Certification Sharpens Your Competitive Edge!
Few industries are experiencing such rapid change as the logistics and distribution indusrty. Career professionals are asking, "What can we do to stay current, informed and equipped in the field?" Our answer continues to be to stay active in your industry associations, and make professional development including certification a priority.In lean times companies often reduce their training and education budgets even though such development remains crucial. Conversely, as business again begins to grow the demands of a faster pace make it difficult to budget time for continuing education. Yet failure to do so can leave people professionally and personally depleted. How can burnout be averted?
What professionals are saying is that they want and need time for education and development, not only for their own sense of accomplishment, but out of commitment to be of real value to their employers and their industry.
Successful companies understand the importance of investing in their employees. The high cost of personnel turnover makes professional development of people a high priority, and helps sharpen a savvy company’s competitive edge. Our recent graduate members tell us that a benefits package offer of professional development makes a real difference in their decision to accept a particular company’s position. Having professionally-certified employees shows customers that your organization is committed to the highest and most current industry standards. Certification can also lead to increased revenues by providing opportunity for your sales people to better learn the language and needs of your customers.
Too often in our industry someone is thrust unawares into a new type of position simply because of the quality of work they have been doing elsewhere. They may be quite capable and creative, but also may have inadequate knowledge of transportation or logistics. Education and development is crucial for them. They may have been on top of things in a previous position, and will certainly want to enjoy continued success. Not offering adequate education and development that certification can provide sets them up for failure.
Certification of employees also contributes to team building between areas or departments of your business. Employees learn to collaborate more when teaming together on a certification course. For example, when finance people and distribution people study together, they begin to see how their individual areas affect and can better interact with each other. This is a value add to your company long after the coursework is over.
Industry expert, Laurie Denham, PLS and Executive Director of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics has provided us with some career advice below.
Laurie says, "The question I often hear is, 'Will certification help me get a better job?' My answer is, 'It sure helped me.' Several years ago I got a call from an AST&L member I'd known for years. He was looking to retire, and wanted to know if I’d be interested in changing jobs. My answer was 'yes.' Without certification from AST&L, I’d never have been considered for the job. With it I had both the knowledge and confidence I needed. As they say, 'the rest was history.'"The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) provides a list of SCM Associations and Certification Programs.
