What is Supply Chain Recruitment?

As a hiring manager or leader in your business, you know how important it is to find the right people. Have you been in this situation?: Your company identifies a market problem, it finds the solution, plans for it, gets the resources needed to do it, but when it's time to produce, the talent doesn't exist.

Or perhaps your operation is time-tested, built for maximum efficiency, and then suddenly, you lose a key employee, a linchpin for your business. Then you go through a lengthy process of finding the right person, costing you time and money.

When we don't have a supply chain recruitment process in place, we risk the future of the company. It's costly, productivity goes down, and the business comes to a halt. The best way to not only prevent a setback but thrive in the supply chain industry is by establishing a partnership that can provide qualified talent at the right time.

Overview: What is supply chain recruitment?

Supply chain recruitment is the process of hiring qualified talent within the supply chain industry; in the face of talent shortages, a specialized process identifies, verifies, and provides top talent for supply chain companies.

For example, imagine a company wins a new contract and needs to expand to fulfill its promise. They need new roles like inventory managers and a new director of supply chain. If they can't fill the role in time, they'll lose out on the opportunity and hurt their reputation. Or, if a company loses a key professional, they will also worry about existing obligations and responsibilities in the market.

People determine the success of an organization. If you don't have the right professionals when you need them, you stunt the growth of your company. When we revisit these last two scenarios and imagine a pipeline of qualified, promising talent, everything changes. They fulfill their obligations and save the time and money they would've lost without the right talent.

Supply chain recruitment eliminates the bottleneck on talent. As you grow, and as you operate, an active recruitment program sustains the company.

The Talent Shortage with Supply Chain

One of the greatest challenges for supply chain companies is the lack of talent needed to sustain and grow their business. As the supply chain industry becomes more complex and specialized with innovative technologies and shifting global needs, qualified professionals are becoming more scarce and hard to find.

The study, "The Supply Chain Talent Shortage: From Gap to Crises" by DHL highlighted the following:

"The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs in logistics are estimated to grow by 26 percent between 2010 and 2020 while one global study estimates that demand for supply chain professionals exceeds supply by a ratio of six to one"

This makes it difficult to find qualified talent for a company alone. It requires specialized processes, vast networks, and an expert team to make modern supply chain recruitment possible. Without the right talent, supply chains collapse. Between 2020-2021, the entire world saw what happened during the pandemic when the supply chain was disrupted. In addition to the lack of goods, the greatest challenges involved talent.

With high competition to procure qualified talent, companies cannot find top qualified professionals alone. Supply Chain Recruitment helps solve the issue. For example, Scope Recruiting recruits top talent for supply chain companies. Since they are made up of former supply chain professionals, they know exactly what's needed in candidates and can leverage their network to find top talent that's almost impossible to find on your own.

With initiatives like these, supply chain companies can focus on their operations while they can have confidence that the right talent will be continuously supplied to their company. While there may be shortages, a proactive strategy overcomes talent obstacles, giving organizations a competitive advantage.

Benefits of Supply Chain Recruitment

Now that we know the importance of supply chain recruitment, what are the benefits we can expect from a great program? Below are a few things companies see when qualified talent is provided to them.

“Supply chain recruitment eliminates the bottleneck on talent.”

1. Pipeline

As a professional in the supply chain, you know how critical efficient processes are. If there is a bottleneck, the company can lose millions and it can also trigger more issues down the line. A talent pipeline has qualified candidates ready when you need them, minimizing the wait in-between.

2. More Innovation

By hiring the best talent, you can expect more innovative solutions. Not only do great professionals do the job and excel in what they do, but they also rise above obstacles and find solutions. New, top talent that matches your needs can boost innovative solutions for profitable results.

3. Fewer Talent Bottlenecks

In a perfect world, our best employees would work for our company for as long as needed. Or at minimum, we would know well in advance before they leave the company. But that's not reality. Losing talent when you least expect it can cripple critical operations; one less employee, the search, training, and more steps extend the time before you are back to normal. Recruiters can eliminate most of this time.

4. Increase Productivity

With better talent and a full team, you can increase the productivity of your employees and operations. Not only does a great recruitment team find qualified talent, but they make sure they fit with your company culture-- increasing morale and synergy for productive work.

5. Save Costs

Losing an employee is costly. Your team stretches thin, trying to work harder to fill the gap, which decreases productivity. You spend resources searching for the right person and when you do, you need to train them. A long search and the possibility of choosing someone who isn't qualified or the wrong fit can cost thousands per position. Professionals help drastically decrease these risks.

These are only a few benefits of implementing a supply chain recruitment plan.

How to Choose the Right Recruiter

Supply chain recruitment can't happen on its own. The best way to implement an effective plan and program is by partnering with a firm that can meet your needs. We recommend choosing an agency for your company. An agency is full of diverse talent and professionals, backed with a robust network and resources, to identify supply chain talent that perfectly fits your expectations.

When you search for the right agency or firm, consider the following:

Do they align with your vision?

Many firms will promise to meet your needs, but do they understand your vision for the company? The easiest way to evaluate this is by paying attention to how they interact with you. Do they speak a lot or do they listen and give you room to voice your expectations and concerns? You want to find someone who will partner with you, not check you off the list.

Do they understand your industry?

Is the agency well-versed and experienced in your field? If they aren't, they are just headhunters. They might be good at finding talent but they'll struggle to find the right talent for you. Their network is also limited. Find a partner that specializes in your industry. They know what you need on a deep level and have a much larger network in the industry.

Do they have the right team and resources?

Your company's success depends on people. That makes your decision for the right agency extremely important. They are supplying you with your future success (or failure). Make sure the supply chain recruitment agency has a healthy team of top-talent professionals with the best resources to support your needs.

Do they produce results?

Is the agency experienced? Do they have a successful track record of finding top talent for companies similar to yours? Review their past work and see if they have credibility.

What is their reputation?

Is the agency trusted? If there are reviews or comments available about them, are they positive? You will be partnering with them and you want to make sure you are making the right choice. See if they put relationships at the center of their work.

Do they match your company DNA?

It might sound strange to think of DNA and culture when your biggest need is hard skills. But when you are working with a recruitment agency that will choose your future employees, it's important to make sure attitudes and values align. If you want your company to be innovative, productive, and high-energy, then make sure your future partner aligns with that DNA and can build the perfect team for you.

Once you check the list, you can filter out your options and find the right partners for your supply chain recruitment strategy.

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If we had to answer "what is supply chain recruitment" in one sentence it would be: a proactive strategy to identify and recruit top talent for the supply chain industry. While the definition is simple, there's a lot that goes into a successful strategy.

A strong partnership makes sure you get the right talent when you need it. It identifies hard-to-find talent and helps you secure it. Instead of searching for talent when it's too late, you can thrive off a proactive strategy that builds a strong foundation for your supply chain business.

If you would like to learn more about supply chain recruitment for your company, contact us for more information.