Does management training lead to a brain drain?

Some companies don't train logistics managers for fear that they'll jump ship. But experts counter that training can be both a key retention tool and a competitive weapon.

By -- Logistics Management, 9/1/2000

"There is no question that there is a shortage of talent in the logistics profession these days." So says Maria McIntyre, vice president of operations for the Council of Logistics Management, an Oak Brook, Ill.-based professional association of logistics personnel. "This hasn't been the case for years," she adds, "and the situation has employers scrambling to attract and retain good talent."

That shortage has forced many employers to promote managers and supervisors or expand their job responsibilities without adequate training. "Our research shows that [many] logistics managers, at one time or another, end up in jobs for which they have received little or no training," reports Stephen LeMay, professor of marketing and logistics at Mississippi State University. "For example, they might start in purchasing, then be given responsibility for transportation or warehousing."

Challenges like these point to the need for employers to provide comprehensive and up-to-date training to their managers and supervisors. Associations and universities are answering the call. "More and more universities are creating logistics departments and offering logistics as degree programs," notes Amy Thorne, executive director of the Distribution Business Management (DBM) Association in Lancaster, Pa., which focuses on supply chain management education initiatives and new logistics technologies. "Today, people are realizing that logistics is the heartbeat of the whole economy," she adds.

Why Train?

Surprisingly, though, there is controversy over the strategic benefits of training managers. Though some employers offer comprehensive, continuous logistics management training programs as a way to attract, motivate, and retain good managers, others prefer to provide as little training as possible to their managers and supervisors. The rationale: "The better trained our managers are, the more marketable they are to other employers, and the more likely they will be noticed by recruiters. So why invest all of that time and money to train our managers when it will only encourage them to leave?"

This argument just doesn't hold up, says LeMay. "If you train your managers and keep them on the leading edge, they can leave anytime they want," he admits, but there are also steps you can take to retain top talent. One of the best things you can do, he says, is make a commitment to keep them on the leading edge with continuous training. "Our research shows that most logistics managers like the high-tech side of logistics, and they like using the 'toys,'" he explains. "One of the best ways to keep them around, then, is to provide them with the toys as well as the training to use those toys."

Furthermore, if you fail to provide training to your managers, they will no longer remain on the leading edge. They will, in essence, fall behind. Then, you have to ask yourself, "Why would I want managers who aren't trained?" "All [untrained managers] will do is cause your company to fall further behind, too," says LeMay. "They will become liabilities to your organization, rather than assets."

Training managers can also help keep them motivated. Although mediocre and poor managers may be content to stay with your organization, the very best managers and supervisors crave challenge. "If you have good managers and they are not motivated, they will go elsewhere to find challenges that motivate them," continues LeMay. "In other words, your best managers may leave your organization just to get training!"

Why not just allow your managers to receive their training on the job? There are two reasons why formal training is better:

First, formal training provides managers with information quickly. "Research I have read suggests that it takes managers three times as long to learn something through on-the-job experience as it does by providing them with formal training," reports LeMay.

Second, on-the-job training is less effective than formal education. "That same research found that managers with formal training were able to solve 80 percent of the problems given to them," notes LeMay, "while managers who did not receive formal training could only solve 30 percent of the problems they were given."

Overall, training provides managers with the skills they need to perform their jobs. When they gain these skills, they are able to take on more exciting challenges. Their ability to master new challenges both benefits your organization and increases their job satisfaction. Ultimately, improved job satisfaction encourages managers to stay where they are-with your organization. "The companies we studied that had the lowest turnover among logistics managers and supervisors all had very highly regarded training programs," emphasizes LeMay. "These companies gave their managers and supervisors the tools to do their jobs-their whole jobs."

Simply providing training, of course, won't guarantee that you can retain your best managers. You also need to have other perks in place. "Good pay, benefits, profit-sharing, an enjoyable work environment, and the opportunity for advancement need to be linked with your training," notes Kevin McNulty, director of member services for the International Warehouse Logistics Association in Park Ridge, Ill.

Types of Training

What kind of training should you provide to managers? There are basically three types:

The first is technical skills training. "The biggest trend today in logistics management training relates to e-commerce," reports Thorne. "At a recent conference, for example, all of the top CEOs in the industry focused their comments on this area."

"We found a lot of interest in an e-commerce program we recently offered," adds McNulty. "Managers wanted to know how e-commerce and e-business would affect their businesses in general and their careers specifically. They were familiar with many of the general concepts. What they really wanted, though, were the hands-on, tactical applications, so they could apply the knowledge in their jobs."

The second is communication and "people skills" training. "There is more interaction among logistics professionals and others than there is in just about any other profession," notes LeMay. "They talk with internal customers, with employees, with suppliers, with regulators, and with many others."

The third is training in how to teach others. "You can't assume that just because someone holds the position of manager or supervisor that this person has the ability to train subordinates," cautions LeMay. "Managers need to receive training on how to train their own people."

McNulty agrees. "We are familiar with a lot of companies that are looking for 'train the trainer' programs," he says. "They have a lot of people who possess a lot of information, but these people don't know how to train everyone else in that information."

To Certify or Not to Certify

Providing your managers and supervisors with formal training is one thing. Arranging for them to become formally certified by a third-party organization is something else. If you are concerned that trained managers are attractive game for recruiters, then you are probably doubly concerned about the attractiveness of certified managers. Yet, those with experience in this area find that the benefits of certification far outweigh the perceived drawbacks.

"Employees are your Number One asset, so you must invest in them with training," emphasizes Thorne. The DBM Association offers a four-year formal certification program that incorporates both educational theory and applied practice in conjunction with a number of universities worldwide.

One of the requirements of receiving certification is writing a thesis on lessons learned, including how the managers have applied these lessons in their own organizations. This exercise helps prove to corporations the value of investing in training, says Thorne. "Employers can [see] how much time and money they invested in each manager's certification, as well as what return they received on their investment, as a result of the way the managers have applied their knowledge in their organizations."

One company that understands the value of certification very well is Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tenn. When Barry Dale was director of global logistics, he and all of the department's managers and supervisors spent four hours every two weeks in training on how to become better managers and supervisors. "The training built a uniformly high level of supervisory and managerial skills in the department, as well as a strong cohesiveness among the management team," says Dale, who is now president of ShipChem.com, a new division of Eastman Chemical.

Encouraged by the success of this program, the department took on its next challenge-formal certification through the American Society of Transportation & Logistics (AST & L). "I have heard employers say they don't like certification, because it makes their people more visible to recruiters," notes Dale. "We found that the certification actually provided our people with many more career opportunities and challenges within our organization, making them much more valuable to us than they once were."

As part of the certification program, department members voluntarily participated in lunchtime classes, took four four-hour exams, and conducted a research project. "The response was excellent," says Dale. "Twenty-four of our people received certification."

When Eastman Chemical created ShipChem.com and named Dale president, he began looking for qualified people to move into the new organization. "Because of the training our logistics people had received, I have been able to tap a large number of them to transfer over to ShipChem.com this year," he says. "Without the training and certification, we would not have been able to form this new company and staff it with the quality of people we now have."

William Atkinson is a freelance writer specializing in human resources issues.