The most consistent gripe I hear from supply management executives today it is about the talent crunch. My week in Europe revealed that this challenge transcends borders. At ProcureCon Europe, Dr. Martin Hofmann, Group Executive Director of Purchasing for Volkswagen, opened his presentation with a surprising statement: “The single biggest challenge we face is finding highly qualified purchasing people. It is very difficult to keep them trained and up to speed.” In response, VW is constantly measuring buyer performance (including its key metric of cost-savings per purchasing employee) and prioritizing organizational and training decisions based on the results. (More on VW’s supply management strategy in a future post.)

The same issue was apparent during a private meeting I had with the VP of Supply Chain at a larger service-sector company outside London. His supply management transformation plan includes e-enabling most sourcing and procurement processes. The company has achieved some measurable benefits through these efforts, but overall adoption has lagged. Employee challenges are a chief culprit. Says the VP: “Not only do we not have enough people; we may not have the right skill set to do everything we need to accomplish.” He adds that some team members are reluctant to take the time to truly learn how best to leverage technology in their supply management operations. (A dynamic I witnessed first hand when I met with the larger team later that same day.)

We discussed several tactics the VP could employ to drive adoption, including using templates; establishing policies and dollar value thresholds to encourage e-sourcing usage; linking policy compliance to buyer performance reviews and incentives; establishing “super users” (i.e., resident experts) to encourage adoption and support other users; and sending a tiger team to spend a day shadowing the e-sourcing approach of a peer company. These techniques have been proven to improve skills and productivity and drive great system adoption and spend under management. However effective, these are still top down approaches. What was glaringly apparent to me was the tremendous opportunity for bottom up approach. As with many companies, this firm was desperate for a program champion — an eager sourcing or category manager that wanted to step up and take responsibility for leading the company’s “e-enablement” initiative. To his credit, the VP was responsive to this suggestion. And, when we met again later in the day, he had already formulated a potential plan to provide a fiduciary incentive for team members that took on this role.

But the moral of this story is aimed not at senior executives but at the rank and file supply managers. The opportunity for moving up the corporate ladder is no secret. It’s technology. Technology is an increasingly critical component of supply management transformation. (Evidence: automation underlies four of the Top 5 Supply Management Strategies outlined by executives for the next two years.) Most companies are looking to invest in supply management automation, but often lack employees that both understand supply strategy as well as the technologies available to enable it. My advice (for what it’s worth): Volunteer to take charge of your company’s e-supply initiatives. There is no more secure role within the supply field than e-supply management program manager. A fact illustrated by Aberdeen Group’s CPO’s Agenda study and a more recent report from ISM.

If there is no existing job description for this e-supply program manager role, create one. Ensure that the role has responsibility for assessing existing infrastructure, defining solution requirements in support of supply management processes and goals, leading the cross-functional solution selection team, and heading up training and deployment. To make matters interesting, consider tying your performance bonus to user adoption and total spend managed via these online tools If you feel you lack the skills necessary to fill these shoes, go out and educate yourself on supply management technology.

There are a number executive programs available from everyone from industry associations like ISM to training shops like Next Level Purchasing, to leading universities, like Arizona State, Michigan State, and Georgia Tech. There are also enough resources available, such analyst white papers, vendor sites, industry conferences, and blogs like this one to tutor yourself in your spare time.

The most successful businesses and executives have been those that could spot an unserved need and develop the products of skills to fill it. Taking control of your company’s e-supply initiatives could be your fast-track to success.