SupplyChainTalk: Succession planning to avoid supply chain disruptions

On 25 September 2024, SupplyChainTalk host Ana-Maria Velica was joined by Antoine A. Pratt, Operations Manager -  Cardiac Cath Lab and Interventional Radiology, VHC Health; Judy Webb-Hapgood, Supply Chain Officer, University of Miami; and Denes Bozso, Head of Order Fulfillment Planning Europe and North America, Nokia. 

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The average age of the transportation and warehousing workforce is 43 years. Young talent tends to leave the sector if they don’t see enough opportunities for career progression. To address this problem, mentorship can be an effective tool in retaining young and talented workers. Historical knowledge is key, but the space is so volatile that only a forward-looking strategy can bring results.  

Identifying and cultivating talent 

Prior to establishing a succession planning framework, you must answer certain questions, such as what sort of talent you are seeking – adaptive ones that can adjust to new working environments and upscaling, or ones that leave things as they are and won’t change. As a supply chain professional you should be able to forecast and write strategic road maps on an annual basis, as well as articulate this plan to leaders, so they know what role they have to play in executing the plan.

Talent should be offered opportunities that they may  never have seen before and it should be explained to them how they can leverage these. Delegation is an excellent litmus test of talent. One approach that can be effective is to tell employees that they are considered for taking a position in the future, which will inspire them to think about how they can get more productive and adaptive.

Typically, the mentor won’t be the employee’s supervisor or superior in the chain of command. Getting employees outside their comfort zone can also propel them towards greater achievements and discovering new strengths. Mentoring makes perfect sense across industries as well.

There should also be corporate frameworks in place that guide how knowledge is transferred to the next generation, which job shadowing can be an integral part of. So can job rotation, which is also a great tool to keep employees engaged if there are no promotion opportunities available for some reason. To keep your supply chain future-oriented, you as a leader must go to conferences, workshops and build relationships with peers at other organisations.

In succession planning, you need to ensure that there is no single point of failure, where on person leaving the company leads to a standstill in that function. 

The panel’s advice 

• Ideation competitions within the supply chain team are a great way of engaging talent and tapping into their creativity. 
• Build your succession planning on two criteria – performance and potential. 
• Leadership is not just about giving commands, you must also inspire your team.  
• Be open about succession planning, don’t do it in secrecy behind closed doors.