Estée Lauder: Shaping the Supply Chain Worker of Tomorrow

Change is afoot. In fact, it’s happening in front of our very eyes. 

Global supply chains have reached a critical crossroads, driven by rapid advancements in AI automation and beyond. But as companies race to integrate these technologies, a significant challenge has emerged: the growing gap between ambitious digital transformation goals and the skills required to achieve them. 

The disparity underscores a pivotal moment for the future of work, where success will hinge not just on technology, but on the ability to develop a workforce equipped with the right skills to navigate this new era.

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) is at the forefront of this transformation. 

Already recognised for its innovative approach to supply chain management, ELC is not only embracing technology but also developing the talent required to harness the power of such advancements. 

The ELC formula

With 75 years of history behind it, ELC looks after more than 25 of the best-known beauty brands in the world across skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care.

The man responsible for looking after its vast and increasingly complex supply chain is Chief Supply Chain Officer Roberto Canevari, who joined the organisation in 2021. 

Faced with the challenge of how to effectively implement emerging technologies into ELC’s operations, Roberto and his team have rolled out numerous initiatives, including: 

• Upskilling the workforce
• Fostering cross-functional collaboration
• Creating an inclusive culture that empowers the teams behind the technology.

“In our strategy, we always treat people as a multiplier,” Roberto explains. “Our formula consists of skills plus cohesion in parenthesis with two multipliers: commitment and energy. 

“If you have the skills but you don’t work on real cohesion, how do you make sure the dynamics are working? How do you make sure you’re really working end to end? 

“The reason why I love the profession is because you are never constrained — actually, the beauty is that you need to synchronise the different ecosystems.”

Prioritising people

So, just how is ELC creating the supply chain worker of the future?

Clearly, a key component of the strategy is to ensure the organisation acquires and retains the right talent. 

Roberto’s personal belief is that there is no discernible shortage of supply chain talent. The issue, he says, is spotting potential and ensuring continued development of such talent. 

One way ELC goes beyond traditional upskilling is through its Fast-to-Action (F2A) initiative, which involves assembling a group of employees who are assigned a project to take on over the course of a few months and accelerate its delivery.

“This is a way to align people and create cohesion,” says Roberto. “It means not only acceleration but also the development of talent in multiple disciplines.

“It’s a tool that’s very effective, both in terms of results and for development.”

Roberto also highlights ELC’s reverse mentorship programme, which allows younger, less experienced professionals to mentor more senior colleagues. Across the entire organisation, more than 600 people have taken part since the programme’s launch. 

“We are very active with this in supply chain because I personally find there is huge value to be gained in three ways,” Roberto continues.

“One is that my generation can learn a lot in terms of gauging different perspectives, which is helping us to rethink how we design our supply chain to gain a competitive advantage when we are delivering to consumers. Two, we ask our reverse mentors to work on specific initiatives and we get a lot of value because it’s a great network of people. And three, it’s an opportunity for people to get immediate access to senior leaders.”

What’s more, Roberto points to ELC’s prestige performance system (PPS), which is coming in especially useful within the company’s manufacturing operation. 

He describes it as application of the lean management philosophy, but with particular focus on empowering people. 

“If you visit one of our factories, you will see that the PPS is really multiplying the benefit of the investment,” Roberto adds. “We have a tool where, as soon as there’s a good idea in one place, it is shared everywhere else.

“The way this system is utilised and the speed at which new ideas are implemented in one place and scaled up everywhere else is just phenomenal. And this is testament to the people, not the tool.”

Embracing digital

ELC’s leadership in shaping future supply chain professionals is highlighted in a recent report from Zero100, ‘Meet the Supply Chain Worker of the Future’.

The supply chain data and research specialist discovered that, while 88% of companies planned to integrate AI across all functions in 2024, only a quarter were seeing it drive revenue growth. 

Meanwhile, hiring for supply chain product managers was up 52% from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023, with these roles seven times more likely to require skills in Gen AI compared to traditional roles. 

This signals the rise of what Zero100 calls the “new collar” workforce – a blend of domain, digital and business skills – and emphasises the need for continuous learning and adaptability in a tech-driven environment.

“The supply chain worker of the future is one that is able to embrace digital,” summarises Kevin O’Marah, Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer at Zero100.

“You’ll always need domain knowledge, whether that’s in sourcing, manufacturing or logistics; business knowledge is traditionally important but has always been a subsidiary to domain knowledge. 

“Add digital to the equation and, all of a sudden, the scope of your impact as a supply chain worker of the future gets bigger. Not only do you need to know your domain, but you also need to embrace what’s coming with digital – what’s possible with AI, robotics, software programming and building custom products.”

A digital breakthrough 

Kevin goes on to highlight the importance of having supply leaders who are adept at communicating the need for digital investment with all parties – whether that’s ground-level operations teams or the CEO and board of directors. 

This is an area where Roberto and his senior colleagues at ELC are continuing to excel.

“It’s easy to overlook the role of top-level leadership in architecting human-machine teams because they not only have to upskill the organisation, build the processes and establish the programmes, like Roberto is doing at ELC, but also communicate the whole thing upwards,” Kevin says. 

“That’s something great leaders, such as Roberto and many others, do really well.”

He concludes: “Everybody cares about the end result for the customer. But digital has now made it possible to bring domain knowledge into the same space as business knowledge – dependent upon, of course, having some grip on how to use these digital tools. That’s the real breakthrough we’re seeing and Roberto’s team is pioneering a lot of great stuff in this area.”

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