On this day after “Super Tuesday” for the US political race, it’s easy to see that the voting population today is not the same as 4 years ago. Campaigns are scrambling to reach both the younger voter and the older voter (Millennials and Baby Boomers) and the establishment isn’t working. The same is true for businesses: org structures that worked 4 years ago are not working now. In the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2016 new study, 92% of the top executives surveyed cited organizational design as a top priority and the report highlights the rise of a new “network of teams” org model. I see this in my own practice, especially in procurement and supply chain. For CPOs, leading teams is a real challenge.
To add even more complexity to the team building and refreshing process, ManpowerGroup’s 2015 Talent Shortage Survey found 38% of companies are have difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent. No longer can the chief purchasing officer rely on finding individuals who have demonstrated technical and strategic procurement skills. Today, the job requires individuals who are well-rounded and have financial, relationship, influencing, financial, political and collaboration skills. The job no longer requires just the ability to negotiate, communicate and transact. The job now requires architecting the supply chain, integrating suppliers along the chain, quantifying the added value, driving increased levels of performance and building relationships that make their company shine brighter than the competition. Plus, they need to do this as a team. And, Millennials do not expect to work for the same company for decades, so the team must continue to advance as the individual members change.
I worked with a company recently that had 18 people in the procurement department. Of the existing team, 11 people had well over 30 years’ experience in the company and in purchasing. There was no succession plan and new approaches and ideas were limited. For this CPO, bringing in fresh faces was both a do-or-die and a no-win with the existing org structure and culture. It became essential to understand the talent required for generating the kinds of value extraction that will be required from the supply chains in the future and, most importantly, to find ways to foster a collaborative team process.
What’s a CPO to do? Here are five ideas for building and refreshing the procurement team:
- Build strong rotational programs so that new hires will rotate through several departments in the organization enhancing their business knowledge, commercial skills and relationships throughout the organization.
- Understand the current culture and the desired culture, what works in the current culture, who has the strongest skillsets and who has the weakest (for now and the desired state) and develop a strategy to strengthen the weak links.
- Build a strong succession plan for the entire team.
- Move more senior team members to different roles to let the newer members develop leadership and other skills.
- If you find the right talent, hire that person whether you have the position now or not.
By building and continually refreshing your team, you will assure your longevity as a leader. If you fail to build and refresh your team, you will become victim of the CEO’s plans to build and refresh the team.
Are you ready for the “network of teams” org structure?
Sourcing Guy 