Huge chasm between junior and senior staff

“There definitely is a skills shortage in the transport industry. The biggest problem is the huge gap that exists between junior and senior staff as many mid-level employees have left the industry. While there is no shortage of youngsters wanting to join the industry, they have no experience to compensate for this skills gap,” says Juliette Fourie, managing member of Metro Minds. Fourie says that they have in general found that senior managers do not have the time to adequately provide guidance and mentoring for the junior staff as they have a business to run as well. The junior staff, including graduates, therefore learn from their immediate colleagues how to do a specific job but have no understanding of how that job fits into the entire supply chain. “They will, for instance, know how to complete a specific document without any understanding of its importance. This also means that they are taught all the mistakes their colleagues might have been making up to that point,” she explains. “The problem is not with the individual who has been recruited but with the training. The entire process of developing people in the industry is not optimal. The solution is to offer all new staff an intensive, three-month induction course that will provide the necessary training for them to make a successful start in this very demanding industry. Ongoing training should also be provided for all existing staff to stay up to date with new developments in the industry. “Managers are currently expecting staff to learn things and climb the corporate ladder quickly. If they do not have the necessary tools at their disposal the youngsters become frustrated and stressed and tend to leave the industry after a few short years, thereby perpetuating the skills shortage,” Fourie notes.