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Hiring Supply Chain Talent: What to Look for In the Perfect Candidate

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Hiring Supply Chain Talent: What to Look for In the Perfect Candidate

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If your business is growing, maybe it is the right time to hire new talent. It also means facing the challenge of the dearth of supply chain talent and overcoming it. It is pretty common to find business growth these days with job titles evolving and shifting because of quick changes in supply chain management and the latest technology-oriented needs. With several businesses trying to remain competitive there is more demand for talent. Management of the ways you will use to seek the supply chain talent can make or break your organization. Here are some attributes you need to watch out for.

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Soft skills: Most recruiters normally have a list of around thirty job skills that they are looking out for while reviewing the candidates. It is pretty common for the supply chain industry. Soft skills are the top priority for producing more successful recruitment. Some of them include email marketing skills, fundamental business ethics, communication skills, and problem-solving skills. All of these may be identified via past job experience of the candidates, references, and the responses they provide to some key questions at the time of the job interview. When you are looking to hire globally you can take help from PEO services.

Inventory, finance, and supplier management experience: Watch out for earlier experience in financial, supplier, and inventory management together with direct knowledge. These are the important components of the skill sets required for a hire. If the candidate has financial management training in fields such as investing it is a massive advantage. Maybe this talent did not go through massive numbers every day in his earlier position. But there will be sufficient indications of whether the candidate has the requisite understanding of data utilization for making solid business decisions.

Education and area of interest: You need to look out for candidates that have certifications and university training. Some of the specific things you must look out for include participation in projects that involve a basic understanding of financial matters and problem-solving that is related to them. Sometimes even the way they handle personal finances could show something about their work skills. You need to look for talent that has enthusiasm, passion, and energy for the position he or she is applying for. For instance, they would have researched and displayed knowledge about an organization and how their skills could benefit this business.

Result-oriented track record: Ask the prospective candidates, not just about their earlier job responsibilities. Ask them to correctly quantify the results also. Try and find out people that will produce some examples of the projects they have accomplished with good results in their resumes. It should demonstrate that they had to work with supply chain departments, service providers, and suppliers. You also need to be flexible and open-minded while considering the top talent from other industries and fields. There are many candidates out there that are working in other professions. However, they have transferable skills that can make them the right candidate for your supply chain.

Hire female candidates: Women are under-represented in many industries and it’s imperative that we find ways to bring them into the fold. In order to remain competitive in the future of supply chain management, it is important that you consider hiring female talent for roles usually reserved for males. They can take on roles that men have traditionally held, but with some added perks- they’re better at relationship building and interpersonal skills which will be important for certain jobs. The best way to find a replacement for your position is by interviewing applicants who have the skills you need. This will allow you get more personal insight into their personality, knowledge of procedures, and ability-to-efficiently perform job duties than if they were applying without being interviewed first. You can also look at female workers’ resumes or career paths during mentorship programs that involved working closely with seasoned professionals in similar fields.

Conclusion

There are challenges involved in securing the supply chain talent at the moment, especially for filling out the necessary positions. it is a good idea to change your approach. You need to examine the staffing forecast, be aware of the specific needs and trends from historical data, and develop a talent management program. After doing all this, you need to take a closer look at the candidate pipeline that is capable of fulfilling the continuous hiring requirement. The organizations that perform well are the ones that consider the recruitment department as a value-added and strategic program.

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Tomorrow’s workforce needs collaborative learning

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Jeremy Tillman had a vision. “I wanted to create a marketplace that made it easy for people to find the corporate training they needed and to develop technology to allow companies to better manage the learning processes of their employees.” And so, in 2004, after an epiphany while working on another firm’s project, he started TrainUp.com.

Eighteen years later more than 60,000 companies, including 92 percent of the Fortune 500, have purchased one or more training courses from TrainUp.com. And Tillman, who grew up in public housing, has from the company’s inception traveled all over the world with training and with technology he says, “helps bring people together.”

His story is a fascinating one. Tillman started an e-commerce company while a computer sciences student at the University of Alabama – Huntsville. He managed the university’s five computer labs and built a training management system to aid in its corporate education programs. There, Tillman got his first taste of working with firms like Boeing, Teledyne, and Raytheon.

Tillman stated that TrainUp.com truly took off by 2006 and has continued its growth and vision. The secret to his firm’s future, he lets on, lies with helping people to learn collaboratively. Traditional corporate training had been focused primarily on conveying job-related information, but adult learning theory teaches that information alone is insufficient to produce real change.

The collaborative approach flips the old narrative of, “what can I gain” to “what can I contribute to the larger whole.”

“We learn things faster when we gain the insights from others and brainstorm to find solutions to on-the-job problems. The end-result is often a richer learning experience that has ongoing impacts for individuals and companies alike,” Tillman noted.

That’s the TrainUp.com view of training, one that multitudes have undertaken.

TrainUp.com is also on the cutting edge of creating custom learning, performance, and talent management solutions for building, tracking, managing, and assessing enterprise-wide initiatives for multiple large, recognizable corporations.

And in 2022, as companies across myriad sectors face the challenges posed by the new paradigm of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Tillman believes his training methods are a perfect fit.

The collaborative approach which TrainUp.com has developed over nearly two decades is particularly geared toward Inclusion. Diversity and Equity are largely hiring decisions, while Inclusion requires a change of culture from the bottom up.

“Building inclusive workplace cultures has to include everyone on the job. The key to successful inclusion training is connecting people together rather than presenting training as divisive – and allowing employees to recognize contributions from those they may have previously discounted. These principles apply across the board, from global corporations to small businesses, and even church organizations. Good training is founded in connectivity, and that requires inclusivity,” he tells me.

Tillman cited a recent four-nation, 1,000-person pilot training session for a multinational corporation. In the pilot, 250 people each from China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States were encouraged to leverage the TrainUp.com platform for training. Prior to the event, over 600 of the participants were engaging together and interacting to address serious discussion questions, actions that surely enhanced the collective learning experience and that of the most active participants.

Plus, says Tillman, TrainUp.com obtained lots of data on how the people engaged both before, during, and after the event. The TrainUp.com platform enables participants in such group trainings to continue their conversations and share their successes and failures. The outcome has been impacts in areas far beyond the scope of the specific training. Once again, the key is creating community out of diverse parts, not just talking diversity.

TrainUp.com’s latest initiative to addressing contemporary adult corporate learning is its Institutes project, due to launch in April 2022. Therein are four planned courses – leadership skills, inclusive leadership skills, essential skills for first-time managers and supervisors, and customer service skills. The company asserts that unlike most online courses, participants do not have to schedule their lives around expensive live webinars and overpriced course libraries. Instead, these institutes are both on-demand and rooted in community.

In the Leadership Institute, the mantra is “you manage things; you lead people.” The program teaches the difference between people management and visionary leadership – which includes learning and putting into practice essential leadership skills including communication, strategic thinking, and empathy. The institute seeks to provide tools for beginning a lifelong journey.

The Inclusive Leadership Institute prepares students for creating and inspiring diverse workplaces. Students learn the basic building blocks like Cognizance of Bias, Collaborative Training, and Cultural Intelligence. Inclusive leaders must be able to tackle the challenges of diversity, equity, and inclusion with a confidence founded in practical implementation.

TrainUp.com has learned that jumping from individual contributor to manager is a difficult challenge requiring many skills that all too often are not in the toolboxes of first-time managers. To empower first-timers to achieve the goal of maximum team performance, the curriculum includes such skills as goal setting, time management, giving and receiving feedback, and employee recognition.

The Customer Service Institute teaches participants skills for retaining customers, in recognition that it is much cheaper to keep old customers than to acquire new ones. This institute focuses on elite ‘soft skills’, such as emotional intelligence and communication, and ‘hard skills’ such as time management and support metrics.

Tillman recounts one client company’s focus on customer service as a strategy for retaining top talent. Disaffected salespeople were reassigned to customer satisfaction roles. They had to refocus from short-term sales to helping customers feel value and satisfaction. The result was that the sales force found a new level of pride of accomplishment in satisfying customers that made them better salespeople.

Tillman, who knows something about the power of inclusion and overcoming adversity, says he dedicated his career to empowering growth and shaping the future of learning. His reason? “It is what takes someone from where they are today and get them to where they want to be tomorrow.”

 

And that, he adds, is best done by encouraging everyone in the workplace to maximize their potential and actual contributions to the work at hand – and to their individual futures.

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Duggan Flanakin is a journalist and policy analyst who writes from San Marcos, Texas.

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Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Sidestep The Great Resignation: Keep Workers By Helping Their Communities

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From a business perspective, the turbulent year of 2021 will be remembered for “The Great Resignation,” when record numbers of employees left their jobs.

But when it comes to the worldwide problem of talent shortages across many industries, perhaps employers haven’t seen anything yet. New Year’s resolutions of retaining top employees or finding the right talents when recruiting may be even more difficult to achieve, if you believe surveys such as one conducted in the fall of ‘21 by LumApps in collaboration with CMSWire. Seventy-one percent of U.S. participants in the poll say the pandemic made them rethink what they want out of their career, and 63% have considered a new career in the past year.

All that data fuels concerns among many employers that the talent shortage will continue to be a major problem in 2022. Everest Group’s 2022 Key Issues Study shows companies’ No. 1 constraint now is “finding enough talent to run the business.”

This talent crunch, along with the trend for many companies to move from 100% remote work to a hybrid model or back to a fully in-person model, is causing business leaders to reconsider what keeps their teams happy and productive. Many are asking: How can we keep employees invested in and passionate about our brand in this new hybrid environment?

One key to keeping the best employees on board may lie in how well companies give them the opportunity to put their own skills and interests into action in making a difference in the world. In the LumApps/CMS poll regarding “The Great Reflection” among workers, among the reasons cited are heightened demands for flexibility and inclusivity in the workplace, more career growth and companies that walk the talk about corporate social responsibility. Indeed, employees’ special gifts and passions for social issue involvement contribute towards helping their company’s overall impact efforts and also to employees’ fulfillment: 76% in the LumApps/CMS poll are looking for corporate social responsibility and 73% want to choose employers with a reputation for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.

Just as businesses have unique abilities and resources to solve problems for their communities, their employees have their own set of talents that can add a rich dimension to the company’s social-impact profile. Unleashing those talents can be as simple and informal as assigning appropriate roles to your employees for a volunteer project. If there’s a photographer on the team, for example, have them take photos at the event. Have a group that loves to haul things in their pickup trucks? Put them in charge of collecting the cans from your office locations for your food drive.

Over time, of course, you can become more intentional and strategic about how you use your employees’ skills. We do an employee survey or focus group with our client teams to identify employee interests such as public speaking, strategic planning, committee leadership, budget planning, and more. Effectively leveraging these skills and interests helps extend our client’s impact footprint in the community, even with limited formal staff resources.

Employees, especially the younger workforce, are looking for a deeper meaning in their work and to feel as though they are contributing to something impactful. Millennials are especially vigilant about researching and weighing the values and cultures of companies they want to work for. Gen Z is following suit, looking for authentic commitments from their employer to take action to solve the world’s problems.

This is worth the effort: recent statistics on corporate social responsibility show that 95% of employees believe businesses should benefit all stakeholders, including the communities in which they operate, and 70% say they wouldn’t work for a company without a strong purpose.

Employers are understanding that social impact is a critical component to an effective business strategy. In today’s connected and interdependent world, employees increasingly demand that businesses and their suppliers take part in creating solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. It’s time to fire up those special talents and passions to build engagement and loyalty.

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Maggie Z. Miller and Hannah Nokes are ForbesBooks co-authors of Magnify Your Impact: Powering Profit with Purpose (www.magnify-impact.com). They also are co-founders of Magnify Impact, a company that helps business leaders create effective social impact strategies. Miller has developed social impact solutions with hundreds of company leaders globally. Previously, she founded an international nonprofit organization to provide microcredit loans for thousands of women in Peru. Nokes has led corporate social responsibility for global corporations and founded an impact collaborative of companies in Austin, Texas.

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Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily

6 Authentic Qualities Leaders Possess Even When They’re Not The Boss

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Some people lead because it’s in their job description.

But anyone can step up and take a leadership role in a business or organization, even when they have no authority to back up what they are trying to achieve, says Carrie Root, author of The Other Soft Skill: How to Solve Workplace Challenges with Generational Intelligence.

In multi-generational workplaces where employees can include Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Gen Z, you don’t have to be the oldest worker or the one with the most seniority in the company to show your leadership skills. But Root says you do need to be engaging, inspiring and credible – without being bossy.

“The challenge is to get people to follow your lead or your ideas because they want to, not because they are told to,” says Root, who is also founder and CEO of Alpha UMi (www.5gpowerskills.com), an educational consulting firm that creates professional development curricula.

 

She says those who are most successful at leading without authority usually possess certain characteristics and skills that make others willing to listen to what they have to say.

“Few will be proficient in all these skills,” she says, “but most successful leaders in the lead-without-authority realm will possess most of them.”

A few of those characteristics and skills include:

Be seen as trustworthy. Root says that trust is a foundational block of leadership. “It is especially important to someone who wants their ideas achieved,” she says. “The group needs to believe that the leader will be there to see it through.”

Have a positive attitude and a growth mindset. Whatever emotional energy a leader displays – positive or negative – is transmitted to the group. “People who exude positivity are much more fun to work with than those who portray a gloom and doom philosophy,” Root says.

Be succinct. In today’s world of Instagram and Twitter, you are playing to short attention spans, Root says. “It’s always good to share the ‘why’ but it’s got to be short,” she says. “Likewise, condense your vision into concepts that are easily understandable and quick to grasp. Plan to work the details out in committee.”

Be a good communicator and organizer. Strive to maintain energy and organization through emails and other information-sharing means when you are not meeting. “Make sure the organizational assignments are clear,” she says. “No one likes to find out that the work they did was also done by someone else.”

Show your appreciation. Everyone likes to have their contributions recognized. “This can be as simple as giving credit as opposed to taking credit,” Root says. “But a ‘thank you’ goes a long way towards fostering a sense of appreciation with those who are working with you.”

Check your ego at the door. Root says she has seen situations where egos drove extremely productive individuals to the sidelines, significantly costing the organization. “Recognize that there is more than your way to achieve goals,” she says. “Be open and encouraging to others’ ideas. Allow the group the opportunity to determine their path forward. This will give them ownership of the path.”

“A person who can lead without authority often radiates passion about the task they have taken on,” Root says. “They are good listeners who understand that there is more than just their way to do something. They are encouragers of individual ideas and talents while keeping the group headed towards their goal. Leading without authority happens when groups are energized through the recognition that the drive to achieve comes from the group.

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Carrie Root, author of The Other Soft Skill: How to Solve Workplace Challenges with Generational Intelligence, is the founder and CEO of Alpha UMi (www.5gpowerskills.com), an education consulting firm that develops professional-development curricula. Her company has provided workshops at conferences for major corporations and associations. Prior to founding Alpha UMi, Root had a successful engineering career working for large and small businesses, followed by more than two decades consulting as a high-level troubleshooter for the U.S. Navy.

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8 Effective Holiday Incentives for Supply Chain Employees

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The holiday season can be the busiest time of year for supply chain companies. USPS alone delivers nearly 16 billion packages and pieces of mail during the holidays. With e-commerce continuing to grow, logistics professionals can expect these peak seasons to become increasingly busy.

This skyrocketing demand puts increased pressure on the workforce. Supply chains often need more employees and higher productivity from their current workers to remain efficient through the season. As labor shortages continue to plague the industry, that can be a challenge.

Logistics businesses need ways to attract new workers or incentivize current ones to be productive or work longer hours. Here are eight such incentives that could prove effective during the holiday season.

1. Cash Bonuses

One of the most effective incentives is also the most straightforward. Money is a powerful motivator at any time of year, but during the holidays, when workers are likely spending more, it may be even more enticing. According to one survey, 44% of employees quit to earn more money elsewhere, so monetary incentives can convince them to stay through the holidays.

Supply chain companies can take multiple routes to this end. The most straightforward is to increase hourly wages during peak seasons, but that’s not the only option. Businesses can also offer a one-time holiday bonus, tiered rewards for shifts taken, or other financial incentives. The holiday shopping peak may help offset these costs, too.

2. Extra Time Off

A similar option is to give employees who work extra during the holiday season additional time off. Providing days away from work at another time of year makes up for the time they put in around the holidays. These incentives can also follow a tier system, with workers earning more time off as they work more holiday hours or reach new productivity goals.

Like cash incentives, these rewards can take several forms. One option is to give workers an extra paid vacation day or two to use at their discretion. Another is to increase their number of sick days, or companies could give workers more flex time.

This last option may be the most effective. Studies show that 82% of employees today would be more loyal if they had flexible work options.

3. Discounts at Local Establishments

One more unique alternative is to offer gift cards or discounts at businesses in the area. Many businesses have programs where employers can provide discounts or free services to their employees, and if that’s not available, gift cards likely are. These incentives are similar to cash bonuses but offer a specific chance for workers to try something new or visit their favorite place.

For example, employers could give employees working overtime a complimentary month’s gym membership. As workers gear up for their New Year’s resolutions, they may appreciate the opportunity. Other items, like gift cards for local businesses, can help them complete their holiday shopping or treat themselves.

4. Holiday Parties

Supply chain organizations could also embrace the holiday spirit and throw a party for their employees. This time to unwind and have fun with co-workers can help mitigate the stress of working during this season, motivating employees to push through it. Social events also make excellent incentives because a sense of community can improve worker satisfaction and productivity.

Parties should include food, drinks, games, and if employees would be interested, optional gift exchanges. Employers can even find alternatives to the classic Christmas turkey to keep things fresh and appeal to more people.

5. New Equipment

Sometimes, holiday incentives can lead to longer-term benefits for employers. One such example is to provide new workplace equipment if enough employees work through the holidays or reach a pre-defined productivity goal. This could include more comfortable office chairs, easier-to-handle pallet jacks, elevators to provide a way around stairs, or similar upgrades.

These new tools will boost productivity in the long run, so they help employers too. Workers will appreciate them because they make their jobs easier. While this option may not be as enticing to employees, it can still be effective, and it offers a win-win scenario.

To determine what upgrades will be the most enticing, employers should listen to their workers’ complaints. If there are any consistent issues that new equipment can solve, that should be the prize.

6. Charitable Donations

Around this time of year, employees may feel more charitable, thanks to the holiday spirit. That gives employers another less conventional but effective incentive: charitable giving. Instead of rewarding workers directly, businesses can make donations in their name to the charity of their choice.

Companies can either ask individual workers where they’d like donations to go or poll the workforce. In either case, the business will end up giving to a cause that employees care about in return for their hard work. Knowing they’re making a profound difference can give employees the motivation they need to work through the holidays.

7. Professional Development Opportunities

One of the most common reasons employees feel dissatisfied with and leave a position is a lack of career development opportunities. In fact, 20% of workers who quit in 2019 did so for professional development reasons. Offering opportunities for employees to advance their careers could have the opposite effect.

As a reward for working through the holidays, supply chain organizations could provide a choice of development paths. Workers could take complimentary classes in an area, attend training seminars, or work briefly in another department. Employees who long for more options in their careers will be motivated to push through the holiday season for these incentives.

8. Public Recognition

Sometimes, all an employee needs to feel motivated is recognition for a job well done. Reports show that nearly half of all Americans feel lonelier now than usual, so knowing that someone else recognizes and appreciates them can go a long way.

Supply chain companies can offer recognition-related incentives in several ways. One option is to create a friendly competition where top-performing employees during the holiday peak receive public recognition and a place on a “wall of fame.” Alternatively, employers could write handwritten notes of appreciation to all workers.

This reward pairs nicely with others, too. Employers could recognize exceptional workers in front of their peers at holiday parties or reward top performers with vacation days or material prizes.

Motivate Employees This Holiday Season

It can be challenging to keep workers motivated through the holidays, but it’s not impossible. Any of these eight ideas, or a mixture of several, could push employees to perform at their best through this annual peak.

As labor shortages continue and e-commerce rises, holiday motivation becomes increasingly crucial. Regardless of the specifics, every supply chain organization should consider rewarding their employees around this time of year.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

How Can Warehouses Attract New Talent in 2022?

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For the first time in a while, it seems as though workers are holding more power than their employers across all industries, including the supply chain. While warehouses are experiencing a period of unprecedented growth, thanks to the boom of e-commerce, the labor market isn’t able to keep up. As the industry continues to expand and productivity demands keep increasing, warehouses face a staffing problem. There’s a growing labor shortage in the logistics sector, making it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain employees.

While the labor shortage began long before the pandemic, the problem has intensified over the last year as a rampant rise in online shopping, rash of store closures, and mandatory social distancing hampered warehouse operations.

During this unprecedented labor shortage, how can warehouse managers focus on recruiting well in the new year? What are tried and true tactics that will still carry over, and what are some new out-of-the-box ideas to explore in this uncharted territory?

1. Offer Competitive Compensation

Monetary compensation is probably the number one factor when workers are deciding between similar jobs. In fact, warehouse employees ranked pay as their highest priority for 11 years in a row. Being able to offer competitive salaries is one of the most important ways to remain competitive to applicants. Aside from wages, benefits like generous matching 401ks and retirement savings plans can help attract applicants. These incentives, particularly those with longer-term payoffs, will also help retain current workers.

2. Provide Promising Career Paths

There is a common saying in the workplace, “People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.” This holds true in the warehouse environment, where grueling physical labor, rigid shifts and undesirable work conditions are more common than in other professions. Perhaps more than any other industry, warehouses must invest the time and money in hiring and retaining top talent in middle management. Recruiting, promoting, and training quality managers can make employees feel valued and appreciated by fostering a collaborative culture, improving communication and processes and soliciting feedback from front-line workers. Managers that encourage and listen to feedback from warehouse workers will not only increase employee satisfaction and retention, but also gain valuable insight that can ultimately improve operations, increase efficiency and reduce costs.

To that end, providing thoughtful promotion and training opportunities is one of the best ways to prevent high turnover rates. Workers are less likely to be incentivized to stay very long if they don’t feel there is room for career opportunities. Employees who are promoted within three years have a 70 percent chance of staying, compared to just 45 percent with those who aren’t. According to the same study, workers who moved laterally had a 62 percent chance of staying. Any kind of opportunity to move within the company will attract and retain employees, but upward mobility is key. Promotions are great, but they aren’t the only means of providing growth. There are smaller, equally effective, steps like rewarding productivity with incremental raises.

3. Become A Known Name

While posting on popular job boards and paying for advertisements will help get the word out about your open positions, doing the work to become a local community name could give certain companies a competitive edge. Potential workers will be more likely to accept a position with a company they recognize, than one they’ve never heard about. If you get connected within the community, you’ll appeal more to the local workforce. This can be accomplished by establishing a presence and making relationships with trade schools, community colleges, and universities. Try and partner with these institutions to appear at job fairs or establish student work programs. Sponsoring or partnering with local nonprofits or community groups is another way to become a community staple.

4. Create Flexible Schedules

Warehouses are known for pretty rigid schedules for a reason; they objectively make it easier to manage a warehouse, but can also be off-putting to potential employees, especially in a present and post-pandemic world. Flexibility is a necessity for many workers and a feature that many employers may not offer. You can stand apart from the competition by adapting schedules to people’s needs. Flexible scheduling will also help retain employees, allowing them the ability to not sacrifice personal endeavors and responsibilities. Being able to adapt their schedule to the rest of their life provides a benefit they won’t be quick to abandon.

5. Establish an Employee Referral Program

An often overlooked tactic for employee recruitment and retention is implementing an employee referral program. It’s an effective incentive for employees when they can earn a bonus or extra time off from a successful referral hire. These rewards will encourage employees to help you recruit more talent and improve workplace morale. This is because referrals translate into your employees working with people they already know. This familiarity can make the workplace more comfortable, which helps prevent turnover. Workers who successfully referred another will also know they’ve made a meaningful contribution, increasing their chances of staying.

6. Ensure Optimal Working Conditions

With many warehouses already strapped for space, dedicating a large area for an employee rest and relaxation, gym or on-site child care may not be feasible. However, small upgrades like comfortable furniture, Wi-Fi access, charging stations for mobile devices and free snacks and beverages can go a long way to make employees feel more welcome. Since warehouse workers typically have long and unpredictable shifts, companies can provide added convenience for employees by bringing in food trucks, organizing a company carpool program or even covering the costs of rides and meal delivery.

It’s not just the bells and whistles that make for a more optimal working environment. Extreme temperatures and inadequate lighting not only affect employee wellbeing and productivity but can also compromise worker health and safety. Incorporating windows and skylights into your warehouse design can improve ventilation and also provide access to natural light, which studies show is the highest-rated office perk among many employees. In addition to bringing in more daylight, companies should consider replacing old fluorescent bulbs with LED fixtures, which enhance visibility, produce less heat and reduce maintenance and energy costs.

And, with less labor available, existing employees are likely feeling overworked. So how can you lighten the load with a lack of manpower? Many companies are turning to upgrade their technology with automation. Robotic goods-to-person solutions such as automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that deliver goods to workers can significantly reduce travel time for employees while also increasing throughput and order accuracy. However, that does require a significant investment.

But, there are other, lower lift alternatives. In addition to robotics, software and wearable devices are also gaining popularity in the warehouse. These tools can be used to monitor worker safety and health, streamline processes and provide real-time training and support. Labor management systems can also be used to track performance and recognize and reward employees for going above and beyond.

As demand for warehouse space and labor continues to grow, hiring skilled workers will become increasingly competitive. Since warehouse employees don’t have the luxury of working from home, it’s up to companies to create a safe, comfortable and satisfying work environment with plenty of incentives to attract and retain top talent.

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Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily

Is Your Boss A Grinch? How To Show Holiday Gratitude – And Retain Employees.

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The holiday season is a reflective time, and as company leaders look back on the past year of challenges and accomplishments, it’s important that they show gratitude to their employees – and not make it a rare occurrence.

Research has shown a strong correlation between employee recognition and employee retention. Specific to the holiday season, one survey found that about 60% of employees would be more likely to stay in their job if they received meaningful holiday gifts from their employer. As the “Great Resignation” sweeps the country, employers should be mindful of making the holidays the “Great Appreciation” for their best employees and making it a habit. says Michele Bailey (www.michelebailey.com), ForbesBooks author of The Currency of Gratitude: Turning Small Gestures into Powerful Business Results.

“As leaders reflect, those who haven’t made gratitude a core value of their organization should strongly consider it going forward into next year,” Bailey says. “The current context of workers leaving in droves basically demands it. And the holidays are the perfect time for leaders to set a new tone and show they are sincere about showing appreciation on a consistent basis.

“This really benefits everyone in an organization; led by the leader, everyone is influenced to show gratitude for each other. When you make gratitude a habit and recognize the value of the contributions of your colleagues, you encourage them to strive for greater results. And your business will inevitably grow as your team members champion your brand.”

Bailey offers five ways leaders can express gratitude to employees during the holidays and make the practice a regular feature of their organization:

Prioritize mental health. The nearly two-year-long pandemic has added anxiety for millions of workers, and every holiday season many people experience increased stress and depression. Therefore, Bailey says it’s vital that company leaders keep these factors in mind and check on the mental health of their employees. “Lots of employees feel burnout this time of year, and remote workers can feel more isolated,” she says. “Make sure to check in with your people one-on-one and in small groups. Let them know that you care.”

Give praise. “By publicly praising an employee or team who has done an outstanding job, you make them feel valued,” Bailey says. “This can boost their confidence and their enthusiasm for the company. A personal handwritten note also goes a long way with an employee. The holiday season is an ideal time for the leader to champion their top people and energize them going forward into next year.”

Make gifts meaningful. Bailey says leaders should put a good amount of thought into gift-giving as a reward for employees, showing a personal touch and making it something useful and memorable. “They don’t have to be expensive,” she says. “The value is in the thought. And along with material gifts, consider experiential gifts, which allow the recipient to have an experience that ties in with their interests.”

Give paid holiday leave. “Extra time off during the holidays to be with family is a bonus in itself,” Bailey says. “As work-life balance becomes more important to employees nowadays, this is the time of year when employers should show they’re sincere in making that happen.”

Survey your teams on what they need for next year. This is a way of paying your gratitude forward, Bailey says. “The holiday season and end of the year are a great time to tune in to your teams and listen to how you can help them do their jobs better next year. Being heard and having their thoughts turned into action by management help your employees feel appreciated.”

“If your work culture is not operating with gratitude,” Bailey says, “not only will the holidays feel a bit empty, but your potential as a company will remain unfulfilled.”

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Michele Bailey (www.michelebailey.com) is the ForbesBooks author of The Currency Of Gratitude: Turning Small Gestures Into Powerful Business Results. She also is founder/CEO of The Blazing Group, a brand and culture agency born of her strategy-first approach to business and desire to enhance employee wellness in pursuit of business goals. She is also the founder of My Big Idea®, a mentoring program designed to propel individuals toward their personal and professional goals. Bailey has been recognized for contributions to women and entrepreneurship with honors such as the Bank of Montreal Expansion & Growth in Small Business Award and the Women’s Business Enterprise Leader Award in 2020. Bailey is a popular speaker and is also the author of a previous book, It’s NOT All About You, It’s About the Company You Keep.

tech
Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Retaining Talent Through Sustaining Momentum: Tech’s Starring Role in The Great Resignation

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We’re in the middle of a major shift in the workforce.

The pandemic caused a massive change from shared office space to remote work. As people spent time at home—and as they faced a multitude of intense stressors and even direct loss—they reevaluated what’s important when it comes to their careers.

Because of this, we’ve seen four million people quit their jobs in July 2021, and a record-breaking 10.9 million jobs remain open. You may have also seen the troubling statistic that up to 95% of the workforce is considering leaving their current company right now.

Companies looking to recruit and retain high performers are smart to take action in light of this Great Resignation. However, the answers may not be found in hefty signing bonuses or hasty returns to in-office collaboration.

The key is to lean even harder into the technology that has gotten us through this pandemic.

The pandemic as an unfortunate but powerful catalyst

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed business as usual, and companies had to become virtual, digital-centric, and agile faster than they could have imagined.

According to a global survey of executives conducted by McKinsey, companies took an average of only 11 days to move to remote working–40 times faster than they thought possible. Companies also adopted digital technologies for advancements in operations and decision-making 25 times faster than expected.

The pandemic disruption removed (sometimes artificial) barriers to adopting new technology and made it imperative that companies keep investing in technology to sustain, grow, and thrive.

Now let’s take it a step further: If we can leverage technology to get our businesses through a global pandemic, we can absolutely do the same to keep our people happy and engaged.

Here’s how.

1. Dig into the tools you already have

Businesses jumped into collaboration tools out of necessity over the pandemic with a very practical goal of keeping operations running remotely. With that hurdle cleared, it’s time we refocus our efforts from pure functionality to connection, culture, and engagement.

My team, for example, has been using Slack for nearly all of our internal communication and collaboration since 2017. Back then, our primary goal was to lessen email fatigue (which 38% of office workers say is likely to make them quit their jobs).

Once the pandemic hit, we needed that platform to do some heavier lifting for us. Some changes we’ve made include:

-Creating new forums (channels) for conversation around everything from the pandemic itself, to how we can best deliver value to our clients remotely, to social injustice and unlearning bias.

-Adding new integrations including more practical HR tools that “show” who is out when you can’t physically see your team, and fun tools like the Donut bot that randomly pairs employees up and facilitates conversations.

-Learning and taking advantage of the package’s ongoing developments, like the “huddle” feature and direct messaging with outside organizations.

-Doubling down on using our few mandatory channels for clear communication on changing policies, amplifying team achievements, and—perhaps most importantly—soliciting feedback.

Of course, keep in mind that simply providing tools is never enough; you have to also provide your team with the training to take proper advantage of them, and the safety and opportunity to do so. This is a place where active involvement (and modeling) from your leadership team can make a big difference.

2. Evaluate your tech through the lens of individual experience and equity

When it comes to engagement, 42% of employees say their peers have the greatest influence. We have also (fortunately) entered the stage where employees will not stand for what they perceive to be unfair treatment.

It’s incumbent on employers, then, to zero in on how employees experience their work on a day-to-day basis and whether they feel connected to their team and heard as an individual.

Take a run-of-the-mill department meeting, for instance. Say your new hybrid configuration has half the department in your office and half at home. Do the remote workers have equivalent means to participate in the meeting itself? In the more casual chit-chat that takes place before and after?  Can they clearly hear who is speaking and when they can interject? Can they read and add to notes being taken? Do they have the same opportunity to execute on any follow-up items?

Unbalanced interactions like this are subtle, but over time will erode connection and leave certain teammates feeling alienated. Identify places where you may be unintentionally creating rifts, and use that pandemic-inspired tech confidence to fix them. Some common areas for improvement are:

-A better conference room setup with barrier-breaking tools like the Vibe whiteboard and the Poly Studio soundbar/camera.

-A better home office setup with external cameras and speakerphones as needed, a stipend for better internet bandwidth, extra monitors, and so forth.

-Standardizing on a document co-authoring solution like SharePoint or Google Docs.

-Training your managers to opt for the most inclusive meeting and collaboration formats over what is most convenient.

Any new tools you add will require—you guessed it—training!

3. Make sure your digital presence reflects your priorities

My final point is one of visibility. If your company is making these great strides to do right by your team, do them and your business a favor by giving talented job seekers enough insight to want to join you.

Questions to consider are:

-Does our online presence (website, social media) show—not tell—our commitment to our people?

-Do our online employee reviews paint an accurate picture?

-Do our job descriptions capture our values in a way that an outsider would grasp? Are we explicit about remote work policy and benefits?

-Does our hiring process mirror our culture? Does it blend the responsiveness of automation with empathy?

Part of this involves the thoughtful use of specific technology tools. We, for example, have had great success with Bamboo HR to digitize, secure, streamline, and humanize our hiring and onboarding processes.

But a lot of this is the evolution of taking our office-bound corporate cultures digital. First and foremost we make sure all employees, regardless of location, are connected and bought into our culture. Then we take it externally and let all the talent out there know what we’re bringing to the table.

And the more we can get our current employees to tell our story online, the better—not only do most candidates inherently trust individuals over brands, but this also reinforces engagement with those employees.

Final thoughts

It’s true that the Great Resignation and the current labor shortage won’t last forever; people who want to change jobs or careers right now will make those shifts, and eventually the waves will settle.

The question is which organizations will come out on the other side with their high-performing employees intact, and with some new star players (whose previous employers weren’t savvy enough to keep them) on board.

If you want it to be yours, keep the momentum going. Technological competence and creative use of the right tools at the right time will empower your team to forge strong connections no matter where they’re physically located.

There are few competitive advantages as powerful as that.

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Heinan Landa is the Founder and CEO of Optimal Networks, Inc., a Rockville, MD-based IT company that helps law firms and associations achieve measurable business results by way of thoughtful technology guidance and white-glove support. For three decades clients have turned to Optimal when they are spending too much time overseeing their IT team, are worried about the security of their data, or are concerned their technology isn’t providing the mobility or flexibility that their employees and clients expect. For more, www.optimalnetworks.com, 240-499-7900, or info@optimalnetworks.com.

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Why Are Good Employees Leaving Your Company? 5 Tips To Keep Them.

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The job quitting isn’t stopping: a record 4.3 million workers left their jobs in August – a milestone that followed the April landmark of 4 million Americans exiting their companies.

Some people are leaving their jobs because the COVID-19 pandemic caused them to reconsider how much their companies value them. In that context, whether it’s a matter of pay, work demands, work-from-home flexibility, or overall culture, it’s important that businesses seeking stability and growth know how they can retain their best employees, says Michele Bailey (www.michelebailey.com), ForbesBooks author of The Currency of Gratitude: Turning Small Gestures into Powerful Business Results.

“With over 10 million employment vacancies, some people are leaving because they are confident they can find a better job, a better fit in line with the new perspective the pandemic has given them,” Bailey says. “So at this point, a good number of jilted employers should be asking themselves, ‘Why are talented people leaving my company? What can I do to change that, regain stability and grow?’

“The answer is often looking back in the mirror at them, and in how they treat people more as laborers than rare gems who are special – people who can make the workplace special. It’s fixable, but it’s all about putting your employees first.”

Bailey says in terms of retaining top employees, companies and their leaders should think about these points:

Know the cost of replacing good employees. One report shows that it costs 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement if that worker leaves. “Clearly, retention and development of existing employees make the most sense if they are the right fit,” Bailey says.

Encourage professional development. Bailey says forward-thinking, growth-oriented companies hire talented people with the capability of taking on bigger responsibilities. “Professional development provides the opportunity for steps up in their career path,” Bailey says. “Employees who do not see a clear path are at risk of leaving.”

Build culture by acknowledging the whole person. “Work-life balance” has gotten a lot of attention during the pandemic, but Bailey says good leadership ensures that balance is in place by going the extra mile to know employees and to listen to their concerns, whether personal or professional. “The reality is that all of us bring our personal selves to work and our work selves home with us,” she says. “When something is going well or poorly in either space, it tends to seep into our attitudes and behavior in the other. When you address the overall wellness of your people as part of your business mandate, you have people well-aligned and rowing in the same direction.”

Create an army of brand ambassadors by empowering your employees. Employees who feel their voices are heard at work are nearly five times (4.6) more likely to feel empowered to perform their best at work. Employees who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged at work, 8 percent more productive, and 15 percent less likely to leave their jobs. “Many businesses tout themselves as collaborative workplaces with great cultures; however, worker frustration suggests that the reality is otherwise,” Bailey says. “A good culture is a place where they’re freed to flourish, energized, and proud to represent the brand to clients.”

Reward and recognize. “Showing gratitude to your workforce is imperative to having a successful business,” Bailey says. “Eventually people want you to show them the money – and you must if you truly value them – but frequent shows of gratitude in any form should be consistent and timely.”

“We can hold onto our talent and keep our people engaged,” Bailey says, “by creating an environment where employees become emotionally connected through gratitude to company leadership, to each other, and to the company’s purpose.”

__________________________________________________________________

Michele Bailey (www.michelebailey.com) is the ForbesBooks author of The Currency Of Gratitude: Turning Small Gestures Into Powerful Business Results. She also is founder/CEO of The Blazing Group, a brand and culture agency born of her strategy-first approach to business and desire to enhance employee wellness in pursuit of business goals. She is also the founder of My Big Idea®, a mentoring program designed to propel individuals toward their personal and professional goals. Bailey has been recognized for contributions to women and entrepreneurship with honors such as the Bank of Montreal Expansion & Growth in Small Business Award and the Women’s Business Enterprise Leader Award in 2020. Bailey is a popular speaker and is also the author of a previous book, It’s NOT All About You, It’s About the Company You Keep.

culture quiet
Acquisitions, Archives, Global Trade Daily

M&A Includes Smart Navigating of Culture Issues When Merging

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Mergers and acquisitions are a common part of the corporate life cycle. For example, in the tech industry, many established companies will expand into new markets by buying startups that are innovating in emerging fields. But integrating a tiny startup into a much larger company can be challenging because they may operate in very different ways. Any merger could face similar issues, even with companies that seem similar. However, companies undergoing a merger can mitigate these clashes by recognizing each organization’s cultural distinctives and seeking thoughtful changes that benefit the combined whole.

A number of years ago, Deloitte conducted a survey to investigate issues of culture in mergers and acquisitions. The report defined culture as “the long-standing, largely implicit shared values, beliefs, and assumptions that influence behavior, attitudes, and meaning in a company.” In other words, corporate culture is how employees as a group think and act, and sometimes, cultural differences can become serious enough to derail integration.

As a simple example, a small startup might have Ping-Pong tables in the break room and provide sushi lunches for everyone on Fridays. These niceties may be less likely to persist at a large company with a stricter culture, so a merger between the two corporations could lead to disagreements between “fun” and “serious.” While disagreements over perks might frustrate employees, cultural differences can be much more serious, such as how leaders make decisions or how managers relate to their subordinates.

The first step to reconciling cultural differences is identifying them. As Deloitte notes, “The most insightful cultural observers often are outsiders, because cultural givens are not implicit to them.” Consider engaging key people from both companies to work on the cultural differences and decide how to reconcile them. This cultural integration team should hash out the details of what the key differences are, what needs to be kept, and what needs to be changed.

Early in the integration process, have the team start identifying how each company operates. Management style is an important aspect, but you should also consider how employees interact with each other and with managers within the company. Try to identify the implicit assumptions that both companies have. Once you have identified these assumptions, determine which ones align with the goals and vision of the combined company. Keep what will help.  Change what will not.

Throughout the process, make sure that the integration team communicates clearly what is happening and why. But do not simply dictate what changes will be made. Genuinely ask for input from employees at both companies. Keep them in the loop. Many people are wary of change, but transparency and being willing to listen will help prevent alienating anyone, which will encourage employees to stay.

When cultural integration is handled well, the combined company benefits from the strengths of the original organizations. McKinsey points out that “A merger provides a unique opportunity to transform a newly combined organization, to shape its culture in line with strategic priorities, and to ensure its health and performance for years to come.” Seize the opportunity and build a new corporate culture that benefits everyone involved.

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Louis Lehot is an emerging growth company, venture capital, and M&A lawyer at Foley & Lardner in Silicon Valley.  Louis spends his time providing entrepreneurs, innovative companies, and investors with practical and commercial legal strategies and solutions at all stages of growth, from the garage to global.