Improving human capital quality remains paramount in revolutionising supply chain systems

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The situation will necessitate that skilled logistics leaders and staff are in place to weather the storm and ensure that businesses won’t only remain sustainable, but profitable as well.

The supply chain industry is facing continuous change and major shifts due to the complex demands of customers. This has an impact and certain quality expectations on the roles of the supply chain specialists to adapt and shape business solutions.

People at the heart of revival

Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, of supply chain software company Kinesis, points out that because today’s supply chains face many disruptions, it makes it extremely difficult to establish patterns, no matter how technologically-advanced algorithms may be.

"It’s humans who possess the ability to derive meaning from context, so when disruptions arise, it is people who are able to use business acumen and domain expertise to make the best decisions for their supply chain," she comments in Engineering & Technology magazine.

Certainly, in South Africa, there is huge scope for young, driven entrepreneurs to contribute effectively to supply chains.

A World Bank analysis for South Africa released in 2021 argued that if the country were to match the self-employment rates of countries like Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, making up an estimated 30% of all jobs, it could potentially halve its dismal unemployment rate of 34.9%.

Furthermore, the global human capital market size is expected to reach $32.68bn (R502bn) by 2027.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the increasing proclivity of companies towards artificial intelligence and machine learning to eliminate unnecessary IT costs will foster the growth of market sales.

In other words, there is fertile ground for the country’s entrepreneurs to grow, and people will be at the heart of any potential revival.

"People are the champions in making a business a success," says Harry Dimo, Bidvest International Logistics’ (BIL) human resources director.

"People are the fundamental human resources to provide quality service to the customers, therefore it is a must to continuously improve employees’ efficiency and performance."

Dimo cannot stress enough the importance of having the "correct people with the appropriate skills sets and experience" onboard to ensure processes happen as they should.

"The common qualities include the ability to solve technical problems, always display a sense of energy, learning and innovative capability, good leadership traits and intellectual humility.

"Individuals also need to be savvy in terms of the supply chain industry and be able to adapt to the continuous changes and challenges."

Building a talent supply chain

At BIL, for example, recruitment practices are geared to ensuring the company attracts and retains the best possible talent in the market.

Scouting for this talent occurs in a variety of ways. These include a state-of-the-art recruitment platform that connects to LinkedIn and all the biggest electronic job boards. There are also a large number of candidates on BIL’s database that enables it to find suitable replacements in shortened periods. The company also enjoys close relationships with recruitment agencies and boasts a well-established Employee Referral Programme which rewards employees for referring people they know to BIL.

Dimo recommends that recruiting individuals or companies should review their hiring processes by interrogating their pros and cons and align their hiring approach to business competency requirements.

"The BIL Academy, for example, had to become more innovative in how training and development should be remotely presented to employees, which brought about a big shift to insource training solutions which traditionally were outsourced to training providers," Dimo explains.

"Management is constantly faced with the difficult task of keeping employees motivated during tough economic challenges, including Covid-19 circumstances, both inside and outside of the workplace. As a result, the best practice leadership approach is critical to ensuring that we cultivate a motivated, happy and productive workforce."