Supply chain training not only enhances employees’ individual skills and knowledge in the short term. It can also play a key role in improving a company’s long-term strategic performance by driving sustainable improvements and creating competitive advantage. Well-prepared participants and effective training design provide a strong foundation for achieving these results. However, other ‘levers’ need to be pulled to truly maximize the business impact of a supply chain training programme, according to The Value Chain Academy’s Director Stefan Hoogervorst. “Many companies give too little thought to what happens afterwards,” he says in this blog.
Supply chain training is on the agenda
A growing number of companies have recognized the supply chain’s crucial strategic importance for business success, and are investing in creating more agility and supply chain resilience. Especially since the pandemic, they have realized the importance of having people with the right skills to deal with the steady stream of new and unforeseen challenges in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. They also need to keep pace with the digital transformation, and – in view of the talent shortage – to strengthen their employee recruitment and retention position. As a result, they have put supply chain training on the agenda as a way to deal with uncertainty and safeguard their long-term future.
Unfortunately, however, simply making employees follow a training programme is no guarantee for success. In today’s high-intensity workplaces, employees can perceive obligatory training as an extra burden. In the worst-case scenario, training programmes can result in disappointment, frustration and demotivation rather than the expected benefits. So how can you ensure that your supply chain training achieves the desired impact?
The six pillars of effective supply chain training design
At The Value Chain Academy, we believe this starts with working closely with each client to ensure that the training is tailored to the participants’ needs within the context of the organization’s specific objectives. Additionally, it is important to create an effective learning environment with a focus on practical applicability. To achieve this, we design all our supply chain training programmes around six pillars:
- Experiential learning
- Blending different learning formats
- Tailored learning programmes
- Team-based learning
- Learning by application
- Learning from expert practitioners.
These six pillars provide a solid foundation for designing and executing a training programme. We address the participant’s motivation and commitment (‘I want’, ‘I can’ and ‘I will’), ensure that the programme content is clear and practically relevant, and help to build each participant’s confidence and understanding of what they have to do differently. But what happens once the training is finished?
Making learning stick: the 12 levers of transfer effectiveness
The importance of asking this question is illustrated by the ‘12 Levers of Transfer Effectiveness’ model. This scientifically backed tool breaks impactful training down into three aspects: ‘trainees’, ‘training design’ and ‘organization’. No less than 5 of the 12 levers are in the ‘organization’ category. Many of the companies we talk to admit to giving too little thought to this aspect before launching a training programme, which clearly means they are failing to maximize the business impact of their supply chain training.
The 5 ‘organization’ levers hold the key to creating the right conditions so that supply chain training programmes will support your organizational growth. After receiving training, employees should be given the time and opportunity to apply their new knowledge and skills in their daily work. Their efforts to do so must be encouraged and recognized, both by their managers and their colleagues. It is also important to make the transfer expectations clear in the organization. In this context, for one of The Value Chain Academy’s clients, we developed a ‘boarding pass’ concept to ensure that enough time and support was devoted to thinking about transfer planning during the training programme itself rather than not until afterwards.
This approach helps participants to feel that their training is taken seriously and is worthwhile. Just as in any change management process, managers play an important role in altering how training is perceived within the organization. There are various ways for management to demonstrate their support and sponsorship, such as by holding a welcoming speech at the kick-off of each training programme, actively taking part in a number of sessions, or selecting a project for real-life implementation based on participants’ pitches at the end of a programme.
Building a culture of continuous improvement
An extra advantage of the management being actively involved is that it kickstarts the shift to a culture of continuous learning and continuous improvement. By providing training sessions that are relevant, beneficial and supported within the organization, you keep your employees motivated and enthusiastic. Once they realize that what they learn can make a tangible difference in practice, they no longer see training as an obligation or a burden. The aim should be to make training a normal and ongoing part of their working life, rather than a rare occurrence. Over time, this results in an infinite cycle of continuous learning, applying the knowledge, making improvements and further learning.
Empower your organization
With the right approach to supply chain training, companies empower not just individuals but also their entire organization to achieve sustainable results. Teams with the right skills and mindset no longer think in silos but put the organization’s best interests first in cross-functional decision-making and are faster to reach consensus on trade-offs. Meanwhile, in a culture of continuous learning and improvement, flexibility and agility become part of the company’s DNA, allowing faster action to secure competitive advantage and ensure future success in today’s dynamic supply chain landscape. Therefore, when you start planning a supply chain training programme, it’s advisable to think about what the participants will need not only during the training, but also afterwards.
Are you ready to turn your supply chain training into real business impact?
The Value Chain Academy has developed a checklist to help you assess your organizational readiness for a supply chain training programme. Contact us for more details about this or any other of Involvation’s tailored Learning & Development services, or go to:
