Logistics Quarterly

Many companies are bridging the gap between today’s new breed of logisticians and seasoned practitioners in operations. Using On-the-job training (OJT) is a commonly used practice to overcome the gap between theory and application in today’s workplace, but with mixed results. Here’s an insightful perspective on why you should engage new ways to share best practices in today's fast-changing work environment.

THIS IS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY of the launch of Sputnik. It was a revolutionary event for the western world. It changed everything. The Soviet Union had just demonstrated their scientific and technical superiority to the West in a very showy way, the launching of mankind’s first earth satellite. School children practiced response to nuclear warfare by clustering in concrete block school hallways or ducking under desks. Sputnik overhead meant the skies were no longer safe. Something had to be done! In the United States, this furor lead to the creation of NASA and a bold promise by the President.

The space race was on. Educational institutions changed their curriculum to focus on math and science. These changes have shaped much of our economy since. A long list of changes in processes, people and communications have cascaded in the time since. Today we have continual and accelerated changes in supply chains caused by new managers armed with the ability to communicate, process data in real time and driven by global competition to improve processes.

Training and development of operational staffs has not kept up. Supply chain management requires responding to the ever changing demands of the users. Better, faster, cheaper; the beat goes on. Work processes have been re-engineered. The workers on the floor of a warehouse have seen the need to use their judgment decrease. Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) direct them to a specific place and to do a specific task with little judgment or flexibility allowed. Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) follow the driver’s every move. The work on the floor or in the cab is getting more mechanical and less craftsman like. However, the supervisor’s job has dramatically increased in complexity. It requires a broader set of skills than ever before.

The array of tools has grown, the precision of the output is meticulously measured, the visibility up the chain of command is transparent and the workforce challenges such as multilingualism have all created substantial complexity for supervisors. The execution of the supply chain tasks falls to the supervisor and the operations manager. They need help. The job will continue to get tougher. The next wave of changes required by demand driven supply chains will drive decision making to the lowest level possible. This is necessary to provide the flexibility needed to respond instantly to the consumer. These will fall on the first two levels of management again.

Companies have responded to this by trying to upgrade their supervisory workforce. In the period from 1995 until 2006 the average number of supervisors with some level of college increased from 35.0 to 56.4 percent of the supervisors in the WERC Salary survey. The increase in college graduates was astounding, almost tripling from 12 to 34 percent of the supervisors. Larger organizations are recruiting supply chain graduates. These academically trained logisticians are being turned out by hundreds of supply chain programs in community colleges and major universities.

Turnover complicates this process; Companies are reluctant to invest in people who will be gone tomorrow. Are they leaving because you don’t care? The gap between more highly educated theoretical managers and the somewhat roboticized yet experienced employees creates unique problems and requires bridging. The new managers are strong in general theory; the workforce is strong in specific company- centric application, including what has failed in the past.

Although most supply chain executives are training their people, the most common method is on-the-job training (OJT).This is usually done with a lead or a supervisor designated to provide the correct set of skills and process knowledge for new floor employees and management training for supervisors. This has little or no chance of being effective for supervisory or management personnel. Today’s manager has too many conflicting priorities to do an effective job of training the supervisors. OJT training almost invariably teaches the processes in your own company. Conflicting priorities, time, a small set of experiences and personal preferences all make internal training less than perfect. The tools have changed, the complexity of the tasks has changed and the workforce has changed.

If you are continuing to use the same old methods of training you will be changed. Lower level managers need exposure to work methods in different supply chains to effectively provide training and potential process improvements to their people. So our conclusion is that the more things change, the more your first levels of management must have upgraded skill sets and practical educational background. This can be obtained if you reach outside of your overburdened operations staff to get the expertise to develop your largest management group, the supervisors and managers. They deliver your results.