Customer Service Operations Certification
To thrive in today’s business climate, it requires organizations to place the customer first. "In nature, it is not the strongest species the one that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change," said Matthew Banks, vice president and global lead, Customer Experience Management at Oracle, during his presentation at the recent Oracle Cloud Day Helsinki, Finland. The demands of customer’s are in a constant state of change.
To meet the constantly changing market, requires individuals that are trained to adapt and manage the customer experience throughout the entire supply chain not just a single aspect of it. This year, I was a member of the Workplace Competencies Team that conducted industry interviews on behalf of the LINCS Consortium; a four-year, $24.5 million, Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant Program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. After conducting the 66 industry interviews with individuals who hire in the field of Supply Chain Management (SCM), we realized how enthusiastic they were about the research and the opportunity to impact SCM curriculum and content that meets the needs of industry.
Most of the employers pointed out that supply chain management involves a variety of different functions. Each function requires different skills and competency levels. The Purchasing function, for instance, requires negation, technical, and other higher‐level, specialized skills. Warehousing, on the other hand, may be less specialized in nature and may place more emphasis on the ‘craft’ function. Interpersonal skills play a critical role across organizational functions.
One thing that was certain was that employers are looking for individuals who possess great problem solving skills, collaboration, and team building skills. Employers also recognize the need for individuals who are driven, motivated, and eager to enhance their working knowledge of SCM on their path to become the supply chain leaders of tomorrow. One of the most important skill was Customer Focus. A good leader has the customer as his or her first priority. Customer satisfaction matters not only to the customer, but even more to the business because it directly impacts a company's bottom line. Understanding and fostering key relationships can create short and long-term value in customer loyalty and marketplace alliances.
The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) has expressed the immediate need to educate and train a highly skilled and qualified workforce, and to build a pipeline for a future workforce. Florida State College at Jacksonville is one of twelve colleges and universities participating in the LINCS Consortium. Not only is order fulfillment and customer service a part of the core learning for seven newly created certifications, we are offering the CSCMP Customer Service Operations certification exam prep workshop at our campus and will be made available online in the near future. To learn more visit: www.fscj.edu/lincs