553: Engage and Empower Your Team, with Brecham Group
Chris Hamley is the co-founder and CEO of Brecham Group, a company focused on empowering organizations through its "Precision Supply Chain Operations" approach. With 37 years of industry experience, Hamley is an "accidental supply chainer" himself, having started his career loading trucks at UPS before rising through the ranks. He advocates for a leadership style that empowers frontline teams, emphasizing that resilience and on-the-job learning are key to career progression. Hamley believes that while technology is creating knowledge gaps, the solution lies in balancing new tools with fundamental operational understanding and developing strong people leaders at every level.
Today I’m joined by company who believe your supply chain operations should be a powerful competitive advantage, not a source of inefficiency or frustration: Brecham Group.
The Brecham Group is on a mission to empower organizations and operators to expect and achieve excellence through their Precision Supply Chain Operations – a proven approach that outperforms with rigorous execution, holistic planning, innovative thinking, and practical decision-making.
Today Chris Hamley, Co-Founder and CEO at Brecham Group, will be talking all about the one thing that powers supply chain – people. We’ll be shining a light on ‘accidental’ supply chain careers, and the leadership gaps they could be creating. We’ll be exploring whether technology is replacing understanding, and the big risks presented by knowledge drain and rapid promotion. And we’ll be sharing how leadership at every level drives measurable performance.
Guest bio:
Chris Hamley is the solutions architect for distribution operations. His clients have included leading retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers in consumer products, apparel, automotive, food and beverage. Chris has thirty years of experience in supply chain strategy, supply chain planning, supplier relationship management, network strategy, cross docking and flow through strategies, distribution operations, operations re-engineering, facility and material handling system design and implementation, warehouse managements systems, distribution operations implementation and business process reengineering and change management.
An introduction to Chris and the Brecham Group.
The current pace of change across the industry, and whether it’s actually ready for widespread AI adoption.
‘Accidental’ supply chain careers – how Chris sees people entering the industry, and why there are so many ‘accidental’ supply chainers.
What career progression typically looks like for ‘accidental’ supply chainers, the pros and cons of learning on the job, and why resilience is key.
What this means for career growth up to leadership level, and the big leadership training gaps.
Why the AI revolution has created a problematic knowledge gap for leadership.
Whether technology is replacing fundamental understanding, and the impact of bringing people and new tech together.
Balancing tribal knowledge and learned ‘hands-on’ skills alongside the integration of AI and new technology.
From employee turnover to productivity loss, the risks inherent in this period of fluctuation in the industry.
How a different approach to leadership, one that isn’t entirely executive-focused, could drive results and fill gaps.
How businesses can also lean on partners to help fill those gaps.
Chris’s advice for companies looking to navigate this workplace complexity.
How the workforce will continue to change in the future. “Our thought processes around how and what we do have to evolve.”
Resources & Links Mentioned
- Head over to Brecham Group’s website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Brecham and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, or you can connect with Chris on LinkedIn.
- If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from Brecham Group, check out 537: How To Ask Better Questions and Drive Project Success, with Brecham Group, 515: Experience Precision Supply Chain Operations, with Brecham Group or their live show Performance Paradox.
- Check out our other podcasts HERE.
