Good logistics can lower trade costs and helps countries compete globally. Despite extensive mechanisation and automation, logistics at an operational level is still a labour-intensive business. How well these employees are qualified, trained and retained is a major factor of logistics performance. Yet this factor is often overlooked or taken for granted.
At present, the industry is largely operated by semi-skilled workforce, especially at the entry level. There is a huge shortage of qualified personnel on all levels – truck driver to senior management positions. The recruiters are no more interested in generalists; they look for candidates having industry-based academic qualifications and/or prior industry or functional experience. In short, industry requires competent workforce at all levels. Due to this situation a “war for talent” exists among competing companies in the logistics sector.
The gap between what is taught in the class and requirements in the field needs to be bridged. Logistics organisations must improve their HR policies and strive to retain key employees by offering transparent career paths
Unfortunately, the quantity and quality of the available academic logistics education is suboptimal and often the students coming out do not possess the skills or the knowledge required in practice. Rapidly changing logistics job requirements often create gap between the market requirements and academic programs. To maintain the alignment between the two, revision of academic programs according to the changing requirements of the industry is needed.
Logistics being a “boundary spanning” activity, it cuts across the borders of various business functions and hence employees on all levels must possess a cross functional understanding of various business fields. They need to look beyond their own functional area and understand how their jobs connect to the entire process and must be aware of the implications of their actions for the wider supply chain. Logistical integration of business operations occurs across geography on a 24×7 basis. Hence the employees in supervisory and managerial positions must possess a set of soft skills – communication, inter cultural, strategic decision making, leadership, analytical and IT skills – in order to manage the manifold tasks they face on a daily basis. Unfortunately, these are the skills they most often lack. This is mainly because, the employees who possess operational knowledge and expertise get promoted to senior management positions and put in charge of an entire unit or department without having had any previous exposure to leadership roles or training. Often training is limited to short-term on the job training, provided by colleagues during daily operations.
Advanced certification is not required for a successful career in logistics. However, continuously broadening one’s knowledge through classroom and on-the-job training is crucial for a successful career growth. Detail employee orientation is a prerequisite for the companies in logistics sector. The logistics organizations must improve their HR policies and strive to retain key employees by offering transparent career paths, appealing working environments and employee development programs (training programs at the company level).
