"Talent Management" has become one of the most important buzzwords in business globally. Whether you are exploring emerging markets, navigating the challenges of the FMCG supply chain or in finding the right talent, attaining balance in the equal and satisfactory distribution of resources is an ongoing challenge. Research from the advisory firm The Hackett Group shows that talent management is key to higher earnings, a more efficient company, and a smoother running supply chain.
The Hackett Group released the results of a three-year study that focused on more than 60 companies during 2009. The firm says that the results show that companies with "mature talent management capabilities" have 18% higher earnings than most Global 1,000 companies, as well as significantly higher net profit margins and higher returns on equity and assets.
The annual Third Party Logistics (3PL) Study is led by Dr. C. John Langley Jr., clinical professor of supply chain management at Penn State University, and the consulting firm CapGemini, with support from Panalpina, Heidrick & Struggles and eyefortransport. The study is based on over 2,000 responses from shippers and logistics service providers worldwide, gathered through questionnaires, interviews and workshops. The report examines the state of the 3PL industry, topical issues and strategic trends and for the first time during 2012, talent management. The research found that many shippers and 3PLs are troubled by the state of talent management – recruiting, developing skills and experience, retention, performance reviewing, succession planning, and so forth – within their organizations, and they see an opportunity to improve it.
As supply chains grow more complex and intrinsic to a company’s ability to attain its business goals, they require leaders who are more diverse and multi-faceted. Operational execution traditionally was the skill most highly valued by both shippers and 3PLs. However, other key qualities that supply chain leaders need to develop are talent management and development, strategic planning, relationship building and networking, technical competence, change management and international business exposure.
Important are leaders’ ability to deduce, execute, conduct talent review processes and lead visionary change and organization buy-in especially as companies work towards breaking down functional barriers and strive towards greater integration and alignment. But few organizations have been indoctrinating these competencies into mid-management training and development, contributing to the talent crisis. A significant number of companies feel their current leaders don’t have what it takes to address future business challenges.
Talent management is all about engaging, developing, and inspiring your organization’s most important asset – Its people – to deliver on business strategy. Human Resources organizations are the strategic enabler of this engagement, development, and inspiration, but the real work happens in the business unit, on the team, and by the individual employee.
That means everything from regular assessment of talents and people across the organization, how managers, especially promising ones, are rotated through job assignments, investment in real training and skills enhancement, succession planning, and more. Talent has become a key strategic agenda item in many boardrooms, and CEOs in several industry surveys rank talent as the most important challenge behind business growth. Among the many reasons are the increasing attention on driving innovation and managing potential supply chain disruptors. The right talent is essential to both.
“The most critical issue in transportation and logistics is still great intellectual capital,” said Jack Gross, CEO, Haney Truck Line. “However, it is not just finding potential associates, but applying the talent and ability of each person to a need within the organization – not just filling in an organization chart. Without this sense of worth, really good people will be short-term employees.”
Contributed by Abrie de Swardt, email: deswardtabrie@gmail.com
