Since March 2020, the world has changed completely: from the old normal to the ‘new normal’ and everything in between. That has placed great demands on everyone, and supply chain management professionals are no exception. Today, resilience is more important than ever. While it is tempting to throw ourselves into the work at hand and the problems brought on by the pandemic, it is important to keep looking ahead. If we want to be able to depend on ourselves – and our employees – being resilient in the future too, we can’t afford to be complacent. That’s why a crisis calls for a different approach to talent development.
While it continues to be difficult to find and recruit new talent, retaining and also nurturing existing talent could actually be an even bigger challenge right now – and particularly since everyone is working from home and training & development programmes have been put on hold (albeit temporarily). So how can you ensure that your supply chain professionals continue to learn and develop?
In that respect, the crisis has opened our eyes to a new way of learning. It has removed – or at least significantly weakened – the barriers to remote learning and development. Additionally, we have seen the emergence of all kinds of new ways for people to work on their development interactively and effectively, online as well as offline. Training courses can be held perfectly satisfactorily online thanks to a whole range of digital tools, and in the case of development programmes it can actually work out well to stretch them out over a longer period of time. That allows everyone to learn in their own way and at their own pace, at a time that suits them. An added advantage is that the boundaries between working and learning are becoming increasingly blurred. That’s a perfect fit with the motto of ‘continuous learning’, plus people can put new tools and techniques into practice immediately.
There are a few risks associated with working and learning remotely. For example, people can feel not only physically but also psychologically distanced from one another when they are not in the same room together. As a result, an online development programme can be a lonely experience. That makes it even more important to create a sense of togetherness during remote learning, such as by including lots of online group work rather than letting everyone follow their own individual programme. As an extra bonus, learning together often leads to better and more effective results!
It’s not easy to set learning goals and draw up an effective supply chain training programme to achieve them. With their expertise, the HR department and the Supply Chain Management team can play a key role in this process, since it is essential to choose relevant topics and objectives and to carefully select the right target group. Development shouldn’t be approached as an ‘all you can eat’ concept. Instead, it’s important to look at each target group and identify which employees could (and sometimes must) learn more about which topics.
In other words, rather than being complacent, you should view the pandemic as a chance to give the resilience of your team – and your supply chain management activities – an extra boost. Open your mind to Talent Development 2.0. In fact, in this day and age, you could be forgiven for thinking that the traditional classroom setting is no longer necessary!
Are you keen to know more about learning & development (L&D) or are you curious about the training opportunities for your supply chain team? Contact Alfons Willemsen, our Involvation partner who is specialized in L&D.