If we don't look after our youth, then what is our future? And that is something that's true of any industry.
-Jenny Froome
Episode Summary
In this special episode, host Scott W. Luton focuses on one of his favorite subjects: Good News. Here, Scott shares a great “Do Good” initiative by our friends at HelloFresh and Pratt Industries; he touches on the recently averted (for now) railroad labor strike; and Scott welcomes in his dear friend Jenny Froome to share a few key takeaways from the recently facilitated 2022 SAPICS Young Professional & Student Conference. Jenny & Scott are both big believers in the importance of investing in the “Now Generation”, which is good for all of global industry.
Episode Transcript
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 (00:34):
Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton here with you on supply chain. Now, welcome to the show today. We’re sharing a few thoughts on one of my favorite topics. Good news. Some of our listeners may be familiar with my related weekly message on Friday mornings on LinkedIn. And if you’re not, Hey, connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn and join in those weekly conversations. I’d love to hear your thoughts, but today let’s dive in to some good news. Now for September 19th, 2022, uh, first a great initiative hit my radar over the weekend. Hello, fresh, which is the largest meal kit provider in the us. Hello, fresh is partnered with Pratt industries, which is the fifth largest corrugated packaging company here in the states. The organizations partnered with a food rescue organization known as second helpings, Atlanta working together. They launched a meal donation program in August, 2021 to provide meals to individuals and families in need throughout Metro Atlanta.
Scott Luton (01:39):
The program is entitled meals with meaning and it just surpassed quite a milestone. As over 500,000 meals have been distributed to those in need and better yet, all organizations are committing to continuing the initiative throughout 2023. Hey, great work all next up. Hopefully you’ve heard by now a railroad labor strike has been averted as a deal has been reached late last week. A labor strike in the railroad industry here in the states, would’ve been exceptionally disruptive as about 30% of all goods travel via real in the us now had a strike taken place. It would’ve been the first railroad strike since 1992, some 30 years ago. Now Hal 1992 is 30 years ago. I have no idea. Goodness gracious, rail workers though, back to the story are seeking quality of life improvements via pay healthcare and work schedule changes amongst other things. But important note here, rail workers are voting on the tentative agreement.
Scott Luton (02:45):
This coming Thursday morning, which would be September 22nd, all 12 rail unions must ratify the new contract. Otherwise a labor strike would be imminent. Now some insiders are fairly concerned about this, this last hurdle. So we’ll see how that goes. But in the meantime, I love this quote from the late colon Powell quote, never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don’t share your view, listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise in quote, such a timeless truth there for our third and final topic here today on good news. Now I invited my dear friend, Jenny fr to share a few thoughts. Now, many of our listeners will recognize Jenny as an executive leader with SAP picks, which is a wonderful industry association doing great work all across Africa. Jenny is also my co-host for our ongoing series here at supply chain. Now that is aptly named supply chain leadership across Africa. We have had some of the best conversations with a few of the brightest minds in global business, going back a couple years now, now recently, Jenny and her team held the 2022 SAEX young professional and student conference all to engage what I call the now generation of supply chain and business leaders. Now I’ve invited Jenny to share a few key takeaways in observations related to the event, the participants Inex work in general,
Jenny Froome (04:21):
When you’ve been doing something for a very long time. Um, it’s very easy to get bored or disillusioned or wonder why it is that you are doing what you do. And I’ve worked with pics for a very long time, um, over 20 years and every single year, since we launched the young professional and student conference initiative, it gives me that shot in the arm, that excitement, that positivity that sometimes is needed, especially over the last few years where, you know, we’ve all wondered what’s gonna happen. The, the young professionals, the students, the people who have chosen to get into supply chain management, never cease to excite me. Um, there’s such an enthusiasm. There’s such a unaware of what the degree they’re doing or what the, what the job that they’ve decided to do, the journey that it’s gonna take them on. And it’s been such a privilege for me to have been able to watch a lot of people, um, who, whose professional development, um, has just, has just gone on exponentially from when I first met them.
Jenny Froome (05:41):
And, and it’s just it’s so, so, so rewarding. I can’t describe how much of a pleasure it gives. Um, and, and really just to change that one person’s idea of what supply chain management truly is in the real sense, because they’ve spoken to somebody who’s working for a logistics provider or somebody who’s working in procurement or somebody who’s working in the public health distribution space. There, there are just so many different angles that, that maybe universities don’t don’t teach them. And, and I, you know, I’m not gonna desk universities at all, cuz I think they do a wonderful job, but it’s that being able to be that link maybe between academia and private and, and work and to try to focus on job readiness and enable these people to give them the right skills and the right mindset. You know, we, we talk about EQ and, and the whole soft skills, which I, I still don’t think should be called soft skills, but we talk about all of that, but what do we teach the young people of today?
Jenny Froome (06:56):
And I think that that’s something that, that just came through this year, particularly so strongly. Um, and, and I really found that to be a, a true highlight of, of what we do. It’s exposing the young people to things that are not just theoretical. They’re not just books. Education is so much more than textbooks and I, and I’m very proud to be associated with an organization like say books that, that takes the time to expose these young individuals to, to, to a future that they might not otherwise ever have known about. So in a nutshell, that’s really what excites me about the young professional development that SAP does. You know, just talking about people whose careers I’ve watched since they, they, they sort of started their journey with SAP really. Um, we’ve got some, not so young people anymore, but they came to their very, very first SAEX conference as, as young recruits and then our CEOs of multinational organizations.
Jenny Froome (08:10):
Um, and, and that’s amazing. It is amazing to watch. It’s amazing to watch them give back as well, you know, to have somebody who’s been a member of pic since they were in their twenties now managing multinational organizations, but they still take time to come to an online event or back in the day when we were doing face to face, which hopefully we gonna be able to do again very soon. Um, they, they took, they take the time, they take the time to mentor and to guide and to share their experiences and to share their passion for, for this profession. Um, and I think that that, that never ceases to amaze me just that, that willingness to give back to a profession that they’re passionate about. Um, and, and it’s, it’s incredibly, uh, motivating to, to, to see that firsthand. So SAP is the professional body for supply chain management in South Africa.
Jenny Froome (09:08):
And it’s been going since, uh, I think it’s 56 years. Um, and during that time it’s managed to build such a, such a vibrant and dynamic community of supply chain professionals from, from all industries and public and private sector. And it’s one of those organizations that’s, it’s driven by volunteers, um, and the volunteers spend their time giving to the community. And I mean, you know, Scott, you know this because you were, you were one, um, once upon a time and, and you’ve done your earned your stripes as it were. Um, and it’s, and it is always amazing to see how volunteers will give up their time, roll up their sleeves and help an organization like SAEX because they understand the value of it. And, and they themselves have either grown through the, through the organization or their company’s profile has been enhanced by association with this organization for, for so many reasons.
Jenny Froome (10:20):
Um, and, and I think that the young professional initiative that Sepik started is almost a culmination of all of that. It’s where it should have started. It’s where, it’s where, um, it’s where it all, it all stems from, because if we don’t look after our youth, then what’s our future. Um, and, and that’s something that is true of any industry. Absolutely. You know, any, not even industry, just life isn’t it. Um, but, but I think that, you know, we were a little bit slow getting off the, off the blocks, and we’ve really only formalized this, this whole initiative over the last 10 to 12 years, um, where we started the annual conference and we have, um, mentoring sessions. We’ve got some fabulous, uh, individual members old and young, and I, you know, old, we’ve got some pretty old members too. Um, but you know, they, they, they have been allocated, um, young professionals who they meet with reg on a regular basis and they help them through the sort of the, the, the complexities of, of starting your career.
Jenny Froome (11:31):
And there are some mentorship, mentee, mentee, mentor, relationships that have been ongoing for many years. Um, and in fact, we sort of got next next gen mentors, which is very exciting. Um, I really have been doing this for too long. Uh, and so it’s, it’s that, uh, it’s that, it’s that initiative, it’s that passion, it’s that, um, commitment that really is just so or inspiring. We did our annual, uh, conference this year. We did it online. Um, we had over 170 people register, I think. And over the, over the course of the day, we had around about a hundred people pop in and out of the online platform. It’s a great platform because it’s got these networking tables that you can actually really see people and, and chat to them. Um, I think we’ve all experienced those now, but the engagement was outstanding. It really was, um, from, from the mentors and the, and the, the, the mentees, uh, we had one young lady who really just learned so much that she was quite overwhelmed with emotion.
Jenny Froome (12:45):
By the end of the day, we had a program that was filled with amazing subject matter experts, supply chain professionals who were talking about when they first started and what they look for as an employer, and really sound Sage advice about, you know, so you’ve got your degree, you’ve got your two pieces of paper, don’t go to a company thinking that they now owe you a job and a promotion and the, the window office, um, or the corner office, you know, this is where the hard work starts, keep your humility. Um, and I think that that resonated with so many people in the audience, um, because it is so important. You don’t know what it’s like to work your way up through an organization. Um, there is so much more to learn about a career than the qualification. And so that was very interesting. And we, interestingly enough, this year, we had a lot of, a lot of women supply chain professionals.
Jenny Froome (13:54):
The program was truly, uh, truly a proud making moment to see the diversity on that program. Uh, and, and we, we littered it with litter. That’s the wrong word, but we, we populated it with some really good, uh, specialist knowledge. So the, the whole demand driven, um, angle, uh, which was something that was, was really, uh, put into a context that was not, it was not like school or university. It was practical knowledge from a, from a somebody who’s done masses of consultations on, on the subject in huge and small organizations who could use his practical experience to explain why it’s so dynamic, why it’s so important. And, and, you know, you could actually, you could actually feel the enthusiasm from the presentation. We had another, um, another person talking about artificial intelligence and, you know, the overriding and I think somewhat reassuring message, which is that we can be as, as complex as we like with as much technology as we like, but we mustn’t take the human out of, out of the supply chain.
Jenny Froome (15:10):
Um, artificial intelligence is not going to replace humans. It will hopefully make humans lives easier. Um, and you know, that, that was a, that was a great message. We had a, a fantastic, uh, presentation from Dr. Patients and <inaudible>, who’s a leading woman in the mining industry. And there aren’t really there. Weren’t when she first started very many, uh, people, very many women in the mining industry in Africa, um, let alone, you know, internationally or African women internationally. So she’s a real trailblazer and what an inspiration, uh, that, that, that she gave to, to young people in, in the audience, always the, our past president, uh, ki she’s started her own, uh, foundation and is doing what she’s absolutely passionate about, which is helping the young to get job ready. And she always talks about, you know, make sure that you wear the right clothes, make sure that you are, that you look appropriate for the, for the environment that you are hoping to get a job in, or the environment that you want to go and work in things that we as adults.
Jenny Froome (16:26):
I think so take for granted that youngsters know about. And I, I don’t want Sam patronizing, cuz I know there are lots of youngsters out there who know it, but equally there are a lot who don’t and we do assume a lot when educating youngsters, I think how to, how to make sure that your CV stands out. We need to know that at any age, but it’s particularly important when you are young because the things that you don’t think are important actually could make the difference. You know, they, they could give somebody the, the implication or the indication that you are a natural leader because you, I don’t know you captain the hockey team or, or something along those lines. And I know a lot of kids who don’t include that on their CDs because they don’t think it’s relevant. Um, we have a, a, a wonderful relationship with an organization called the people shop who are absolute experts in, in recruitment and, and executive search.
Jenny Froome (17:25):
I think it’s called, I’m not sure. Um, our chairman of our young professional committee, fantastic young man called co fellow. Um, he, he’s actually now working with them, which is very exciting. And we had, we have had two super interns. Who’ve been working with us throughout the, the winter, uh, in the lead up to the sacreds conference. And, um, one of them actually found herself a job at the St pits conference and we’re actively working to try and try and help our, our other young lady secure employment before her contract is up, but to learn from them. You know, I remember listening to, I think it was Kim winter actually, who talked about upward mentoring as well as downward mentoring in that we, we gray haired old S um, we can learn from our new recruits, our young professionals, as much as they can learn from us.
Jenny Froome (18:24):
And I think that that’s a really relevant sort of thought process because I’ve learned so much from both of them in the time that they’ve been here, questions asking, why do we do it this way? Why don’t we do it a different way from a messaging point of view, you can’t, you can’t message on social media to, to attract young people’s attention in the same way that you do the more established, uh, individual, all these things, which I know if you read lots of books and things, which I never have the time to do, you can learn, and there’s a science behind all of it, but isn’t it so great to be able to learn it from the real people who are actually wanting that messaging? I think it’s been a huge privilege and, uh, and I’m very fortunate to do what I do. Um, in, in, in this particular, in this particular space, I met a fabulous young lady at the, um, young professional conference last week, who, I dunno if you recall, and I know you’ll remember Nikki Scott, but, um, Nikki founded the commercial transport academy here in South Africa and has been working with U S a I D, and a number of, um, private sector organizations to educate and empower women, truck drivers, but also in leadership roles, not just the practical skills of driving trucks, but in, in leadership and management.
Jenny Froome (19:56):
Um, and there was one of her graduates, one of the graduates from the college who was at the student conference and SAP PEX has worked with CTA and their graduates, a given, uh, young professional membership at SAP PEX for the, the duration of their time with CTA in the hope that they will then, you know, take the, take the initiative and, and take out their own membership later on. And, um, this young lady was so enthusiastic and just really gave SAEX such credit for giving her that extra boost in her at the start of her career, by introducing her to different people in different industries who all have different experiences and being able to learn from those experiences. And, and remember, this is, is all online. These last three years, has it been three? Yeah, two and a half years, it’s all online. And that’s what I think that I’ve underestimated is how brilliant it was to be thrust into this environment where we had to go online.
Jenny Froome (21:04):
We didn’t have a choice and the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve nurtured as a result of the, this online connectivity, um, really has made me appreciate the fact that it has a value for a very, very long time to come. And particularly in, in the space of the, the young supply chain professionals, it’s almost second nature to them now, and they’ve used it so wisely to build their communities. And they’ve all learned how to use LinkedIn effectively and how to, how to network online, which is, which is a great skill to have, I think. Um, and I know that there’s a, a certain generation that really struggled, um, during the, the lockdown months and years. So it’s, it’s so wonderful to be able to feel positive about the ability to connect online rather than it being a Drudge. And, you know, we’re, we’re obviously a little bit behind the, the, the states and Europe and in our sort of release back into the real world.
Jenny Froome (22:10):
And we were fortunate enough to have our annual conference in June face to face, but masks were still compulsory and how quickly we forget those things. But another great initiative by pics is to invite students and have them sponsored to the annual conference. And I really hope that we can expand on that and we can get private sector to really come to the party and give these young professionals that experience of, of the safe annual conference, because there’s very little like it. And it really is an opportunity to connect with people who will be useful to you later on in your career, or currently have got answers to the, to the personal and the professional questions that you have. So it’s a, it’s, it’s a really great thing to get the feedback from these, these students to sort of how much it’s opened their eyes to what supply chain management actually is. And of course we know it’s everything, but they didn’t really know that they didn’t really know what it was until they sat in a presentation and they realized that it can, it can change the world. And I think that that’s it get, they leave feeling empowered and proud of the decision that they’ve made to join this profession.
Scott Luton (23:42):
Hey, thanks so much, Jenny really appreciate all that you shared there. And of course, the great work you and your team do. Hey folks, that’s where I’ll wrap up. Today’s good news. Now, episode, thanks so much for joining me and for tuning into our supply chain. Now programming on behalf of the entire team. This is Scott Luton, challenging you to be like the one and only Jenny fr, Hey, do good give forward and be the change that’s needed. And with that said, we’ll see next time, right back here on supply chain now. Thanks. Shavan
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Featured Guests
Jenny Froome is passionate about how supply chain management affects our lives on every level. Her original and now current profession is event management – the epitome of a well-honed supply chain. After many years working as COO of SAPICS – the professional body of supply chain management in South Africa she realized the importance of shining the light on the supply chains of Africa. Managing events such as the SAPICS annual conference, the People that Deliver Global Indaba, and the Africa Supply Chain Excellence Awards have truly allowed Jenny to combine her skills, knowledge, and community. Jenny’s lived all over the world and has settled in South Africa with her husband and many 4 legged friends while her sons are scattered around the world. Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn.
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