SUPPLY CHAIN
started when Avaya hired Jim Chirico as COO . “ He began the process , first hiring Fred Hayes as Head of Supply Chain . We targeted proven talent outside of the telecommunications industry that had the functional expertise and leadership to transform the culture and organisation . I was part of that initial team that was recruited to help lead the transformation ,” reflects Green . Over the first year , Fred built an entirely new supply chain leadership team , each hired for specific expertise . “ We completely overhauled the team , from logistics and warehousing to order management , to planning , to procurement . Each leadership hire was a critical part of the transformation strategy ,” describes Hayes .
The new leadership team embraced the vision and the mandate to become best-in-class . In turn , each leader made a commitment to drive cultural transformation for their team across all levels . This has been fundamental to driving the business forward . “ It is about having the right attitude , the attitude of empowerment for the employee , the expectation of delivering continuous transformation , delivering on commitments , delivering results ,” notes Green . “ That includes leadership that is willing to take risks , that supports and promotes taking risks , is not afraid of making a change to improve the business .” To make sure the right attitude and culture permeates the organisation , Avaya leverages a robust HR talent management program , top to bottom , as well as an employee engagement process .
For Avaya , the performance management system is a critical way to create a culture that engages employees and attracts people who will contribute to the team ’ s success . Avaya sets clear expectations and rewards the high performers . Employee compensation , bonuses and opportunities for promotion are all tied to robust and clearly defined performance metrics . Green summarises : “ What that does , by definition , is retain high performers and drives everybody to better and better results .
“ The flipside of this type of culture is that we also consistently let go of our lowest performers . We give significantly larger bonuses to the highest performing employees , we give no bonuses to low performing employees ,
124 February 2018