Wanted: Logistics sharpshooters

Companies today want logistics managers to be equally well-versed in operations, info technology, and leadership skills.

By Laurie Joan Aron -- Logistics Management, 9/1/1999

What are companies looking for in a supply chain manager today? "They want the world," says John Haines of Russellville, Ark. The job-hunting and unemployed Haines, 50 and with decades of experience and an M.B.A. from Penn State, has gotten an up-close-and-personal look at current market needs.

"Companies want much more technically oriented people now, and they're looking for people with much more broad-based experience. They're looking for people who understand the economics of logistics as they apply to every other function," says Haines. "It used to be that being able to run a warehouse and manage people was basically all you needed."

Companies also are demanding an unprecedented level of leadership and team orientation. "At the most senior level, what companies want is almost unquantifiable," says George Sola, vice president with A.T. Kearney Executive Search in Chicago. "It's character. It's nuance. It's people skills and technology skills combined."

Put those together and there's no question that the job-qualifications bar in the logistics field has been raised. As Haines and many other logistics executives are finding out, the metamorphosis of transportation and distribution into supply chain management means that technology and leadership skills are in greater demand than operational savvy these days.

Keep Up With Technology

When companies go "shopping" for supply chain managers, technological expertise often is at the top of their wish lists. That knowledge isn't always easy to find, says Kenneth V. Eckhart, managing director of the Global Logistics Practice for headhunter Spencer Stuart in Miami. "Shippers are having to be more creative in finding people with the technology skills the older distribution and traffic managers don't have," he observes. "The need for technology skills really puts the pressure on. They're looking for younger people. They're looking inside consulting companies. They're even hiring guys away from high-tech companies like Oracle and SAP and putting them into what was the transportation and distribution function."

That's why there's so much pressure on logistics professionals to keep up with or stay slightly ahead of the technology curve, says Ron Peterca, vice president of human resources for GATX Logistics in Jacksonville, Fla. As for the future prospects of those who don't keep their computer skills up to date, Peterca puts it bluntly: "If you haven't kept current with the technology, you'll be left behind."

Focus on "Soft" Skills

Not only are companies seeking an unprecedented level of technological savvy, but they also are trying to hire adaptive, open-minded people who can function effectively in a logistics environment that's become a complex matrix of customers, partners, and suppliers. "Soft" and almost indefinable "people skills" have become as important as the ability to analyze gaps in software systems.

People skills are absolutely at the top of the new-hire wish list for Scott Talley, vice president of distribution for wholesale computer distributor Daisytek International in Memphis, Tenn. "Technology skills are the base requirement, but after that, I focus all my attention on softer skills: leadership, attitude, communication ability, and integrity. These may have been important a few years ago, but now they're absolutely essential," he says. "Five years ago, only a select few senior staff had any contact with customers or suppliers. Now, we've got people at all levels interacting with customers regularly."

Bernie Dolling, corporate recruiter for Menlo Logistics in Redmond City, Calif., also places a premium on softer skills. "I know we're driven by IS (information systems), but it's not rocket science," he says. "New hires may not know our system, but they'll know some other systems, and they'll be able to figure it out. What we really value is people who are sensitive and creative."

The shift to broader, supply chain thinking, moreover, means that employers want logistics talent to mesh well with its counterparts in other functional areas. Not only has that changed the qualifications companies are looking for, but it's also affected the interview process. "Candidates used to just meet with human resources and logistics management. Now, they're interviewing with their prospective colleagues in every other department," says Alex Metz, president of recruiting firm Hunt Ltd. in Lyndhurst, N.J.

This radical shift in expectations puts many experienced logistics managers in an uncomfortable position, grappling with potential skills gaps while competing with newly minted M.B.A.s from universities with great logistics programs. Geoffrey Sease, a 1997 graduate of the University of Tennessee, now is supervisor for rail services and equipment management at Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tenn. He was tapped for his up-to-date information-technology skills as well as the flexible, supply chain mindset he's learned at school. "Companies are looking to M.B.A.s in logistics to bring to the table new ideas and a cross-functional perspective," he says.

The university logistics graduates' lack of operational experience doesn't seem to be a big drawback. "Companies hire graduates with exceptional credentials and train them in operations. They'll send them to the warehouse for six months. The point is these graduates have the skills to move the company forward, and they'll move very rapidly up the management chain," observes Jim Coker, vice president, strategic direction of Atlanta-based consultants interBiz Supply Chain Group.

This trend is gaining strength, say some industry observers. "There's a need to develop new leadership," says Ted Bouras, assistant director of the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, "people who are highly adaptive, with all the soft skills and a comfort level with systems."

Greater Expectations

As the requirements become stiffer, job-seekers are finding the job hunt can take a very long time, even in a robust economy. "The expectations are so much greater today that an employer will interview many more candidates," says Metz. "What used to take a couple of weeks now takes three or four months."

This is small comfort to Haines, who's just now hearing from companies that received his résumé three months ago. Still, he recognizes that the logistics job market has changed because the business context in which logistics operates is different today. "When I got my M.B.A., degrees in logistics were rare and the guys in distribution were often the guys who couldn't cut it in manufacturing," he recalls. Now, however, companies are under too much pressure to provide outstanding customer service to relegate logistics to the back seat, he says. "There's too much money to be made or lost. If you sell a dollar's worth of goods, you might make 20 cents, but if you save a dollar on supply chain management, it drops right to the bottom line."

Laurie Aron is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in logistics issues.