Argentus founder and President Bronwen Hann is in Montreal this week for the Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA)’s National Conference – Canada’s biggest annual gathering of business leadership and thought leaders in our industry.

She’s there to accept her honour as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Supply Chain. She’s there to speak to executive and other business leaders about their Supply Chain talent challenges, and offer our boots-on-the-ground perspective as a leading recruitment agency specialized in the field. She’s also there to speak on a panel about the Future of Supply Chain Talent.

Hosted by Deloitte Principal Kelly Marchese, the panel included voices from Supply Chain recruiters as well as Chief Supply Chain and Procurement officers from Bombardier and Plexxus.

Topics included:

• Key skills for Supply Chain professionals at every level of seniority,
• Transforming organizations to break down silos and foster collaboration up and down the Supply Chain,
• How to attract and retain passive talent (especially millennial professionals),
• The Supply Chain talent crunch caused by the retirement of the baby boomer generation,
• How the field should set itself up for the future,

And more.

Shortly before the panel wrapped up, host Kelly Marchese asked each participant to share a hashtag that sums up their key message, and Bronwen shared #ChooseSupplyChain.

Here’s why:

We’ve spent almost 20 years recruiting in Supply Chain, Procurement and Logistics, and that means we’ve had a lot of conversations with executives and leaders in the field. One thing they almost always say is, “I fell into Supply Chain by accident. Now that I’m here, I love it: it’s fast-paced, it’s global, it uses cutting-edge technology, and it’s opened me up to huge opportunities.”

Everyone knows the second part of that statement, but we need to change the first part. The industry is facing a talent crunch, and maybe the fact that most senior leaders have only accidentally discovered the field is a part of that issue.

So Bronwen issued a call from the stage: we need to become ambassadors for Supply Chain to get more people into the field, and from a younger age. We need to go into high schools, even middle schools, to talk about Supply Chain opportunities. We need to change the outdated perception that Supply Chain is a transactional, blue-collar career. We need to celebrate Supply Chain successes and not just failures. We need to be proud of the mountains that Supply Chain professionals move every day.

We need to make a future where more people are choosing Supply Chain, from the get-go. Choosing to pursue a Supply Chain career. Choosing to invest in Supply Chain as they build companies.

Supply Chain Management is a career of the future, but the perception is stuck in the past.

So let’s change it: use the hashtag #ChooseSupplyChain to share why you love the field, and what would make you choose Supply Chain if you were a student or recent graduate today.