The current labor shortage is disrupting the flow of goods up and down in global supply chains.

Employees are a business owner’s most valuable resource. So how can smart software bridge the gap and enable businesses to provide their teams with tools to reduce burnout, provide work-life balance, and attract new talent?

Join supply chain experts Barry Kukkuk, Founder and President of Netstock USA, and Lynne Barnes, their Director of Talent Onboarding and Culture, as they discuss how technology can enable your business to:

– Increase employee retention

– Improve productivity

– Promote a healthy work-life balance

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now,

Scott Luton (00:33):

Hey, good morning, Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on supply chain. Now, welcome to today’s live stream, Greg, how you doing?

Greg White (00:40):

I’m doing good. Trying to bring in the peace sign from different angles all this week. Cause we’re doing so many shows. I feel like it could get old, right?

Scott Luton (00:48):

Uh, well it could except for the incredible content and guests that we’ve had and today is no exception, is it?

Greg White (00:56):

No doubt, but you know, this is a topic near and dear to my heart supply chain planning. It’s from once I come both on the practitioner and the technology provider side, I didn’t even think to mention this. We, we may have faced net stock once or twice back in the day. I don’t even know as at blue Ridge. So I don’t know. We’ll we’ll ask our guests.

Scott Luton (01:17):

Yes. I’ll I’ll just waiting for you to let the cat the bag and you didn’t, you came right to the edge and you didn’t, but you know what, as Greg mentions, we are gonna be talking a lot about our supply chain workforce, especially those planners across the globe that are sort of critical yeah. To global business. We’re we’ve got a great conversation tuned up as we’re diving into the topic, the greater topic of work life balance, and how business leaders can leverage technology to help out their teams, giving them a big breath of fresh air. Uh, and, and so we’re gonna tackle all of that from a supply chain workforce and get a lot of, uh, tips and insights from our friends at net stocks. So stay tuned for that. And Greg Scott,

Greg White (01:55):

Let me give a little perspective on this. Yeah, please, on this role of supply chain planning. So this something

Scott Luton (02:00):

Will be a livestream without Greg White’s perspective. Gregory.

Greg White (02:03):

Good point. That’s an excellent point. <laugh> maybe not always an excellent perspective, but that is an excellent point. You know, I was told this a long time ago and that is as a supply chain planner or, you know, whatever, any, any kind of man forecasting planning, replenishment allocation sort of role, there are only three conditions, right? You’re either overstocked you’re in trouble for being overstocked you’re outta stock. So you’re in trouble for being outta stock, right. Or if something happens to go just right, it’s thank goodness for the sales team. <laugh>

Scott Luton (02:40):

So true. It is so true. And meanwhile that the planners and, and the rest of the organizations are over there making magic happen and oftentimes not getting enough recognition is that right?

Greg White (02:51):

Only blame only is. Right?

Scott Luton (02:53):

Yeah. So we’re in the process as an industry of changing that, that I think in many ways, it’s been cool to see it the last, uh, you know, a couple years, at least my perspective, the planning function and those incredible people that make it happen, you know, get more recognition and a lot more understanding. And in this case, as we’re gonna be talking about today, how can we offer these valuable components of the global supply chain ecosystem, a better worklife balance, right. So

Greg White (03:20):

Gotta have, right. I mean, it, it is about the technology and what the technology can do to support the decision making of the planners. So that’s right. Undo that’s right. And that, you know, it hasn’t really been on the people it’s mostly been on the tool set that they’ve had

Scott Luton (03:35):

In the that’s. Right.

Scott Luton (03:36):

All right. So along these lines, folks, I see Jonathan and Catherine, Amanda, and Shelly, and many others, Hey, we want to hear from you too. So as we have the conversation with our two guests, we’d love for y’all to chime in. We we’ll, we’ll be sharing as many of your comments as we can get to here today, before we bring on our two wonderful guests. And, and Hey, we’ve had a good fortune of having a couple pre-show chats with our two guests today, and I’m telling you you’re gonna really enjoy and value their perspective. Yeah. But before we do that, share a couple of program notes today, Greg speaking of great guests, we dropped the episode where you and I interviewed the extraordinary Roberto Ken Aari, who is essentially the fearless supply chain leader for Estee Lauder companies. Yeah. And that was, he is a dynamo, right?

Greg White (04:22):

Yeah. Another one of the leaders that we have talked to practitioners that we have talked to who are so genuine, they can’t hide it. <laugh> right. I mean, the authenticity just flows out of them. So Tanya Jackson, you know, obviously Roberto and yesterday, Rick, Rick McDonald, and more to come. So, you know, these are the people who are leading the CPG retail distribution, manufacturing companies to do and be better in their supply chain practice. And as to a leader, every one of them has said that it goes through people. So today also a great complimentary topic to that discussion

Scott Luton (05:02):

Well said perfect point and folks to make it easy. I think our team just dropped the link to that episode in the chat, uh, big thanks to Catherine and Amanda Chantel, the whole team that helps make the production happen here at supply chain out every day. So y’all check that out. I’m telling you, get ready, make sure you eat your Wheaties before you listen to Roberto because he brings it. And, uh, I’ll tell you, it really makes you inspired much like today’s conversation to be part of, uh, the global supply chain industry at this point in time. Okay. One of the quick thing. So anyone that knows us, um, knows that we’re very passionate about, uh, giving forward to our veterans, right? Uh, I’ve been really pleased be part of the team that has, uh, been all about deeds, not words as we have found ways to give forward to our veteran community.

Scott Luton (05:48):

This is just the latest example. Folks, if you’re a military member, if you’re a spouse, if you’re a military family member, if you’re a veteran you’ve already served and you want to find out more about the, the logistics space, maybe start a new career in the logistics space, get networked with folks in this space, come check us out. July 26th, 1130 am for a free virtual session, we’re gonna be talking about current trends. We’re gonna be talking about transition tips, and we’re also gonna be talking about health and wellness best practices. So y’all check it out. Then we just drop the link for that. And we’d love to have to be a part of that. Okay. So Greg, I’m stoked about today’s conversation. You know, if any industry needs some, uh, a breadth of fresh air into how we, as leaders can create a healthier work life balance, it is certainly global supply chain. And I think we’ve got the two guests that’s gonna share some really cool light and effective light on this conversation. Are we ready to bring them in?

Greg White (06:44):

I’m ready.

Scott Luton (06:45):

I am. Are you guys ready? <laugh> let’s do it. Oh, welcome in, uh, Barry CCO president and co-founder of net stock and Lynn Barnes director for talent, onboarding and culture also at net stock. Hello, Lynn and Barry. How are we doing today?

Lynne Barnes (07:02):

Doing well, thank you.

Barry Kukkuk (07:04):

Yeah. Good to see

Scott Luton (07:06):

You. Good to see you as well. Yeah, welcome. So, uh, I mentioned a moment ago, Barry and Lynn, just how much we’ve enjoyed our pre-show conversations. Love the approach. Y’all take, not just with this conversation, but, uh, when it comes to industry leadership, organizational leadership, and of course what you’re doing is net stock. And we’re gonna touch on all of that over the next hour or so, but before we do Lynn and Barry and Greg, we gotta get to the heavy hitting topics, right, Greg?

Greg White (07:33):

Yeah, that’s right.

Lynne Barnes (07:35):

<laugh>

Greg White (07:36):

Gotta put something big and controversial out

Scott Luton (07:38):

There. That is right. So if anyone knows us and, and our global family here at supply out, you know, that we love our food, right? Gives us nice little departure and those little momentary departures from the work that’s gotta get done and Mac and cheese today’s national Mac and cheese day, a legendary staple here in the, in the Southern United States, maybe. So I’m gonna go around the horn with all the three of y’all and, and folks in the cheap seats. We’d love to get your take here as well. Where have you had the best Mac and cheese you’ve ever put in your mouth? And so I wanna start Lynn, let’s start with you Mac and cheese, where are you going for it?

Lynne Barnes (08:18):

Sure. You know, Mac and cheese actually happens to be one of my all time favorite foods. So I love it everywhere, but I think my favorite all time was actually just fairly recently at legal seafood in Boston. Okay. And it was lobster Mac and cheese. I mean, lobster and Mac and cheese together. Can it get any better than that? I suppose if you’re a purist, you only want Mac and cheese. Right. But I, I threw in the lobster for fun.

Scott Luton (08:46):

Oh, I love it, Lynn. All right. So Barry, that’s gonna be tough to top, but I understand you’re a concert of many things. Tell us about Mac and cheese.

Barry Kukkuk (08:55):

Um, yeah. So Scott, as you, as you know, I am a south African born and breed in South Africa and Mac and cheese. Isn’t traditionally a big meal here in, in, in South Africa. Yeah. Um, but last year I spent three months in, in the states. I spent three months in, in Boston and I lived in a hotel for three months. And I can tell you for free that after about two and a half months, you are pretty sick of restaurant food, hotel, food, or anything like that. <laugh> and uh, one of my colleagues invited me for a, uh, barbecue to his house and his, his wife made this amazing Mac and cheese with, with bacon bits in it.

Greg White (09:37):

Oh. And just unfair, just

Barry Kukkuk (09:39):

Eating a home cooked meal. And this Mac and cheese was divine. So that’s the best Mac and cheese I’ve had in my life.

Scott Luton (09:47):

Oh, Barry, that sounds both Barry and Lynn, I’ll tell y’all brought it today. Both of that sounds delicious. I’m gonna see what Greg is thinking when it comes to Mac and cheese.

Greg White (09:56):

Well, Scott, you know, I’m a foreigner also. I come from the Midwest, not the Southeast. So I, I was not raised eating Mac and cheese for craft, Mac and cheese, but the best Mac and cheese I have ever had was a barbecue joint called Dave pose in Marietta, Georgia.

Scott Luton (10:13):

Okay.

Greg White (10:14):

The Mac and cheese recipe was so Southern living magazine actually published in like the early two thousands or late nineties, something like that, the recipe, and now people all over, at least the area make this delicious three cheese Mac and cheese where they used big tube noodles. And oh my gosh, it is by far the best I’ve ever had, especially with the crusty top.

Scott Luton (10:40):

Oh man. Oh, you’re killing me, Greg. You know, Lynn and Barry, I’ve had a chance thanks to Greg’s recommendation to take my son to that same, that restaurant and have it. That’s right. And he’s not lying. It’s delicious. But I must just in our extended family where I’m from in akin, South Carolina, we have a Mac and cheese legend. She’s my aunt Linda. And, uh, I tell you growing up, I was, I was, uh, spoiled because I got to eat some of the best Mac and cheese and the whole family wanted her, her recipe. And she’s been very generous with it. So, uh, aunt Linda, if you’re listening, <laugh> I’d like it. Yeah. Let’s, we’ll share. Maybe it gets in some of the living, but uh, love you and love the Mac and cheese. Okay. Greg and Barry and Lynn really quick. I forgot to do something earlier that we never forget to do. And that’s we got, we gotta welcome folks in from cheats cheap seats. What am I thinking, Greg? It’s okay.

Greg White (11:30):

Jonathan. It’s okay. Yeah. It’s out of order, but

Scott Luton (11:32):

It happens. You got it. It happens sometimes. Jonathan, welcome in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re tuned in from. Great to have you back. I know you’ve been apart somewhere earlier shows of course we mentioned Catherine. She’s tuned in from a, uh, the chili north Georgia mountains. You know, Lynn, we were talking, it’s been a bit abnormally cooler here in Georgia here lately. Really? It, yep. It’s been, uh, yesterday. I don’t think it got over 85 degrees, Greg and humidity’s been down strange. Metaverse maybe we’re in a different universe, uh, this week, who knows, but uh,

Greg White (12:02):

We’re our own avatars.

Scott Luton (12:04):

<laugh> right. Amanda. Appreciate what you and Catherine do every day. Shelly. Great to have you back. And yes, Greg is on that Flexport list and I tell you with all the goodness he brings is coming. What list

Greg White (12:16):

Is that? I didn’t see that list.

Scott Luton (12:19):

We’ll talk after show. Okay. You’re on every list in my book, Greg, you know that, thanks. Uh, Jonathan’s going back to the point where we were talking earlier. He is one of our, our dear planners in global supply chain. And he agrees with us kind of, uh, too much behind the scenes. We gotta give more love to what goes on in the planning function. Clay Phillips of course, diesel, always with us, appreciate what he does diesel, because the engine never stops running Lynn and Barry. Let’s see Naja NA’s weighing in, uh, Boston has some of the best lobster Mac and cheese, which is what Lynn was referring to earlier. I’m with you Patrick, smoked Mac and cheese with a touch of brisket. Ooh man, man. All right. So Patrick, they’re tuned in via LinkedIn. Let us know where you’re tuned in from I’m guessing Texas with the brisket mention, but

Greg White (13:07):

It could be has the yeah. Mid, mid south Midwest, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas.

Scott Luton (13:13):

Maybe figure it out. Yeah, maybe so ju is back with us. Julio had some great comments, Shelton yesterday’s live stream and many live streams. And then finally Kenneth tuned in via LinkedIn from Dubai. Great to have you here with us. Uh, Kenneth looking forward to your, uh, perspective. Okay. One final comment. And I lied. Clay says Costco, Mac and cheese tub. It comes cooked, but you put it in a Trager grill for about 30 minutes to smoke. Wow. We okay. You learn something new every day.

Greg White (13:39):

So Clay’s dad is a Trager master. I mean, really this guy can make anything in a tra or grill and it does make it be better.

Scott Luton (13:48):

Okay. Yeah. That’s fantastic. We’ll have a grilling episode. Maybe we’ll grab Barry and we talk different whiskeys and it’s all things, all culinary. So we’ll save that for our future episode. Okay. So Lynn and Barry, now that we’ve really made everybody hungry here today, I wanna get into, get into our center plate discussion. Yes. Pun intended. I wanna start by level setting a bit and wanna get both of y’all to weigh in on what we’re seeing, uh, in this global workforce environment. And Lynn, I wanna start with you. What, what are your, some of your observations out there today?

Lynne Barnes (14:21):

Well, it’s definitely been an interesting last couple of years, hasn’t it going into our third year of a pandemic and which really changed the face of everything. There was that little thing called the great resignation, right? Where, you know, more than 4 million people voluntarily left their roles because they just realized it, they weren’t doing, they didn’t like what they were doing. They didn’t, they wanted to do something different, lots of different reasons for leaving. But I think what happened is I think employers started to realize that employees now had a bit of an upper hand and they started to see staff shortages because employees were leaving, which of course created more pressure on those that were still left behind. Right. And employees were leaving for reasons that were, you know, really important. Flexibility is huge. They, they, they, they enjoyed not being in an office any longer. They enjoyed being able to go to their kids’ baseball game, uh, or soccer match, whatever it may be. They didn’t like the culture. Uh it’s it’s very surprising to me how many new employees I have onboarded, right? And when I ask them about why they left their former company, they didn’t like the culture.

Scott Luton (15:36):

It

Lynne Barnes (15:36):

Was huge. It’s a huge number. So pay is always important, but it’s not as important as you might think. Although with our current economy that may change this year as well, right? Certainly with, with inflation being what it is we need to look at, you know, what we’re doing for raises and employee salaries in general. And you know, software is always a big part of it. Making employees lives easier, you know, less duplication, less, you know, redundancy, uh, software can do those kinds of things. And that’s where hopefully net stock comes in in the supply chain world. Right, right. To make things better for employees.

Scott Luton (16:13):

Lynn, I tell you, as an opening salvo, you have brought, there are so many great points there. I love, even though you acknowledge the inflation impact that can have on the overall employment equation, still in the bigger picture, you know, that’s just one of many parts of that equation. Right. So Barry, I’ll tell you, Lynn said a high bar, Barry, what, what else are you seeing? Uh, when it comes to the current workforce environment,

Barry Kukkuk (16:36):

You know, Scott, you, you started with saying global, um, and you know, we’ve seen this great resignation in, in the states, but not necessarily everywhere else. And, and we are lucky because we are a global company and we can see trends in, in different places. And, you know, for example, in South Africa, unemployment is pretty high. It’s just the environment we, we are in. And we’ve seen a lot of companies, not just net stock, but other other companies and people I speak to where, um, they’ve replaced people from the states with south Africans or with Australians or, or so on. Um, because you know, those, those people need a job. And suddenly after the pandemic, everyone realized that remote working is possible. And so, you know, you can now outsource or, or, or, you know, to take your work workforce to a different place. Right. Um, and you don’t necessarily have to have them even, even in the states. I mean, Silicon valley, half the people are now living, you know, in rural areas and still doing their job. So, um, I think that’s been a big one.

Scott Luton (17:48):

Yeah. Agreed. Agreed. Uh, Greg, I wanna get your take here in just a second, but I wanna close the loop on a couple things Jonathan, uh, tuned in from Louisiana. Gosh. Talk about culinary legends down there. So Jonathan, thank you for sharing. I think this is Timothy Tang, Mac and cheese with ranch and spicy herbs. Hey, uh, this new one for me. Thanks for joining ranch. Hmm. Yeah. How about that?

Greg White (18:10):

You know, you’re in America when we put ranch dressing on it.

Scott Luton (18:12):

That’s right. Ranch. Anything Patrick tuned in from Columbus, Ohio. Great part of the world, not too far from where they hosted supply chain 360, that great event. A couple weeks back, Justin Wilson, crab, Mac and cheese there. How about that? And clay. That’s

Greg White (18:26):

My, that’s

Scott Luton (18:26):

My favorite. Yeah. Shout out the Papa of Steve to your point. So clay, we got, Steve’s a legend as well. I get him and aunt Linda together. We’ve got quite a, uh, quite a mill, but Greg, back to workforce, as we’re using this as a way of setting the table for today’s conversation, Lynn and Barry have share some of their observations, your, your quick take and then take us right into where we’re going next with our panel here.

Greg White (18:48):

Yeah, I think global is, is the keyword there because we do see dramatically different situations though, in the Americas. Generally, we’re seeing about the same thing as we are in the states, recession inflation, you know, uh, a lot of companies are backing up on employment, you know, re remember that the old days gang, when people would accept a job and then not show up on the first day and not worry about that. Well, that’s coming back on ’em a little bit because now companies are rescinding job offers. So it’s a, it’s a very difficult environment. And yet re keeping, getting, and retaining the best candidates out there is still as tough as it’s ever been. Right. And, and I think that’s something we have to acknowledge and, you know, companies are, they’re struggling to get and motivate and elevate and retain the, the best candidates out there. So, and, and I know you all see that on a worldwide basis. So I’m curious, you know, what, what are you seeing in, in terms of how companies are impacted or being are impacting or being impacted by that Barry, you wanna tackle that?

Barry Kukkuk (20:00):

Yeah, absolutely. You know, what, what we’ve seen is that I think Scott said it earlier, the, the employees suddenly have a bit of an upper hand and after the pandemic, the companies who still hang onto the old ways and try to dictate how people should work and when they should work and, and so on are struggling. Um, I think if you can be a little bit more flexible and understand that, yeah. Not everyone needs to sit in office, you know, half the time. I’ll give you an example. We, we, this big company here in Johnsburg and kind of at the end of, of lockdowns, they said, okay, what we’ll do is on half the people come in on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and the other half come in on, you know, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And you know, so we still social distance, but at least people are back in the office.

Barry Kukkuk (20:54):

Well guess what happened? People who are on the office are on a zoom meeting because the rest of the colleagues at home and tomorrow the other way around. So, and, and people were saying, why, why are we doing this? There’s no point either. We all come or we all stay at home, but there’s no point sitting in the office on a zoom. And I’d rather be, you know, at home, in my, in my pajamas, in our zoom, you know? So, so definitely, I think if, if the, if you’re not flexible, you’re gonna struggle to retain talent

Greg White (21:27):

Unquestionably. I mean, I, I think about how many people I have heard say, in fact, I was just talking to a friend of mine yesterday. He said, I don’t want to commute three days a week to the office. Right. I think Lynn, in addition to all the things you talked about that people don’t want in their workplace, a commute, which in the Atlanta area is an average of 34 miles one way. So

Scott Luton (21:53):

In about three and a half hours, <laugh> it feels like of some days

Greg White (21:57):

Anywhere. Yeah. Anywhere from, I mean, Scott, our, our studio in Atlanta is 19 is, uh, no, it’s 26 miles from my house and it can be anywhere from 40 MI, 40 minutes to, you know, an hour and a half, which Lynn always makes Scott sweat <laugh> because he’s like, is he showing up?

Lynne Barnes (22:18):

<laugh>

Greg White (22:20):

Always try. So I always tried to be there way before we needed to go on the air. But, uh, so, uh, as you, you have observed Lynn, I’m curious what kind of struggles you’re seeing companies have in that regard?

Lynne Barnes (22:31):

Well, what I was gonna say is also is this you’re preaching to the choir in Southern California. Try try a drive into Los Angeles. That’s right.

Greg White (22:38):

Amen. Yeah.

Lynne Barnes (22:39):

So I, I completely understand the traffic part of it, but you know, companies are just not taking employee retention as seriously as they should. And what needs to happen more is they need to invest in their employees. Yes. It’s important to invest in marketing and in sales, no doubt, those are important, but you’ve gotta invest in your employees as well. If you don’t ha if you haven’t, if you haven’t done that, then you will not retain your employees. And, you know, that includes different things from making sure that they have the training that they need and the growth opportunities. It, it, it’s just so hugely important and it doesn’t seem to always happen. They, they, they say they’re going to do it, but what do they put in place? And they don’t often put things in place. And, uh, that’s, that’s why I’m at net stock is to make sure that we try and keep our employees happy. Onboarding is a perfect example. That’s one of the reasons I was brought on board. And if you don’t onboard and employ properly, you, you stand to lose them very, very quickly and easily.

Greg White (23:43):

Yep. You start out behind the eight ball, right. I mean, correct. It’s hard to get them in integrated and engaged if, if you don’t give them the lay of the land. Yeah. That’s a great, that’s a fantastic initiative. And I you’re right. I think a lot of companies think that cute little package with your laptop and a t-shirt and whatever else you get on day one, there’s your orientation right there. Yeah, exactly. That’s your onboarding? Well, so let’s talk a little bit more specifically around supply chain Salesforce, and you may have seen the intro. I have a special place in my heart for people in the planning practice because they are often and historically abused, but they provide so much value and curious in this world with new technologies and new approaches to planning, and of course in this new employment environment, but you think specifically in that demand planning, supply planning, S O P all of those areas that you all touch in regard to, um, employment there, Barry, you wanna start us off.

Barry Kukkuk (24:43):

Yeah. Um, I think you said in earlier that that the poor person doing the supply chain planning or replenishment is always getting shouted at either sales are shouting at them because they don’t have the right inventory to, to sell. And, and, you know, it’s their fault that the, the sales guys that make their targets right, or the CFO is shouting at them because you’ve got all these millions of dollars tied up in inventory. That’s just sitting there not moving. Um, you know, or the CEO is shouting at them and that they’re just sitting in the middle and, and, and, you know, fighting fires all day. And it’s very, very tough for them to do that. And, you know, with the events of the last two years, it’s just become 10 times worse than what it used to be. And, you know, one of our, one of our colleagues always says that you will give Salesforce to your, to your sales guys. You would give an E P system to your, uh, your accounting guys. And then it comes to the supply chain manager and you give them Excel.

Scott Luton (25:46):

<laugh> a spreadsheet,

Barry Kukkuk (25:48):

You know,

Greg White (25:48):

Exactly right. And

Scott Luton (25:50):

Still that Barry I’m still there is great.

Greg White (25:53):

The tone with which he said it, Scott is, is critical.

Barry Kukkuk (25:56):

That’s fair. <laugh>, you know, you need best, you need the best tools because face, you know, face to facts, um, supply chain and especially inventory is the heart of that kind of business, you know, without that the business doesn’t exist, but you, you, you just think, oh, well, we, we don’t really need to equip these people. So, so we, we see those, those guys really under pressure and, you know, it’s our mission to, to help them and, and improve their lives.

Greg White (26:26):

That’s great. I think there’s a couple things in addition to SU suboptimal tool sets, which is putting that kindly, I think you nailed it spreadsheets or whatever, or the E R P MinMax system or whatever, you know? Right, right, right. But I think it’s, it’s not just, it’s not just that, but it’s also the infrastructure, the, uh, data and information that’s required. And then so many companies focus on only the forecast, not the, also the risk planning and the resiliency planning that is necessary in demand planning as well. So, yeah, that’s a great, that’s a great catch Lynn. What I mean, when you think about it, you have to have a special caring specifically in your role for these folks, because you you’re doing it for the same, same kind of situation in your own company. But tell me a little bit about what you’re seeing in that environment.

Lynne Barnes (27:22):

Well, you know, I, I think fortunately at net stock, we don’t have probably the same pressures that the, the other folks that are doing this job specifically, you know, we talked a little bit before we got on the show about the ships that are down. As I look out beyond Pacific coast, highway four miles and miles and miles, I can’t imagine a person who’s doing this job waiting for supplies, waiting for, you know, the delays just have to be killing them. And so it’s really up to the HR people and, and their managers to, to be on top of what’s going on in their lives and making sure that they have the tools that they need to survive and to get through this. And it’s not over with yet, we’ve, we’ve got ways to go and hopefully, you know, they truly need to make sure that work life balance is there and that they have the tools they need.

Scott Luton (28:15):

Excellent tools

Greg White (28:16):

Are critical. Yeah,

Scott Luton (28:17):

That’s right. Yes. Yes. That’s right. As, as is, or as are whatever, whatever my subject verbal agreement means, leaders that truly care and want to take real action and do something about it. Right. You look at a lot of third party data burnout as a real thing. Folks, these last few years have really stressed folks out in the supply chain in a variety of functions within supply chain. And we’re seeing it’s one of the drivers of some of the turnover. So the onus is on leadership to do something about it in a very meaningful way. So really quick, I wanna welcome in, uh, Herta tuned in from Toronto. Uh, folks, if you ever get this, when you make a comment, it’s just a little security setting on your LinkedIn profile. You can toggle it and it’ll allow third party apps like stream yard to share your name and, and location and all. So, uh, great to have you with us here at HERDA and from Ontario. KARE is tuned in, uh, Ji. Great to have you here via LinkedIn, Patrick. I think Patrick’s referencing your Excel, your spreadsheet observation there. He loves it, and it is a harsh truth for all things. Supply chain,

Greg White (29:16):

Patrick.

Scott Luton (29:16):

Great to have you here today. Okay. I wanna keep driving. I wanna get into you. We’ve kind of framed some of the challenges, a good bit, both in general with what’s going on. And then with the last segment really focused on supply chain and the planning function, uh, Lynn, I wanna get into some of the ways that you’re seeing some of those, those proven best practices that Greg hates that term. But some of the things that you’ve seen that works when companies really wanna promote a healthy work life balance, what are some of those things? Lynn?

Lynne Barnes (29:45):

You know, probably one of the number one things that comes to my mind is encouraging health and wellness, but making sure that our executives as well, that, that the berries of the world are also walking that walk. Hmm. It’s real easy to set. And, and Barry, as a workaholic, a self described workaholic. And so trying to get, he truly is love the guy and he’s, and that’s why net stocks where it’s at, but trying to get the guy to take vacation. Isn’t always easy to do. And so, as I’m trying to promote health and wellness and taking time and taking care of yourself, I’ve got folks that are reporting to different folks at the top that are saying, well, he doesn’t do it. You know what I’m saying? They, they don’t feel comfortable if their own boss doesn’t do it. So walk the walk. Yeah.

Lynne Barnes (30:32):

Get involved with your employees. Talk to them, see where they’re coming from, you know, having good health benefits. Great. That’s important having a, uh, employee assistance plan so that their mental health can be taken care of as well. Hugely important, do fun things. We, we pay for our employees to get together because we’re fully remote. There are no offices at net stock. We’re fully remote. We pay for our employees to get together for lunch. We pay their lunch whenever they want to get together, that they can, those that are close by. So, you know, we encourage everything that we possibly can from, uh, virtual happy hours to, uh, walkathons anything, to get them outside and breathing and enjoying that work life balance.

Scott Luton (31:18):

Mm mm. So love it. A lot of, yeah, I do too. A lot of goodness there Lynn, and a big dose of reality there, you know. All right. So Barry, I think a lot of founders and, and fellow entrepreneurs and, and folks in the, in the startup environment, can I, for one, I know Greg can, can feel your pain, right? Cause you always feel this immense pressure that you gotta be doing something, cuz there’s so much to do so much to be done. But with that aside, I’m trying, I’m trying to, I’m trying to help rationalize your workaholic, Barry, but tell us what else did you have you seen that works in addition what Lynn has shared?

Barry Kukkuk (31:52):

Yeah. So, so in my defense, I did take a week island holiday about a month ago. So after a big project and what’s important is I, I got to the hotel, I put my phone into the safe and later took it out. Right. And no laptop, my, my wife wouldn’t allow me the laptop. So, so I think your, your partner outside your company is probably your biggest ally in, in terms of getting work life balance. But it’s important because, you know, it’s, uh, easy to work, 12 hours a day or 14 hours a day or, or whatever stupid hours you, you, you do. And you know, that support back at home gets neglected. And, you know, I always say if it wasn’t for my wife and, and her support net stock would not exist because you need that backup. You can’t do it all by yourself, but you can’t expect someone to, to do that, be that backup, be that rock in your life for 12 years straight without getting anything back.

Barry Kukkuk (32:55):

And I think for me, that’s where work life balance really, really, uh, makes a difference. So spend time, spending time with family and, and you know, my wife and so on is, is really, really important. And we do it in, in different ways. We both work from home and, you know, we will get together and have a coffee, you know, in the, in the, in the dining room for 20 minutes and just talk about our day and what’s going on and, and so on and then re meet each other sometime at lunch and, and so on. And that really helps even if it’s only in small doses, but it’s very easy to neglect the people back at home because we, we really think that business is everything. And, you know, for me, the, one of the biggest realizations I’ve had, you know, a few years ago is that I am not my job.

Barry Kukkuk (33:51):

If the job gets criticized, it’s not me. That’s getting criticized. And that’s a very tough thing to do. And I think everyone, you know, you don’t have to be, you know, a founder of a business, uh, for that to be true. I think anyone who, who, who does a job and, and take, takes pride in their job and they, and they really wanna do it. Well, you have to realize that sometimes things happen and, you know, yes, you are just a human being and you can make a mistake and that’s okay. So to, to just get yourself out of that mindset, that criticizing the action is not the same as criticizing the person. Yeah. Um, I think that is hugely important.

Scott Luton (34:33):

Huge. A lot of good stuff there. Barry and Lynn, Greg, I’m gonna share a couple comments here in a second, but before I do that as, as a, also a fellow founder, an organizational leader, uh, someone’s been charged with leading, uh, you know, workforces, what are some things that come to your mind when it, when it comes to protect network life balance?

Greg White (34:52):

I think first you have to define what everyone means by balance because it’s not 50 50, it’s it certainly is not. I mean, we had this discussion when I, when I founded blue Ridge, we had this discussion when I was a CEO at KIRO, we’ve had this discussion multiple times. That balance usually means close to 70% business, 30% personal, and 30% of that 30% is also gonna be infiltrated by business. Right. I mean, what Barry did is highly exceptional in putting his, his phone away. It was funny because Barry, that was one of the questions I was gonna ask was how many emails did you do on vacation? So I’m very happy for and proud of you for doing that. Um, yeah, that’s good. That’s great. So you have to, and you have to understand what other people’s tolerance level is, right. And now, you know, this is the old, how you gonna keep ’em down on the farm.

Greg White (35:44):

Now that they’ve seen Perry, that’s a song <laugh> now that people have seen that they can work from home and not have to endure a commute and spend more time with their significant other at home, you know, throughout the day, which is so rewarding, by the way, isn’t it, I mean, now that they’ve seen that they don’t wanna go back to the old way. Right. And when I’ve run a company much like net stock, that was 100% vertical or vertical virtual, 100% vertical, uh, very, very tall building, 100% virtual <laugh>. And we, and we made a special effort to bring everyone in the company. We were a very small company. There was only like 14 of us at very early stage. We brought everybody together at for lack of a better term, the corporate office one week a month. And, and EV you know, while nobody wanted to do that at first least of all me, because then I had to feed everybody <laugh>.

Greg White (36:39):

But when nobody did wanted to do that at first, they saw the power of getting together, but they didn’t have to live it every single day. It was, it was really amazing to see because the in person dynamics, I will always argue till the day that I die, that, that it’s so incredibly important. And the things that you’re doing, like getting people together for meals is very powerful. You can solve in seconds. What would take month? Otherwise I’ve watched it happen. So you just have to be as a, as a leader, you have to be very intentional about what you’re trying to accomplish. And you’re what you’re not trying to accomplish is for everyone to work in an office, what you’re trying to accomplish is outcomes. Yes. However, your, the culture of your organization produces those outcomes. You have to facilitate that.

Scott Luton (37:27):

Yep. All right. Absolutely. So what I wanna do, I wanna share a couple quick comments and then we’re gonna be getting into defining and making sure folks know what rent net stock does because you got, you gotta have the right technologies, right. And, and that can be unique organization by organization type of, uh, selection process, but really quick, Bella is, is tuned in via LinkedIn from the UAE. Great to have you here with us, Bella. Thanks so much. Let us know what you’re thinking of these conversations around work life balance. Debon. If I got the name wrong, let me know, try to get everybody’s name. Right. He says, we are seeing a lot of burnout from our air force planners as well. The military is struggling. You know, the maintainers talk about folks that don’t get enough recognition, the maintenance teams and pros both in the military and in, on the private sector at industry, you know, they have a very underappreciated job.

Scott Luton (38:16):

Uh, but thank you for tuning in, and we’ve gotta take action, right? From sing tuned in from India via LinkedIn. Great to have you here to let us know what you’re thinking. I wanna arrive here. So if I’m gonna offer up Julio’s question here, Lynn and Barry, and if you can just, uh, give a, is there anything that comes to mind for a quick answer, and then we’re gonna get into making sure folks understand what net stock does. Lynn, when it comes to how you’re measuring employee’s expectations, their needs, what they want, their preferences, anything comes, come to mind.

Lynne Barnes (38:47):

AB absolutely. It says there’s such as a survey. An employee survey is absolutely critical and, uh, we are due for one. So I’m pushing to have that done.

Greg White (38:57):

<laugh> make a note. If you need to pause for a minute and make a note to yourself, go ahead.

Lynne Barnes (39:01):

It’s OK. I’ve got the note, but it’s absolutely critical. And then the next, even more critical is following up after the survey with those things that, you know, you need to be looking at

Scott Luton (39:12):

Wonderful and Barry, any quick comment here.

Barry Kukkuk (39:14):

Yeah. Agreed. There’s there’s no good taking a survey and then sharing it with five board members and it stays there. Right? <laugh> if you don’t share, share the results back with the people and then, you know, let’s find ways to, to improve and that’s take action. That’s the critical

Scott Luton (39:31):

Part. Yeah. Well said, well said. And holy great question, man. You, you, you bring some of the best questions to the livestream and Debon thank you, man. It feels good to get a names names. Right. And by the way, I love that.

Greg White (39:43):

Shot it an enthusiastic. You got it right. By the

Scott Luton (39:45):

Way. Yes. I love it. Okay. So as we we’ coming down, not exactly the home stretch yet, we got a couple more twists and turns and Barry, what I wanna pose to you, uh, is let’s make sure a lot of folks are familiar with net stock, right? Y’all been on quite a journey, but tell us more, give us an in a nutshell version of what the company does.

Barry Kukkuk (40:05):

Sure. You know, we, as founders came together in 2010, we have worked together previously and we have created inventory optimization software, but more on an enterprise level, you know, you’re talking about $500,000 for an implementation, a million dollars and that kind of thing. But when we came back together in 2010, we realized that there literally are thousands and thousands of SMBs and med market companies who have the exact same problem that those big enterprises have. The issue is if someone has a million dollars of inventory in the warehouse, you can’t sell them a $500,000 piece of software. It’s just not, it’s not viable. So these guys were sitting in, in, in, in a, in an art in the cold, why, while the big companies were very fast, um, becoming data driven companies. So they have all of this data, they employ a thousand data analysts and, you know, Amazon is just steam rolling everyone.

Barry Kukkuk (41:04):

And Walmart is doing the same and so on. And so, you know, we, we really wanted to help the smaller guys out there to also have access to, to good planning, uh, and, and management software. And at the time, you know, uh, three things kind of came together and that was software as a service became a, a viable business model. People were okay sending their data into the cloud. Um, you know, which back in those days was, was still very new. Um, but it was getting better. And also, you know, the web became a platform where you could deliver software for people to use on a daily basis. And that’s really where, where net stock was born. Um, and our mission since then has always been to empower and, and arm the up and coming companies with the, the, the tools and the, and, and the, the knowhow to also compete in the market.

Barry Kukkuk (41:57):

Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live in the world where there’s only Amazon and Walmart and, and maybe target. I wanna, I wanna rich cultural, uh, culture of rich diversity in terms of, of suppliers and retailers and, and all that. And that really is our mission to, to help these people. So we do demand planning, we’ve got replenishment, and we also help on the, on the supply side by measuring supplier performance and understanding the risks and how much you should carry and where you should do it, and when you should order your inventory. So that’s really our, our mission is to do

Scott Luton (42:33):

That. Barry, you’re helping the power democratization, uh, across industry and giving folks lots of choices. And that’s one of our big, we’re big proponents of that here at supply chain now so much so that Greg even coined an, an acronym that, uh, he can say, now he can say for later, but Greg, when you hear Barry’s story there and, and the very purpose driven mission that, that he and the net stock team are own, what comes to your mind?

Greg White (43:00):

Oh, I think about how critical that is. I mean, if the pandemic has taught us anything, is if you can’t get that one washer from that one tiny company running out of their garage, you still can’t build your product, right? Yes. So, yes. So I think this, this level of democratization is really, really unbelievably important and really hard to reach for. I mean, it takes, you know, it takes a special business model, as well as a special kind of an amplified product that makes it simple enough for people who may have, they may be chief supply chain, officer CEO, head, chef, and bottle washer at their company. And, you know, they’ve got stacks to spend on planning their, their supply chain. Right. Yeah. So, you know, it’s, it’s no small task, it’s actually more complicated than building something that gets customized at a, at an enterprise size company. Yeah. Um, so I, I think it’s super powerful and, and, uh, somebody here was saying, you know, SMB and mid-markets are critical. They absolutely are because that’s what fuels the supply chain for even the largest of companies.

Barry Kukkuk (44:05):

Right. Yep. Absolutely.

Scott Luton (44:07):

Great. To have you back with us, Michael hope this finds you. Well, my friend. Yep. Hey, really quick. Lynn, I love that Netstock has, has such an incredible leader like you in a role for talent onboarding and culture, right. I think that is that’s illustrative of what we’re after and what business leaders should be doing as part of our earlier part of our conversation. Your quick comment on, on, you know, how, uh, refreshing it is, how, how, uh, fulfilling it is to be in your role at net stock.

Lynne Barnes (44:36):

Oh, it’s actually so much fun. I can’t even tell you when I first got the job, I was trying to explain to my husband and I said, you know, Julie, on the love boat, how she’s the cruise can cruise director? That’s kind of what I’m doing. You know, I’m, I’m looking for all the fun things to do, but it’s, it’s, it’s evolved from there. And, uh, besides trying to look for fun things to do with our employees, uh, it’s also just being there and caring about them and talking to them and listening to them and understanding what their needs are and, and where they’re happy. And, and sometimes maybe where they’re not. Yeah.

Scott Luton (45:10):

I love it. The love boat.

Greg White (45:13):

Yeah. It’s good to see. <laugh> it’s good. When gen Xers inadvertently reveal themselves, isn’t it right. <laugh>

Scott Luton (45:20):

I love it. Nice, Greg.

Greg White (45:22):

We’re we’re out there people. That’s right. Don’t skip us. We are a generation.

Scott Luton (45:26):

That’s right. We’re still making it happen too. Hey, really quick. Lynn Armas from Ethiopia. Welcome to the show via LinkedIn has a great quick question and, and would love to get your quick take here before we move on to this, the, uh, resource that y’all brought to the table. How do you increase employee engagement on surveys? Any quick response there Lynn

Lynne Barnes (45:44):

Quickly? I think the, the questions that you ask are important. Number one, but again, the most important thing is the follow through and the follow up with where you have employees that are not engaged. You got to follow up.

Scott Luton (45:57):

You’ve

Greg White (45:57):

Gotta let ’em know that there will be action from that. And payday is a great day to do a survey. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (46:04):

Ah, great tip, great tip. And Julio people

Greg White (46:07):

Are, are never more engaged than on Dayday

Scott Luton (46:10):

Or me. It’s a great question. In Julio, you’re aligned with the rest of it’s Kindra spirits here following up is critical. Okay. So back to Barry, uh, so Barry, we have got a neat resource that y’all have, uh, brought to the table here today. And I was checking it out earlier. Um, it’s an ebook focused on best practices to optimize your supply chain, and we’re gonna drop the comment or the, uh, link in the comments. So folks can, can download that just one click away. But before I, before we do, and I I’d love to get you to speak to, you know, why folks should check this out. But if I could offer a quick little snippet, um, as I was looking at this this morning, you know, Greg, that the, the term ebook has so many different definitions. And unfortunately, so many organizations take like the straight sales side, right? They don’t give, put any content in’s straight sales, Barry Lynn, and the net stock team. This is really a full ebook full of information. That’s gonna help you regardless if you, you know, do business with net stock or not. So Barry appreciate y’all’s approach there. Why should folks check this ebook out though? Barry

Barry Kukkuk (47:14):

Firstly, uh, apologies to Greg for the word, um, you know, best practice in the title.

Greg White (47:20):

So <laugh> no, no, <laugh>

Scott Luton (47:23):

Nice. Barry. I love

Greg White (47:25):

It. I’ll have to tell you about my philosophy on that Barry <laugh>.

Barry Kukkuk (47:28):

Absolutely. Um, so, so, you know, when I said earlier, it’s our mission to help these, these SMBs and even mid market companies. It, you know, it, it’s reflected in this book. We really want to help and it’s not about, you know, you, we wanna sell something or, you know, there’s, there’s only one way of doing things. So it’s important to, um, for us to, to help educate the market because the more people get educated and the, and the better they get on that maturity curve on their supply chain, um, you know, the better everyone is is off. So, you know, in this book, you will, you will find, um, you know, things like how to review your suppliers and why that’s important and how to measure the performance of your suppliers. And then looking at, you know, what should you measure? What are, what key performance indicators should you measure your, your inventory?

Barry Kukkuk (48:21):

There’s probably, you know, a hundred things that you can measure, but they’re not all equal. Some, some things to measure are far more important than other things. And amen. So in this book, we will give you our take on what we think is, is, are the most important things to, to actually measure. And then, you know, something very simple that a lot of companies don’t do is classify their inventory. So, you know, without understanding what, which items are important and which are not important, you tend to try and give all of your attention, your energy and your dollars to everything. And that doesn’t work. So, you know, very simple 80 20 rule put, you know, 80%, 80% of your dollars into 20% of the items, and you will get a massive, um, uh, increase in, in your performance in your inventory, put your, your limited amount of attention that you can give. Um, you know, we’ve, we’ve spoken about those guys sitting there planning who are overworked, if you only have a small amount of, of, of attention to give, give it to this 20% of the items that are gonna make 80% of the difference, right? And so classification of your imagery is, is, is vitally important. So, you know, those kind of best practices are what this book is all about. If you wanna learn more about how to, how, how we look at how to do those things, um, it’ll be a great resource for

Scott Luton (49:51):

You. Wonderful. Uh, you know, the legendary Italian economist Alfredo parade would be very proud of your commentary there. So I’ll check out.

Scott Luton (50:02):

Yes, he’s live and well, I’ll tell ya throughout the industry. Okay. Really quick. I wanna say hello again to, uh, Shahi tuned in, you know, Shaha was with us earlier a couple times, Greg and livestream. It’s great to have you back with us. And Michael had a follow up point here in small and medium size businesses teach you a lot. Uh, he worked for a small business in the beginning of his career and it taught him a ton. Uh, and I agree with you, Michael I’ve, I’ve had a good fortune of working for a variety of, of, uh, size companies from Cisco, the, you know, the big food, uh, provider that taught me so much about, uh, customer experience to a lot of family run, you know, manufacturing and other types of companies and, uh, lots of learnings all along the way. Okay. So, uh, as we start to wrap Greg, I don’t know about you, man. I’ve really enjoyed the conversation with Len beard. I knew it was gonna be good based on our show conversations, but I think they have surpassed and jumped over that bar. Greg, what your take?

Greg White (50:56):

Yeah. Super refreshing. I mean, good to see a company and people focus on people and on small business, right. Which is the leverage point of all business. So yeah, it’s been, it’s good. It hearkens back to the old days and I kind of dig that. So

Scott Luton (51:13):

<laugh>, well, folks, uh, check out, don’t take Greg’s word for, or my word for it. Check out the ebook. There’s lots of information. Uh, and it also, you can, you can not required. You can get in touch and compare notes with net stock to see if they’re a good fit for what you’re trying to do. Also a separate from that. I love that they’re doing, you know, they’re practicing what they preach with their own business, and that is so powerful. Right. And authentic. Okay. So we wanna make sure folks know how to connect with you other than the ebook and Lynn, I wanna start with you, but I got two part question for you. So Lynn, tell us how we can connect and learn more, but throw down the gauntlet, especially when it comes to talent management and culture, challenged business leaders that take action with something Lynn would that, what would that be

Lynne Barnes (51:58):

Challenging this to take? Well, you know, I think for me, it’s care, it’s caring about your people. It’s being there for your people. I feel it with my leadership, with the berries and, and, and all of our, our founders and our CEO, um, they truly truly care. And if you don’t do a whole lot of things, right, but you care about your employees, you, you you’re gonna get it right. You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be able to, to get there. Um, we’re very, very transparent with our employees. We are honest and upfront and they, our employees love it for love us for it. So that’s what I think.

Scott Luton (52:40):

I love it,

Lynne Barnes (52:41):

Me through LinkedIn.

Scott Luton (52:43):

<laugh> I love it for, I love y’all for it. Uh, Lynn and Barry really, it’s very refreshing conversation we’ve had here today. And as Lynn suggests connect with her on LinkedIn, that’s in the show notes, ebook is in the show notes. Barry, how can folks connect with Barry and learn more about net stock?

Barry Kukkuk (53:01):

Um, absolutely. Also LinkedIn is, is probably the easiest way to connect, but also look up net stock on, on LinkedIn and Twitter and you know, other social media platforms. Um, our marketing team is always sharing great content on there and, uh, to just keep in touch with what’s, what is, what is going to happening in, in supply chain, inventory management.

Scott Luton (53:23):

Love it really have enjoyed the conversation here today. I wish we had another hour or two. Uh, there’s so much more to both of your stories and the net stock story, but we’re gonna keep your finger on the pulse and see where y’all go from here. Big thanks. Uh, Barry kook, president and co-founder with net stock and his colleague Lynn Barnes, director of talent, onboarding and culture. Thank you to you both.

Greg White (53:45):

Thank you guys.

Scott Luton (53:46):

I appreciate. Thank you. That was a neat conversation. And Lynn, you know, Barry, uh, Greg Barry, Greg Greg white, Gregory S. White. You know, those folks are just as approachable and down earth in Dre show and the non-live show as they are over the last hour and, and no wonder, I bet folks love to work with and for Lynn and Barry, huh?

Greg White (54:13):

Yeah. I mean, culture starts at the top unquestionably. The culture of a company starts at the top Barry as a founder. And I’m sure as co-founders and CEO are key to defining that culture. And the, to me, one of the defining points of that culture is, is the fact that they have Lynn. So, you know, that they recognize all the, you know, the value of their people. And, um, it’s really interesting, you know, when a technology company or service provider shares that with the industry that they serve, because often they’re, uh, you know, if they are a great example, they can communicate that with every interaction with their customers, right. And customers will start to adopt that and expect that in their own organization. So it can be really, really powerful.

Scott Luton (55:01):

Love it. Sharing a couple. Yeah. You had one, I could tell you got one more PowerPoint to make.

Greg White (55:06):

Uh, I, I just think, you know, I think a lot of what they shared here is applicable, regardless of whether you’re in supply chain or you’re not, whether you’re a technology provider or a practitioner, right. Any company can learn from this and look times are gonna get hard. Right. I mean, with everything that’s going on in the, in the economy, the, where employees, or, you know, candidates could be opportunistic and some took advantage, right. Companies are about to be closer to being in control of the, that relationship and could take advantage, but none of that is productive. Right. Right. Um, and as a founder, I know, I know this is part of the reason that Barry works 12, 15 hours a day. You feel such an incredible responsibility to the people that work for you. I mean, you are literally <laugh>, you are literally providing them with a livelihood that supports their families.

Greg White (55:58):

And that is a huge burden. I don’t mean that as a nega negative thing, but it is a huge burden. You go to bed with it on your head and your heart every single night. And, and it’s clear that he takes that seriously and that their team must take that seriously. So I think that’s hugely powerful. And that, by the way, when you’re looking for companies to work for, as a candidate, you want someone who wants to own that burden, that yes, sees you as a critical part of their work family and want, you know, wants to own your wellbeing.

Scott Luton (56:30):

See, I knew there was a more toothpaste in that toothpaste tube. I knew there’s a lot more <laugh> excellent points, Greg, really powerful perspective. Been there, done that perspective. And I think that’s a very accurate read and some real pressure that folks have, whether they’re founders or executives, leaders in the company, you know, we we’ve gotta protect the whole organization. So well said, Greg, I appreciate you sharing a couple final comments here. Look at this. Shelly was employee one in a small business that grew over to 60 million share Shelly

Greg White (57:00):

Was her million share selling, figure out what that company is. Wow. Yes. That’s pretty impressive.

Scott Luton (57:04):

I bet there’s a story there. Uh, as I mentioned, we did drop the link to the ebook. Y’all check that out in the comments. Uh, it’s really easy. Uh, we’ve got some great questions from Julio and Shahi, if the net stock team as to with us, that’d be great. If they wanna go back and compare notes there, Oozine great to see you again via LinkedIn. Uh, let us know where you’re tuned in from here today. Michael culture eats strategy for breakfast always reminds me of a happy Gilmore when I hear that quote for some reason. <laugh> and yeah, there’s a great quote. I won’t share it here, but, uh, there’s a great happy Gilmore quote. Shelly also agrees with you. Julio says there are a few companies focusing on culture and employee satisfaction. Sadly. I think it we’re evolving. I really think,

Greg White (57:46):

Yeah. I think tide is turning for sure. Right?

Scott Luton (57:49):

I think that’s one of the silver linings of the pandemic, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative> I think that’s one of the things that’s taught us all. We’ve gotta take care. And for those that missed the boat, those business leaders that missed the boat, we gotta take care of the workforce in much different way. Shasha agrees with Greg. You touched a very important, important point. Awesome. To hear your thoughts. Appreciate that. Thank you. Okay. So folks, uh, hope you enjoyed the conversation today, as much as Greg and I and the whole team did big, thanks to Catherine, Amanda and Chantel on our side to help make production happen. Of course, clay, uh, AKA diesel made an appearance here today. Love what he does really enjoyed Lynn and Barry’s perspective and really their, their whole team as they, uh, help facilitate today’s conversation. They definitely is. Steve’s not words.

Scott Luton (58:32):

And they practice what they preach, and those are some of our favorite guests. So y’all check out the net stock team, make sure you connect with Lynn and Barry, but whatever you do, and Jonathan great point here, be keen on relationships. Uh, and then be culturally be driven, uh, may have gotten that right. But, but the, the relationships part Jonathan, right? Absolutely. That’s what makes the world go round more so today than ever before, but folks, whatever you do, and Jonathan, great to have you throughout the conversation here today. It’s all about action, right? It’s all about taking action. It’s on behalf of the entire supply chain. Now team Greg and Scott Luton here. Hey, we’re challenging you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (59:22):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.