Supply Management executives routinely and consistently cite top grading, transforming or building out their teams as an important priority. All this is necessary to keep pace with their dynamic business requirements and the constantly shifting talent landscape. Regardless of industry, company or geography, the challenges remain the same. How do we find, attract and retain these human capital assets that will be vital to our success in the future?
Some of the biggest challenges in talent management confronting companies are the following:
- Attracting talent with niche capabilities.
- Keeping key resources challenged . finding next development opportunities.
- Providing educational development during shrinking training budgets.
- Keeping new college graduates engaged.
- Turnover also remains a pressing issue as companies strive to become employers of choice.
Some of the strategies put in place to address these challenges have been:
- Structured recruiting and on-boarding.
- Formal Internship and People Development Programs.
- Collaborative Education.
- Membership and Certifications.
- Increased communication between key resources and mentors.
- Frequent and timely communications.
While these are actions that can be taken today, progressive organizations are also looking to the future and attempting to build institutional capabilities within when it comes to talent management. One model that piqued some interest pertains to a “Talent on Demand” framework, i.e. akin to a just in time manufacturing approach. This perspective relies on principles that address the risks in estimating demand and supply uncertainty when it comes to talent management. We’ll get into these interesting operational principles with a supply chain perspective in our subsequent discussions.