Supply Excellence — Talent Crunch Knows No Borders

Talent Crunch Knows No Borders

October 15th, 2007 · by Tim Minahan · No Comments · LCCS and trade, best practices, skills rectruitment and development, supply management, supply risk

What keeps CPOs up at night? Some of you might guess supply risks or rising commodities costs. But you’d be wrong. According to Chief Procurement Officers at Procuri Empower 2007, their chief concern is attracting and retaining top talent.

“The biggest challenge to any procurement organization is hiring and keeping the right talent.” National City Corporation CPO Jean-Jacques Beaussart. “I want to be a talent magnet. I try to create a culture and compensation that keeps my team challenged and satisfied. I am successful when I get people saying, ‘I want to work for purchasing.’ And when I get other groups saying, ‘We want the talent from purchasing on our team.’”

It appears that Beaussart has succeeded in his quest. Having cut his supply management teeth within General Electric’s much-heralded strategic sourcing organization, Beaussart brings an acumen for training, performance reviews, and Six-Sigma methodology to the financial services sector. Most of his purchasing team are Six-Sigma black belts. (And, if not, are in training to become one.) His commodity managers are required to perform biannual risk audits on strategic suppliers to ensure the bank avoids any supply disruption.

The skills and experience acquired under Beaussart’s leadership have made National City’s purchasing team a hot commodity within the bank. In fact, two of his team members were recently appointed Chief Financial Officers for different National City business units.

Beaussart is not alone in his quest for hiring and retaining top talent. In fact, in a new Supply and Demand Chain Executive magazine study on the impact of globalization on supply management, purchasing and supply chain executives cited “upskill and improve talent of purchasing team” among their top three initiatives for the next few years.

In fact, in support of their expanding global sourcing and supply initiatives, 65% of study participants expect to expand their supply management team over the next three years. According to the study, “The talents most in demand will be category expertise and supplier development and relationship management skills, which will be critical to continuously improve supplier performance and minimize risks.” Included in the group of new hires are employees with talents and experience for assessing and managing risk. Respondents also anticipate hiring employees with experience in deploying and managing supply management software projects, “signaling that most future supplier negotiations, collaboration, and communications will be managed online.

Not surprisingly, more than two-thirds of study participants expected to decrease operational purchasing staff as tactical activities, such as purchase order (PO) processing, are automated.

To learn more about how companies are addressing the talent crunch, download a complimentary copy of the full study, Global Supply Management: Strategies for Success in the New World Economy here.

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