppliers.
ALOM has always understood the long-term strategic value of high-competency, fully engaged staff. We made a conscious decision to become an employer of choice. By employing high-level staff, we can add unique value for our customers. Our customers can lean on us for innovation, benchmarking, best practices, as well as continuity and stability. Lisa is celebrating 22 years with ALOM. She, along with her operations, technology, and account management colleagues at ALOM are seasoned and experienced, supporting customers through decade long relationships and multiple shifts in product technology.
The value of experience and innovation in supply chain is something every organization should appreciate. The price of not doing so is simply too high. Success starts and ends with the expertise of your suppliers – and their commitment to being an employer of choice.