Over the past year, challenges in the supply chain and logistics hiring market have remained consistent. Hiring managers continue to struggle with candidate concerns around compensation and relocation, while many companies still seek candidates who appear “perfect” on paper, creating a complex and competitive labor market.
Common trends that hiring managers are consistently looking for include experience in compliance and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance. ESG expectations continue to drive structural changes across global supply chains, forcing companies to meet regulatory requirements, diversify their supplier bases, reduce emissions, and improve transparency. Candidates with experience in these areas bring critical value, especially as organizations respond to growing environmental and governance demands. But many times, these are skills that aren’t necessarily measurable, and candidates might have these skills but not “on paper.” For example, if a company is looking for a procurement manager for raw materials who needs specific compliance experience for a project, hiring teams may encounter plenty of qualified procurement managers whose resumes may not reflect compliance experience.
Further, hiring is a time-consuming and expensive process. Focusing on finding talent that can grow with your company over time is critical to long-term success.
Defining “utility player”
What does a “utility player” look like in today’s supply chain and logistics landscape? For many positions, a utility player is a candidate that has progressed through and touched a number of different areas. For example, a procurement professional that has worked in various supply chain functions is able to bring relevant experience to new roles and adapt based on previous skills.
But often more important than the resume-based experience is a candidate that shows a high aptitude for learning and can be extremely agile, pivoting to learn new tools and systems quickly. This person is comfortable reporting to the C-suite but can also connect with teams on the floor.
A utility player also needs to be adaptable. Think of it this way – there is likely only a handful of candidates familiar with a specific tool, let’s say a new AI integration or an automation software. Find the perfect candidate with that exact experience from a very small subsection of candidates. Or find a candidate that has done something similar that can adapt based on experience to fit the skills you need.
For many business challenges, there is no rulebook, and there isn’t a lot of exact experience. Tariffs, reshoring – these things are changing rapidly from one day to the next, so the reality is the “perfect” candidate doesn’t exist.
Hiring for potential
Many times, if a candidate doesn’t check every box on the job description, the process ends and they are removed from consideration, especially with the integration of front-end AI screening tools. But shifting the focus to identify candidates with high potential, even if they don’t check every box, is the best way to find utility players – those that will shift and adapt and ultimately grow within your organization.
But how? Let’s say you receive 500 applicants for a particular role. If you lean into filtering out based on keywords only, you might be missing out on objectively good candidates. The screening process is critical in finding the best talent, and not investing the time in calls is a misstep. Screening calls definitely takes time and effort, but is worth it when you are looking for skills you can’t find on a resume. Because finding objectively good talent usually does not mean an exact match for keywords, rather a candidate with adjacent experience that can be leveraged for the role you are hiring for (or even others in the organization).
Once you have sorted through the initial round, spend more time with the candidates you bring in for interviews. Ask questions focused on aptitude, learning ability, coaching ability – who they are as a person. This also means meeting in person. While initial screenings and pre-interviews can be done via phone or Zoom, meeting face-to-face and even incorporating lunch or coffee is worth the time in uncovering skills that don’t check a responsibilities box.
A note on filtering candidates
Asking the questions that will uncover objectively good talent, even if they don’t have exact experience for {insert bullet from job description}. For example:
· Can you tell me about a time where you had to take on tough feedback? What was that feedback and what were the results?
· Can you talk to me about an experience you had operating in an ambiguous environment?
· Can you tell me about a project you led from start to finish?
Attracting talent
In a competitive labor market, companies need to reposition themselves to attract the right talent. Usually, that means talent partners working very closely with the hiring team that the role is for. Job descriptions are often written exclusively by a talent acquisition partner that doesn’t sit in the role or team and therefore is writing based exclusively on keywords. If a candidate either doesn’t see skills that match or feels their experience doesn’t match exactly, they will use that as a reason to count themselves out and not apply.
Evaluating the job description and thinking about who you are encouraging to apply, shifting the focus from “required” skills, and really selling the position encourages a broader pool of qualified candidates to apply.
When speaking with candidates, it’s also important to share growth opportunities within the organization. Sharing with candidates how the role can evolve within the function as well as laterally can help find the right candidates that will adapt and grow long-term.
To attract top talent and stay aligned with candidates’ expectations, leaders should focus on hiring for potential rather than perfection. Recruiting utility players – those who are multiskilled, adaptable, and eager to learn – should become a cornerstone strategy as industry skill sets continue to evolve.
