Why Supply Chain is a Great Career with Sofia Rivas Herrera

so one of the big challenges in supply chain today is attracting and retaining really good talent that's the topic for this week coming right [Music] up so attracting and retaining talent in supply chain we're talking this week with someone who's very passionate about this topic Sophia welcome sophiaa uh and what part of the world are you talking to us from well um hello Rob thank you so much for inviting me I am in gu Mexico right now wow and this is we're been across the world right now right yeah yeah and I think we connected a little while ago on LinkedIn didn't we when you uh you and you've been doing some amazing stuff over the last couple of years you've been speaking at loads of seminars and conferences and and you run a podcast as well on supply chain yeah well the they invited me to host some of the episodes and that's something I have been doing it it was uh Parkins in Spanish yeah so yeah it was a really interesting project that's amazing yeah and I know one of your passions is around attracting and retaining talent in supply chain maybe we could kick off with what Drew you to supply chain you know why is supply chain out of all the careers yeah sure so I think well a little bit of background I studied industrial engineering here in Mexico and that career is a bit more focused on manufacturing or that's how they teach it in this part of the world and at the end I I found that I didn't want to spend my life in manufacturing or in production lines and that I needed something more and one day a professor mentioned the word supply chain and for me it was like okay I need to go find out more about it and I haunted it down all over the world until I finally um yeah until I finally dedicated all my elective courses to that and then I specialize on the topic and that's and I really enjoy it and the reason why is it's more holistic right it it also accounts for manufacturing but it goes from the idea of a product to the delivery of it and now even to the return of that product into a new life cycle so I think for me the type of challenges that I face in this field are not are not limited and are not the same and I think that's one of the things why I like it so much it it's interesting isn't it that I I think supply chain attracts people who are kind of kind of part engineer in their minds I mean it's it can be quite analytical but it also has that very practical aspect and and and uh you know it's it's a very people focused industry as well I think so uh yeah I think uh it's great that you're promoting it out there so what what's your interest in know Talent acquisition and retention are you is are you kind of wanting more people to get into supply chain what what's behind that uh disclaimer I'm not in HR no no no I understand that but you're kind of an ambassador aren't you for supply chain yeah correct it's just for our our audience then that they don't get confused but you heard it here don't don't don't ask Sophia for jobs she's not in don't ask me for jobs well you can and maybe we can see but I can't promise anything um but yeah I think like from what I've seen in in my career is that whenever you we get a lot of people in entry level jobs for supply chain but not of them not all of them and move on to the next phas which would be I would say like mid level management or I don't know from that even higher to C C levels and and that those kind of following that hierarchical path right and from the beginning to that point you see even less and less diversity and I see diversity not only in terms of people from different places around the world who speak different languages but also gender gender-wise you see even less and less women when you keep growing in the industry so I think part of my motivation is how can we bring more people to get interested about supply chain but also how can we make them stay and understanding what's making them go to other to other areas and and yeah I think that that's something I preach and and speak to every day and especially because I know that for example there are the new generations coming have special skills and special focuses and expertise that I know that will bring a lot of value to the industry as well and I know that going to marketing sounds more exciting than supply chain but that's why I feel like we need a Rebrand uh for the industry I think that there are a lot of things we don't show that happen here apart from being the the muscles of the decision making and and also yeah I mean we are the ones impacting the world and people and everything around us so yeah I think we should definitely share more of those experiences to others and H yeah I I I admire your um your your efforts with your podcasts and all that kind of stuff and in fact we we'll put some links down below the video to uh to some of the things that you're doing I think that's tremendous you know it's it's interesting isn't it if you if you talk to people three or four years ago about supply chain it's kind of n that's not what I want to get into um but but over the last two or three years I think everybody now knows what Supply Chain's about which you know one of the Plus besides if there is one of Co is probably that everybody now knows how important Supply chains are and and what they do and they they keep the world moving so do do you think that's had an impact and that people are more interested now in joining the supply chain field I think definitely it has put us under the radar and if I try to do like an analogy to to the spectacle industry or theater industry we now have the spotlight but we need to perform right yeah so not only perform in terms of excellence and the operations but also showcase what we do right and and I think that's the part we're missing we're getting there I for example if I know many who will see this um interview know you and follow you because you do that but I feel like even there are a lot of other people around around the world that do this but do not share so I think this is like that part of when you see it you can be it yeah and yeah I like that when you see it you can be it you know it's it's interesting I'm I'm very lucky and that uh my day job is running a management consulting company so I I get to work with lots of different companies and and lots of great people and and one of the things that I find inspiring all the time is some of the clients that we're working with um and I think I think I've never really thought about this but I think there's been a big change maybe over the last 10 years um you know 10 years ago if you were a supply chain manager it was all about trucks and warehouses and stuff like that but the supply chain managers I'm dealing with now are really quite Dynamic leaders and and they've got you know much broader range of responsibilities in an organization they they're dealing at much higher levels in the organization um and and I think you know anyone who's watching this and thinking about getting into Supply chain you know follow follow Sophia's path you know jump on in there and there's some great opportunities I mean I I have friends who are CEOs who started out in supply chain you know so it really is the path to the top now and and there are several studies that we will share the links as well but that say that supply chain professionals have what they have the right skill set and also the right experience to become uh CEOs of companies absolutely absolutely absolutely there's an interview with a guy good University friend of mine on the channel go look at the interview with Mark pal he was uh he ended up as the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company very smart guy but yeah you know there's a pathway to the top now on supply chain so what would you say to people who are watching this and thinking yeah maybe supply chain would be a good career what what are some tips that you could give people to to get into supply chain and to do well um I think just uh bit of a reflection of what I've been seeing in in some interns or uh young professionals graduating I feel like there is this sense that success is linear and maybe we with all the social media access that we have we think that we have this feeling that everything is instantaneous but it isn't and and I think like if you are someone that likes a a dynamic environment that do have these pressures of thinking that things happen instantaneously I think that this industry it's not that you grow very fast like a speed of lining but you do right you grow your mindset your um knowledge and in some indust some Industries such as I I would say e-commerce for example you do have a more acceler accelerated career path so that will satisfy to your that type of anxiety in case you have't but also I would say that getting into supplying you have these um easiness to move from very Upstream to very Downstream so there I can assure you that there will be a role that you will really enjoy and find a real really good match with you and I think like understanding this uh this flow of supply chain think gives you a a lot of perspective and holistic view of what what decisions and the impact of those decisions have and so I think if you're a very curious person if you like to have a a dynamic life if you don't like to deal with the same thing over again this industry can give you that no that's that's a great summation of supply chain it just has so many opportunities doesn't it you know if if you want to deal with numbers and analytics or financials or people you know this Supply Chain's got it all Tommy uh something I I've noticed um with you over the last year or two you're you're very good at networking you know going to events and things like that you you network really well on LinkedIn how important do you think networking is to someone starting out in their career and because a lot of people are nervous about that yeah I think when I first when I got my first job I didn't quite understood what networking was I thought it was more on yeah like getting contacts and just names and it didn't like you could do that that first connection and that's how it worked and through time I found out is not only that but from that moment onwards you need to nurture that relationship and with time and with patience as well you you can get value to one person and to the other I think it's a two-way value stream and at the end you you get different kinds of opportunities opportunities that will be a great fit for you opportunities that perhaps might lead you to a bit more tangential line in your career career or but it is up to you to Define if you will take that opportunity or or not right um but yeah I think networking is crucial in this industry because at the end uh we are kind of omnipresent and if you work with someone I don't know in ex company and then you move to Y company you don't know but perhaps at the end you'll end up working again with that person or you'll meet them as a client or meet them as a supplier I think we're all connected and having yeah building this network this ecosystem of people really helps you when you're doing good and also when you're not doing so good so and I I told this to someone I think like a couple months ago it's literally a safety net right so if we imagine to acrobats in tle or that type of performances and one of them Falls it will there's a safety below safety net below that they will bounce right back to what where they need to go so it's up to us to build it and and build this n and have it below us and nurture it so that it it's still resilient that it's still uh flexible and that it's still useful for for both of us for both parties in that professional relationship you know that that's probably one of the one of the best summaries of the benefits of networking that I've heard let me just stress a couple of key points from that one one is it's that that two-way relationship which is so important I think you know it's not just about handing out business cards at a networking event and and trying to find out what people can do for you it's helping them as well it's not about selling no it's not about selling it's about it's kind of making friends in the industry and supporting each other which I think you put really well the other thing which I think is really important is the the time frame it's a long-term thing you know you're building that network over a lifetime um and as you know as an indication of that I mean I my day job is running a management consulting company but I had a call from a guy last year and you know hey this is John Smith you remember me and I said yeah you from you know that retailer in Melbourne he said wellow that was 15 years ago uh he said you remember what you did for us there can you come and do it now for my new company over in Western Australia yeah sure so you know those connections last a lifetime um and I've had other clients who maybe I've known for 20 years and they say oh you know I'm I've decided to leave this company I'm not sure really what I want to do and so you know I'm actively keeping an eye out looking for opportunities for them so I I think you know you really make a good point there with the networking it's very much a two-way thing and and it's about sharing value with each other and supporting each other excellent okay so one final tip for anybody getting into supply chain what would it be what to look out for um well if you're if your first role is going to be in operations be ready to bring a lot of coffee lose a little bit of sleep but yeah apart from that now keeping aside I would say do do not ever stop networking or meeting new people not only outside your company but also within I think internal relationships are especially for for us new generations because we don't have a defined path from the beginning like we don't get these uh planed careers in which they tell you two years and then you'll become senior manager and two years and you'll become partner that doesn't exist anymore but you if I I heard the term a few months ago as well H it's called job crafting so basically you create this path and it's nurtured by relationships within your company so it's part of showcasing what you do and not only what you do well but also what you don't do that well but it's just all the time reminding people and positioning yourself in the mind of others of what you want what you're doing and where you want to be I think those are three things that I I I love that term job crafting I've seen that so many times in client organizations you know from smaller businesses to multi-million multi-billion dollar businesses where where someone with some initiative and some Talent has taken the role that they were given and they've developed it because they've had interests or skills in other areas and wow you know they become so valued in an organization and you you almost start to craft your own career paths don't you cor right yeah that's that's a great point to finish on so Sophia thank you so much for joining us today um some some gems there some great tips for uh getting into supply chain doing well in supply chain we we've got a lot of links to put down below you're going to have to send me some links so we'll put a link to Linkin profile so people can connect uh to the podcast that you're doing um and you're going to send me a couple of other links as well I think so thank you so much for joining us bye for [Music] [Music] now [Music]

Channel: Supply Chain Secrets

Views: 6,243

Keywords: Supply Chain Career, supply chain, supply chain management, supply chain career, Sofia Rivas Herrera, supply chain management jobs, supply chain management careers, supply chain secrets, supply chain careers, supply chain jobs, supply chain career, supply chain career path, career in logistics and supply chain management, career growth in supply chain management

Id: 3OvV-ETsf3Y

Length: 19min 5sec (1145 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 20 2024