Logistics managers who invest time and money in training programs find that their employees opt to stay for at least 10 years. Nonetheless, we detected a catch-22 in many of today’s logistics departments. Often, companies are reluctant to train operating personnel, thinking that if they do, the chances that these employees will leave for better jobs increase. Thus, they do not invest in their employees and then wind up with people who are not qualified to do their jobs.
To help logistics managers make the best decisions about formalized training programs, we present the highlights of an extensive study, The Growth and Development of Logistics Personnel, by researchers at Mississippi State University. This book describes competencies, job requirements, and training needs for 22 logistics job families, ranging from the warehouse floor to the executive suite:
• Logistics managers must create organizations that adapt quickly to change and can add to the organizational knowledge base.
• Personnel training should develop a common view of the logistics system and its role in the firm, share or expand job knowledge, and refresh or enhance job skills.
• Logistics managers should leverage relationships with multiple training sources to meet the complex and diverse training needs of the logistics organization.
• Firms offering employability and personal development attract a larger, better-qualified pool.
• Logistics managers should view training as an investment, not as a cost. The best organizations invest significant time, effort, and money in training.
• Logistics managers should assure that they and their operating employees are prepared for changes that technology and competitive pressures bring about.
• Top logistics managers must grasp strategic purchasing, inventory control, and customer service issues as these functions increase in importance and change in organizational structure.
• Logistics managers must seek to train all employees at all levels, including themselves, in communication and self-management skills.
• Logistics managers should commit to formal training systems and programs as key elements in creating organizational advantages. Organizations cannot afford to wait for employees to learn on the job and become competent.
• Logistics managers will need knowledge-based technical competence, cross-functional experience, collaborative interpersonal skills, and self-management skills to manage logistics organizations. Operating employees will require many skills currently associated with management as firms eliminate organizational levels and assign more interpersonal tasks to the warehouse floor, production lines, and the vehicle.
• Logisticians need structured, formal training because of the shortage of fully prepared workers and the potential failure of unstructured, informal training. Formal training shortens the time it takes an employee to become competent in a task.
• Employees should be given a sense of growth and development. “If employees don’t have a sense of growth and development, from you, they will seek it elsewhere,” state the authors. “Where we once had a sense of movement in organizations and the chance to climb the corporate ladder, we no longer have that, so folks are willing to look for another job that does. If you want them to stick around, pay them.”
• Employees deserve a little latitude. If you are like most of your logistics peers, you probably have more people working for you than you used to, and you probably do not have the time to keep looking over their shoulders. Give them the tools to do their jobs.
• The exchange of accurate information should be accelerated. If your employees do not know what is going on, they will not know whether they are making good decisions.
• Training professionals or training managers should become certified as trainers. The authors warn that you should not rely on videos to train personnel just because they are the easiest training method.
• Jobs and people should fit each other. Make sure people are trained for their real jobs.
• On-the-job training (OJT) is more important than on-the-job experience (OJE). OJT is a structured program and not what occurs in most organizations, state the authors. They add, “Most often, organizations fire you into a swimming pool and tell you to figure things out for yourself.”
The authors conclude that OJT brings people to competence four times faster than does OJE.