Editor’s note: Teva Pharmaceuticals earned the 2023 ASCM Award of Excellence — Learning and Development, which recognizes an organization's commitment to productivity and advancement based on the ongoing application of educational concepts, competencies and best practices from ASCM performance-driven team training and the APICS body of knowledge. Call for nominations for the 2024 program is open. To learn more, visit ascm.org/awards.
The greatest asset of any supply chain is its people. Although Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. has always valued its employees, various events of the 2020s — including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation — underscored just how important it is to invest in supply chain talent.
Eran Ebert, head of global supply chain transformation for the Tel Aviv-based company, explains: “To address these challenges, we were inspired by ASCM publications to establish a supply chain academy for the company to encourage career growth and make employees feel valued, supported and motivated to grow their careers within the organization.”
The supply chain academy provides a platform for employees to develop their skills and knowledge while contributing to the organization's overall success. The initiative does this by creating a pipeline of skilled supply chain experts who can lead Teva's supply chain into the future.
Investing in professional development is also helping the multinational pharmaceutical company address related business challenges. For example, while the company was refreshing its China strategy, Ebert and Mar Gimeno, vice president of global planning, concluded that Teva needed to invest in people’s capabilities in order to reach its business goals in the region. In addition, after the major supply chain disruptions following the onset of the pandemic, Teva wanted to bolster its agility, flexibility and supply chain resilience. Giving people the skills to address disruptions would be a key competitive advantage.
Investing in future success
Within the supply chain academy, one of the key strategy streams is People’s Capabilities. To specifically enhance employees’ supply chain capabilities, Teva leaders lean on the APICS body of knowledge as a global standard for basic supply chain knowledge. This foundation ensures that Teva employees across the organization have a consistent understanding of supply chain concepts and practices.
Initially, Teva trialed the APICS Certified in Planning and Inventory Management and APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional programs, with a goal of training 100 supply chain employees in either of these credentials in the first year. After enthusiastic feedback from participants, the program leaders decided to make these certifications a permanent part of the supply chain academy. To date, more than 400 professionals from various departments and sites have participated in the APICS training, with many of them taking the exams and becoming certified. Employees are excited to be a part of the program, enhance their supply chain capabilities and contribute to Teva’s success.
Eager for more
The APICS learning and development program has become a fundamental element in the onboarding of newcomers as well as for career development and growth opportunities for all. Top management also has set program participation as a key goal and objective for team leads.
“The success of the program is not doubtable,” Ebert says. “It is now embedded in Teva’s next-generation supply chain strategy.”
Each month participation data is reported to the steering committee. Company leaders are excited to still be seeing an increase in requests to participate in the training — and interestingly from employees outside the supply chain field, such as employees in information technology and finance.
Teva is thrilled to be able to offer such an enriching program to its employees, and it continues to value its partnership with ASCM to make it happen.
