Written by Scott McNutt
This is the first of two posts recapping sessions from the Spring 2025 Supply Chain Forum, held from April 8–10 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Attendees can view full recordings of all the Main Sessions at the forum in the Resources tile of the GSCI app.
Onboarding young professionals was among the topics discussed at the 2025 Spring Supply Chain Forum, hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business’ Global Supply Chain Institute (GSCI). With graduates from Haslam’s Supply Chain Management Programs in high demand, companies must do what they need to attract and retain these talented new alumni.
Cole Burns, GSCI’s student development and career management director, moderated the discussion, which featured a panel of recent Haslam alumni: Hannah Childs (HCB, ’23), demand planner at Clayton Homes in Maryville, Jack Parr (HCB, ’23), inventory analyst at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Luke Powell (HCB, ’24), supply chain analyst at Kimberly-Clark, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Jennifer Ross (HCB, ’24), procurement contracts lead at ExxonMobil, in Houston.
First Impressions
Burns opened the discussion by noting that most new hires decide within a month whether to stay with their company. That means employers must make a good impression quickly. With that, he asked the panelists what their supervisors did to make them feel part of the team.
Each panelist shared a different anecdote, all demonstrating how their managers strove to make their onboarding experience seamless. Parr’s manager invested time getting to know him personally, which gave Parr a sense of belonging. Childs’ manager sent her on a road trip with three of her new teammates to give them time to get to know each other. Ross’s new manager flew into Houston from an international location to introduce her to her teammates. He also paired her with a buddy to ensure Ross could find her way around and have someone to ask for advice.
Powell, who is in a rotational development program with Kimberly-Clark, revealed that his manager and teammates provided him with suggestions to help him settle into his new locale.
“The only thing I knew about Philadelphia is that when they win the Super Bowl, they burn their city down,” he quipped. “So, it was good that they could tell where the best places to live are and who has the best happy hours.”
Directly Applicable Training
Every alum on the panel gave examples of useful training they’ve received in their first year on the job. Parr’s onboarding timeline overlapped for a period with the employee he was replacing, so he was introduced to all the tasks he needed to do by the person who knew them best.
Childs was hired into a newly created position, so her manager is working closely with her to create a training manual for the job. She also had frequent one-on-one sessions with her boss to get up to speed on the Oracle management software. This proved highly successful; Childs now leads a weekly forecast meeting with a national team.
Powell has two bosses, a program manager in Wisconsin and his functional leader in Philadelphia. His functional leader encouraged him to walk the warehouse floor to put a fresh set of eyes on the processes. He later had the opportunity to present his findings on the processes to the company’s higher-ups, which made him feel that he was having an impact.
Since Ross’s role involves handling contracts, her boss gave her a handbook on them. “He said, ‘Read this like it’s your Bible’ – and, it turns out, it is!” Ross recalled.
Adjusting to On-The-Job Realities
Although Parr had interned with Procter & Gamble before accepting a position there, he had to recalibrate his work expectations in his transition from college to a full-time job.
“Interning is a 12-week assignment with a defined ending,” he explained. “I had to adjust to setting short-term, intermediate and long-term goals in an ongoing role.”
Childs confessed that she was surprised by the extensive terminology involved in procuring home-building and furnishings materials when she started working at Clayton. However, she deftly addressed that knowledge gap.
“I wrote everything down and asked my manager lots of questions so that I could have productive conversations with warehouse personnel,” Childs said.
For his first assignment, Powell was introduced to the concept of “Plan, Do, Check, Adjust,” Kimberly-Clark’s continuous improvement methodology, which he found quite helpful.
“The second time went much better,” he said.
Ross revealed an error she made late one Friday afternoon: She sent an email with dollar values to the wrong supplier. “I never did that again!” she exclaimed to a round of sympathetic laughter. She went on to explain that she now has a delay on her emails, so she can check them before they go out.
Returning to Their Alma Mater
To close the session, Burns prompted the panelists to address how they felt about engaging with their alma mater since leaving Rocky Top.
Powell shared that he is a third-generation UT alum and a second-generation supply chain management alum and is proud to carry on the tradition. Childs has found that Clayton’s and UT’s cultures align in many respects, so she is even more passionate about both programs. For Ross, returning to Haslam for a recent recruiting visit was exciting and meaningful, especially since she secured her current role through a recruiting event two years ago. Parr noted that he once worked in Burns’ office.
“I was a student worker with Cole, helping put on these events,” Parr said. “It’s great to be on the other side!”
Save the date
The Spring Supply Chain Forum will be held November 4–6, 2025, at the Marriott Knoxville Downtown, and you won’t want to miss it. The event is exclusive to the over 80 organizations that partner with UT to learn, network, and recruit the best supply chain talent.
Learn more about recruiting the best SCM students in North America.
If your company is not an SCF partner, contact us to speak with a team member about either of our two corporate partnership options.