DC Velocity - September 2010

BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR

DEVELOPING SUPPLY CHAIN TALENT
specialreport

meet the supply chain’s meet the supply chain’s
young blood young blood

Today’s up-and-coming supply chain professionals are no-nonsense, results-oriented types who are eager to make a splash. But recruiters take note: It’s going to take more than money to snag one.

IF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS FOR SUPPLY chain management professionals were conducted like the National Football League draft, then William Smith might be considered a first-round pick.

Smith, 22, will graduate in December from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with two degrees. One is in logistics with a concentration in international business. The other is in Spanish.

In theory, Smith sits in the young logistician’s version of the “sweet spot.” Not only does he enter a field growing in corporate and geographic relevance, but he also possesses the bilingual skills that will enable him to more easily assimilate into foreign markets and cultures than his unilingual peers.

So what will it take to hire Smith, who is just now starting to chart his career path and has yet to receive any job offers? More to the point, what will it take to retain him?

Recruiters may be interested to know that in Smith’s case, it’s not about the money. Rather, it’s

about having the freedom and the autonomy to change the game.

“I would like to have the authority to come up with
unique solutions to problems and challenges I’m pre-
sented with,” he says. “I’d like to know that my per-
spectives and contribution are making a difference for
my company and its customers.”
Asked where he puts financial compensation on the
priority list, Smith replies, “This is my career. I want to
have more fulfillment than just financial well-being.”

Doing it their way

Meet the “newbies” of the supply chain, a paradox in progress. They possess the tech savvy and global orientation you’d expect of today’s young professionals. They are no-nonsense, results-oriented types who will demand the flexibility—largely enabled by mobile office technology—to do it their way.