SPRING 2022

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THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
Nelson Valderrama
Nelson Valderrama is the CEO of Intuilize, a software Service platform that specializes
in helping mid-sized distributors transform data into profits. With more than 22 years’
experience as P&L manager executive for major PE firms and industrial distributors.
Nelson has dedicated his career to help business uncover hidden competitive advantages
and unleash the power of data in the new Digital Economy. For more information
contact by email nelson@intuilize.com or visit www.intuilize.com
MAYBE IT’S NOT THE MILLENNIALS,
MAYBE IT’S YOUR COMPANY
Henry Ford famously said, “If I had asked people what
they wanted, they would have said a faster horse”. It is
true that the car changed everything about American life,
from how far our houses could be from work, to the 3.9
million miles of roadways that connect the nation.
We are going through a similar dramatic change
today. Technology and automation are changing the
way we work, creating an ever-changing landscape;
distributors must adapt or risk losing the talented people
that they have . They could even miss out on attracting the
talent that they need in the future.
Last week I had conversations with owners of two
successful distribution businesses with 40 and 70 years
in business respectively. Their main concern how to
attract new talent from open positions in the warehouse,
sales and purchasing.
The HR emergency that we are seeing unfold in realtime
forces organizations to reevaluate everything about
work. “What is temporary vs. what is transformative?” is
something people are talking about over coffee and in
boardrooms across the industry. This question will help
to meet the crises and thrive in the post-pandemic world.
Though the infection rate is slowly receding both here and
abroad, the future of work is changing beyond the crisis.
The pandemic has affected work as we know it and will
continue to do so in the coming years.
Accounting for the changes, there is an urgent
need for companies to build innovative approaches and
strategies on three levels.
[1] Temporary Changes
The COVID-19 crisis has forced companies to strictly
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLE
follow certain rules such as social distancing and workfrom-home.
Changing the operating model to keep the
lights on was challenging. Many companies redeployed
and repurposed team members for tasks related to safety.
It helped them cope with the crises, but these changes
need to be temporary. Though it helped companies learn
how to survive pandemic, it won’t be relevant when
COVID-19 protocols slacken.
[2] Permanent Changes
We adopted trends that were once regarded long-term
future work in response to the pandemic. The market has
experienced an explosion in digitalization and automation.
Something that was once considered ambitious suddenly
became key to survival. These are some irreversible
changes that have impacted the nature of work forever.
[3] New Ways Of Work
The pandemic also ushered in a proliferation of
new ways of doing work and generating income. The
outlook on work has changed; this trend has not yet
been categorized as permanent or temporary but, it has
given us new perspective. For instance, today, workers
can perform tasks remotely and more efficiently, from
shopping, to learning and beyond.
It will be interesting to see which of these changes
and trends are here to stay. With the evolving technology
and shift in societal expectations, organizations are
nurturing new avenues of capital generation. However,
one thing that stays beyond is determining the uncertainty
of change and strategizing decisions across the three
levels to succeed in the market.
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