Millennials Generation in Supply Chain Industry

Are the career choice expectations of Millennials matched in

their Supply Chain jobs?
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 Project brief description
Aim: understand whether the career choice expectations of millennials
(those born between 1982-2000) are matched in their supply
chain/logistics jobs
•The purpose of the project is to identify what millennials expect from
their career, to understand their specific needs and to verify how well
industry is meeting their expectations.

•At the same time, we have attempted to identify opportunities for

collaboration between industry and educational institutes which could
improve the millennials' preparedness to meet the job-challenges ahead.
 Project Objectives

The specific objectives are:

• Identify factors which motivated millennials to consider a supply
chain role.

• Identify richness of the education in preparation for your current

job.

• Identify elements which could improve collaboration between

industry and academia in order to improve your preparedness for
the SC industry
 LITERATURE REVIEW

•The millennial generation consists of young people who have set their lives on different career
paths at the beginning of the 21stcentury.
•According to Monaco and Martin(2007)these people are considered to have been born between
the 1980’s and the late 90’s.
•In supply chain organizations, Millennials are tasked with various activities, which include;
planning and designing, inventory management, forecasting, demand planning, business
intelligence and analytics among other activities.
•Most Millennials are involved in supply chain with an aim of development and personal growth
(APICS, 2017).
•Kristen (2015) acknowledged that Millennials are the most social generation through the aid of
technology.
•Millennials thrive in supply chain jobs since they were born at a time when collaboration other
than independent work is more favored than before (Brack and Kelly 2012).
 Characteristics of the Millennial Generation
• They are conventional
• They are under pressure
• Friendly to diversity
• Team players
• Confident and Goal-Oriented

Millennials are not similar to other cohorts of workforce, and they

can often be associated with social consciousness, work-life balance
emphasis, and preferring a flat corporate culture (Bell 2017).
 Millennials in the Workplace
• Expect frequent feedback
• Close relationship with the supervisors (often they associate job satisfaction with
being strongly connected to the superior managers)
• Having constant and free access to information
• Seek a flat working environment (A flat work environment refers to a firm whose
structure has few or no levels of management between the staff employees and
the top management)
• Require high levels of social responsibility
• Use social networks
• Want casual working environment
• Lack of loyalty
• They like continuous education
 Millennials in the supply chain management
Millennials in the supply chain require:
• More technology
• Collaboration culture
• Use of social media
• Flexible working
• Good treatment
• Work on organisation that they feel proud
• They are passionate about a career in SC
• They are very satisfied with the careers within the supply chain (That
is opposite by the impression which several experts have)
Attracting and retaining Millennials for the supply chain industry
• Supporting academic programs by offering internship opportunities and joint
curriculum building helps in developing strong relationships with students
• Employers should consider non-traditional methods for promoting job
openings within the supply chain (e.g. use of social media Facebook, etc.)
• Tuition reimbursement programs

Attracting millennials in the supply chain requires human resource managers

to have their focus on mixing multiple items including challenges that are
rewarding, a strong brand, technology, defined career growth and flexibility
among others.
 Millennials Expectations of the future
 Many Millennials in the workplace and supply chain management roles have
numerous future expectations:
• Prefer ‘making a life’ rather than ‘making a living’
• Prioritises opportunity to advance
• Do not desire to establish a long-term relationship with the employer
• They seek to gain more knowledge and skills for enhanced performance
• Seek to advance their career by enrolling in different education programs

 Millennials expect to be guided and mentored by older generations in the workplace

(Schwartz 2011) although this might not be the case in most circumstances.
Therefore, they end up being frustrated depending on the attitude showcased by
older generations.
 Independent Variables Dependent Variable
Conceptual Factors motivating millennials
to consider a supply chain role

Model 

Selecting current employer
Change employer/ role
 Gap- Expectations/ reality

The conceptual model

shows the study’s  Better
independent and dependent Richness of the education in
preparation for your current job collaboration/stronger
relationship between
variables. These variables  Proper curriculum preparation educational institutions
 Areas missing in curriculum and industry
were critical in development  Areas in curriculum usable  Staff retention

of the questionnaire as well as  Differentiation –SC roles &

logistics companies
 Understand different
needs first

interview questions that were

provided to the respondents. Elements that could improve
collaboration between industry
 These variables are derived and academia

from the research objectives 


Playing a role in collaboration
How to improve collaboration
and questions.  Could the collaboration yield
results
 Research Questions
 The research questions provided below were based on the research objectives.
 Research Objective (RO) 1: Identify factors which motivated millennials to consider a supply chain role.
• Research Question(RQ) 1: What motivated millennials selecting their current employer?
• RQ 2: What would be the motivation for you to change your employer or role?
• RQ 3: What is the gap between expectation and reality?

 RO 2: Identify richness of the education in preparation for your current job.

• RQ 1: Have you being prepared properly through the university (curriculum)?
• RQ 2: Are there areas that you think that are missing from the curriculum?
• RQ 3: What out of your curriculum you find best usable in your current position?
• RQ 4: Is there a differentiation between true logistics companies (e.g. DHL) and SC roles in other businesses (e.g.
Amazon)?

 RO3: Identify elements which could improve collaboration between industry and academia in order to improve
your preparedness for the SC industry.
• RQ 1: Do you currently play a role in the collaboration between the industry and academia?
• RQ 2: How the collaboration between industry and academia could be improved through innovative ideas?
• RQ 3: Do you think that a collaboration between industry and academia could generate any results?
 Research Methodology
• Review the literature -> create an interview guide
• The interpretivism approach was adopted as emphasis is on people rather than objects
• The inductive approach was utilised due to it’s simplicity and nature of the study
• A survey method through explanatory approach was used
• The researcher used a mixed methodology of quantitative and qualitative methods with
an aim of collecting a wide range of data
• Primary data was collected via questionnaires and interviews as the research
instruments
• Purpose sampling technique was utilised because there was need to reach the targeted
sample quickly and selectively.
• Ethical considerations such as consent, confidentiality and privacy were adhered to by
the researcher.
• Analysis of data was done scientifically via SPSS
 RESULTS (SURVEY DATA)

•The data collected was analysed through SPSS (“Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences”).

•The data has been presented using figures such as bar graphs, and pie charts.

• Frequency tables and percentages have also been used extensively to give
meaning to the data.

•Approximately 46 respondents were part of the research and hence data collected
from them has been used for these results in the next slides.
 Age group of participants

Majority of the respondents who participated in the study were aged between 25 and 29
years with the lowest age being those below 20 years.
 Gender of participants

The research participants were mainly female as compared to

the males as depicted by this pie chart.
 Level of education

Majority of the study’s participants had a master’s or equivalent degree. The

remaining either had a bachelor’s, doctoral or equivalent.
How many years have you worked in your current company?

In this question the study sought to determine the number of years the
respondents had worked in their current company. The results showed those
who had worked between 0 and 1 years were many. This confirmed the lack
of loyalty and failure to wish to establish long-term relationships
How many years have you worked in the supply chain/logistics sector?

Majority of the respondents had worked in the supply chain for a

period not more than one year
Did you work in another area of the company first?

Individuals who had worked in different areas of the organisation first, their specific
roles included warehousing, driving, planning and telecommunications
How many jobs you had since your graduation?

Since graduation many of the respondents had worked in a single

job. Nevertheless, some had worked even more than four jobs
depicting the lack of loyalty and the need for new challenges
Which of the following better describes your current job?
 Your Current Role?

The study sought to examine the current role of the respondents and
found out that majority were members of a team.
Importance of each of these criteria to you when choosing an organisation to work
with

The most important factors

according to the
respondents when
choosing an organisation to
work with include:
•Work-Life balance
•Trust with employer

On the other hand, factors

that are not important
were:
•Social consciousness
Importance of these factors for your role in the workplace, to achieve job
satisfaction.

The factors
considered important
are:
•Access to quality
training
•Feedback from
manager
•Transparency
•Close relationship
with the employer
 How many hours each week do you think you should
work?
How many hours should you work per week?
21-30 Hrs; Series1; 0.0952; 10%
≥40 Hrs; Series1; 0.1905; 19%

≤10 Hrs
11-20 Hrs
21-30 Hrs
31-40 Hrs
≥40 Hrs

31-40 Hrs; Series1; 0.7143; 71%

71% 31-40 Hrs

19% ≥40 Hrs
10% 21-30 Hrs
From 1 to 5 (with 1=strongly disagree and 5= strongly agree) please
indicate your level of agreement

The figure shows that

majority of the
respondents wanted
to follow a career in
supply chain which
depicts they have
passion to work in this
field area.
"What would motivate you to change your employer?"
Question Strongly 25 26 27 Strongly
disagree agree

Alternative 0.00% 20.00% 15.00% 45.00% 20.00%

employer is a
prestigious
company (brand
name)

Higher salary 10.00% 5.00% 30.00% 25.00% 30.00%

Employer who 10.53% 21.05% 21.05% 31.58% 15.79%

recognises the
need for work
flexibility

Better working 4.76% 23.81% 14.29% 14.29% 42.86%

hours / work-life
balance

Different way of 11.11% 5.56% 38.89% 38.89% 5.56%

working
Better location 10.53% 10.53% 26.32% 36.84% 15.79%

Employer who 10.53% 10.53% 15.79% 15.79% 47.37%

provides
opportunities
for growth and
advancement

An employer 15.79% 5.26% 21.05% 36.84% 21.05%

who offers
challenging
responsibilities
Indicate which factors would motivate you to change
your role in SC
From the following factors, in SCM/logistics role, is there a
gap between your expectations and reality?
Please indicate your level of agreement with the
following questions/statements
In the company you are working for please indicate your level of satisfaction with the
following questions. ''In your company, how satisfied are you with…?'' (Please be
reminded that the responses are anonymous, will not be shared with your company,
and we can not keep records of your company. Thus, we cannot identify you)
Please indicate your level of agreement with each of the
following questions
What is motivating about your current job? Rate from 1 to 5 (1=high
and 5=low) most important 5 factors that apply
 RESULTS (INTERVIEW DATA)

•10 respondents were interviewed

•The researcher explored data with a purpose of developing broad trends as well as attaining
preliminary database understanding.

•The results of the interview have been presented through quotes and themes.

•Four themes were adopted to present the interview data

 Motivating factors for their current job
• Good relationship with the managers
• Opportunities to grow
• Challenging tasks
• Recognition for achievements
• Job security
• Personal development.
 Why the respondents would like to change their job roles

• Opportunity to work in a more challenging environment

• Promotion
• Flexibility
• Work-life balance environment
• Increased salaries
• More responsibilities/challenges
 Future expectations
• The technological gap is the biggest that millennials have between their
expectations and reality in the SC/ Logistics role that they perform

• Millennials think that they could make a difference in their company

• Size of organisation could be an obstacle in order to make a difference

• They are willing to take leadership positions and have long term
relationship with their employer, subject to available opportunities
 Education
• They felt that their education program and curriculum
was relevant to their current role.

• However, programs lacked strong practical elements

and hence the failure to generate skills necessary for
current position.
 Analysis
• The results showed that many of the respondents had either a bachelor’s master’s or doctoral degree presenting the
Millennials quest for education. This finding was in agreement with Andraski, Fawcett and Magnan (2010) who mentioned that
Millennials are educated, eager to advance their careers and are also fast movers who are ready to close the skills gap between
them and more experienced employees.

• The findings depicted that many of the respondents had worked in their current organisation in addition to the supply chain
sector for less. This means that millennials are less loyal and are not willing to establish long-term relationships with their
employers. The result concurred with a study done by Deloitte (2016) which determined that the lack of loyalty among
Millennials is widespread across the world.

• Moreover, according to the findings, the respondents have worked in numerous jobs since their graduation. In fact, 18% of the
respondents had worked in more than four jobs indicating that Millennials are always in the look for more challenging roles as
well as the need to advance their careers. The result was similar to what Daniels et al. (2010) found out that education of the
millennials does not stop after graduating as 65% of them seek to enrol in different education programs with the aim of career
advancement, take more jobs that are challenging, and improve job performance.

• In relation to what is the most important factor when selecting the organisation to work with, the respondents felt that work-
life balance and having trust with the employer was critical as well as self-career control. As a result, for many Millennials
balancing between their work and private life is significant to the organisation they work in. Bell (2017) highlighted the
importance of work-life balance for the Millennials in the SC.
 Cont’d...
• The findings depicted that to achieve job satisfaction, the research participants valued access to quality training, getting
feedback from the managers, transparency and having a close relationship with the employer. According to Huyler, Ding,
Norelus, and Pierre (2015) Millennials in the workplace expect frequent feedback and close relationship from the
supervisors, and often they associate job satisfaction with being strongly connected to the superior managers and having
constant and free access to information.

• The results also showed that respondents felt that there was a gap between what they expected and reality in particular the
use of new technology, recognition, teamwork and work-life balance. Boucher (2016), noted that attracting millennials in the
supply chain requires human resource managers to have their focus on mixing multiple items including challenges that are
rewarding, a strong brand, technology, defined career growth and flexibility among others confirming the findings of the
present study. Additionally, the findings revealed that there was a gap between the curriculum of SC and industry.

• Some of the factors according to the results that would motivate the respondents to change their role in SC would be
increased salary, high chances of promotion type of co-workers and professional recognition. In relation to the aspect of
changing their employer, the respondents indicated that priority factors would be a prestigious company, better working
hours, enhanced opportunities and challenging roles. According to (Gina 2017) even though the desire to get promotions
brings out the completion among the Millennials, it is advisable for them to be more satisfied and content in their positions
while taking opportunities as they come. Millennials expect competition and challenges while undertaking supply chain jobs.
 Conclusion
• In conclusion, aim of the current study was identifying what millennials expect from
their career, understand their specific needs and verify how the supply chain industry is
meeting their expectations.
• The specific objectives included to identify factors which motivated millennials to
consider a supply chain role; identify richness of the education in preparation for your
current job and identify elements which could improve collaboration between industry
and academia in order to improve your preparedness for the SC industry.
• The findings of the study depict that millennials are motivated by various factors such
as challenging tasks within the supply chain.
• The findings also revealed that there exists a gap between the curriculum of supply
chain and the industry.
• Among the gaps identified include the lack of practical courses within the curriculum.
 Recommendations
• Implementation of practical elements or short practical courses which are missing in the
curriculum. That will help the curriculum to provide more real-life supply chain examples that
expose students to the recent technologies and practices expected of them in the workplace.

• Collaboration between industry and academia would be really helpful. That could be
achieved by internships, company visits, guest lectures, research projects and open days

In short:
• There should be a review of the SC curriculum
• More collaboration is needed between academia and the industry
• The gaps between expectation and reality should be reduced to enhance job satisfaction of
the millennials
 References
• APICS, 2017. Millennials in supply chain. [Online] http://www.apics.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/millennial-
survey_-web-final.pdf?sfvrsn=2 [Accessed 4th September 2018]
• Bell, D., 2017. Major Gen X and Gen Y Workplace Differences.[Online]
https://dvaughnbell.com/lifestyle/major-gen-x-gen-y-workplace-differences/ [Accessed 10th June 2018]
• Bell, D., 2017. Major Gen X and Gen Y Workplace Differences.[Online]
https://dvaughnbell.com/lifestyle/major-gen-x-gen-y-workplace-differences/ [Accessed 10th June 2018]
• Boucher, J. (2016). Attracting Millennials to Logistics Jobs. [Online]
https://www.sdcexec.com/risk-compliance/article/12155448/attracting-millennials-to-logistics-jobs [Accessed 17th July 2018]
• Brack, J. and Kelly, K., 2012. Maximizing millennials in the workplace. UNC Executive Development, 22(1), pp.2-14.
• Daniels, J., Tillman, J., Trebilcock, B., andAschenbrand, J. (2017). Meet not-so-average supply chain Millennials. Supply Chain Review.
scmr.com
• Deloitte. (2016). The 2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey Winning over the next generation of leaders. Retrieved from
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pdf
• Fawcett, S.E., Andraski, J.C., Fawcett, A.M. and Magnan, G.M., 2010. The indispensable supply chain leader. Supply Chain Management
Review, 14(5), pp.22-29.
• Gina, R., 2017. Millennials in the supply chain. [Online] Available at https://epsnews.com/2017/10/20/report-millennials-supply-
chain/ [Accessed 4th September 2018]
• Huyler, D.D., Ding, W., Norelus, A. and Pierre, Y., 2015. Millennials in the Workplace.
[Onliine]http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1424andcontext=sferc[Accessed 10 th June 2018]
• Kristen, W., 2015. Supply chain career requirements for Millennials. [Online] Available ay https://blog.kinaxis.com/2015/10/3-supply-
chain-career-requirements-for-millennials/ [Accessed 4th September 2018]
• Monaco, M. and Martin, M., 2007. The Millennial student: A new generation of learners. Athletic Training Education Journal, 2(2),
pp.42-46.