Education / Certification Project
Jan 22, 2016
Education / Certification Project
Research
Guided by a working group of the CSCSC’s Research Committee, Blueprint Public Relations of Ottawa, Ont., carried out the first phase of the Council’s Education/Certification Project to collect hard and soft information.
Qualitative Research Explored
Employer awareness of programs Sector need for educational standards Partnerships between industry and
educational institutions
Three activities were conducted to support development of the strategy
1. Compilation of the compendium
2. Online surveys of employers
3. Focus groups
Compilation of the Compendium
Information for the compendium was gathered from three sources:AssociationsPost-secondary institutions Employers
June 28, 2007, Mississauga, Ontario
Canada’s first comprehensive database of education and training programs for the supply chain sector is now available online.http://www.supplychaincanada.org/
assets/Compendium_website.pdf
“I most definitely find this to be an interesting and very useful thing.” – French teleconference
“I tried looking for something like this and I couldn’t find anything.” – Toronto
Updating the compendium
The CSCSC can expect incoming:EmailsCallsFeedback
“I think the material definitely needs to be reviewed periodically because it’s quite easy to fall behind and become outdated in this business.” – French teleconference
Formal Updates
Once or twice a year:Pull – association and educational websitesPush – formal requests
• AUCC
• ACCC
• Associations
• Colleges and universities
Methodology
A number of research methods were employed to gather information: Online surveyInterviewsFocus groups
Online Survey of Employers
A short online survey was posted from January 29 to February 16, 2007, and supply chain employers were contacted by CSCSC and invited to complete it.
Response to the survey was disappointing as it was completed by 20 respondents, 19 in English and 1 in French.
Interviews
Ten leaders in the sector were interviewed to understand what education and training programs they admire, have recommended to colleagues or employees or if they were in education themselves, which programs they have created.
Focus Groups
Four focus groups were conducted during March 2007 in three regions of Canada: Two face-to face focus groups were
conducted, in Winnipeg and Toronto. Two groups were carried out by
teleconference with representatives in Montreal and its environs.
“Looking for middle management is always a struggle…I’m looking for …soft skills…project management, establishing relationships, some financial background, and being capable of doing a P&L…and with a background in logistics, because you need to have someone who understands and has a supervisory background.” – Toronto
Findings
Good supply of operational-level employees
Shortage of middle-level managers
“At the lower levels you can train them on the job…if you’re looking for a forklift operator, a dispatcher, a customer service representative…there are a sufficient number of people around to be able to answer our demand.” – English teleconference
Partnership Development
There is general agreement that there are a large number of industry designations and training programs, and considerable overlap in the subject matter.
It should also be noted that more partnerships are being developed between industry associations and colleges or universities.
“…If we asked ten different senior people at ten different senior supply chain organizations, ‘Which one would you value?’ you would get ten different answers.” – Toronto
Needs for Improvement
Need for standardization of training programs
Little need for occupational standards Improve stature of industry designations Increased partnerships between
industry associations and colleges and universities
“…they have to continually be upgrading their courseware and, you know, to keep up with what’s happening in the industry…and that’s something that some of these training companies and associations may be lagging behind…what’s happening in the industry.” – English teleconference
Recommendation 1:Create Opportunities for:
Experienced workers from “blue-collar” sectors to become middle managers
Post-secondary students to obtain work experience
Recommendation 2:CSCSC to Review Industry Programs
To recognize better programs and encourage consolidation
To lend credibility to individual designations To make choosing a program simpler To prevent wasted time and money on the
wrong training
“[The Sector Council could say], ‘These are the ones that we’ve evaluated, that we’ve looked at the content, that we’ve looked at from an industry perspective and that we think make sense’…I think that’s a great idea.” – Toronto
Recommendation 3:Improve Sector Image
CSCSC to improve overall professional sector image by:Recognizing pedagogically sound
practicesEncouraging associations to improve
“[Supply chain management] has got a very blue-collar image to it…and that’s one of the things we’ve got to do, is to try to market it as a very sophisticated profession.” – Winnipeg
Recommendation 4:Partnership Facilitation
Industry associations team with post-secondary institutions to:Improve the level of instruction“Raise the bar”
“The customs field is forever changing and we’re really short-staffed with knowledgeable people, despite the fact that there are so many layoffs and mergers in Canada.” – Winnipeg
Recommendation 5:Occupational Standards
Education of sector opinion leaders Standards developed by a team with:
substantial industry experienceunassailable credentials
Contact Information
1100 Central Parkway West, Suite 17-1, Mississauga, ON L5C 4E5
T: 905-897-6700/1-866-616-3468
F: 905-897-1100
W: www.supplychaincanada.org