The Urgent Need For Talent Upgrade in Supply Chain and Procurement

While business services organizations cannot directly control all aspects of talent management, they do have an important role to play in creating a culture that fosters talent and excellence.

First, however, they need to upgrade their own talent.

As noted in The Hackett Group’s global 2012 study of talent management, there’s been a large shift in the kind of talent that business services organizations need.

The general conclusion: Today’s sustained difficult environment makes attracting and retaining these skills extremely challenging.

In addition, HR organizations must establish mature strategic workforce planning, recruiting and performance review processes. Compensation and benefits plans must be competitive as well. HR must up its game and differentiate itself in the way it represents the company if it wishes to attract scarce talent in a competitive marketplace.

“Today more than ever, it’s true that ‘the only constant is change,’” said The Hackett Group Chief Research Officer Michel Janssen. “Having survived the recession, companies are now being challenged to define and implement business strategies based on assumptions of what the business climate beyond ‘the new normal’ will look like.

“What is certain is that the world will look distinctly different five years from now,” said Janssen. “In response, companies need to improve the quality and timeliness of business information, their decision-making processes and operational agility. This in turn has far-reaching implications for business services delivery organizations. Every executive aspiring to enable the business strategy must carefully assess these strategic imperatives.”

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