In the previous blog we discussed the major gap between the skills required by organizations and the skills possessed by college graduates, the brewing talent crisis which is forecasted to get worst and the trend in talent deficit across the globe.

In this blog we will discuss what the organizations can do to attract and retain talent in procurement.

Before starting with recruitment, it is necessary to define what it takes to survive and excel in procurement today. A decade or more ago the answer to this would have been simple. To be in procurement one needed to be – analytical, good at negotiation, ethical and an interest in treating company’s money with respect.

This has however changed. Today a CPO would look for a lot more things like;

• Skilled at selling, marketing and communicating ideas,
• Technically knowledgeable; possessing sophisticated understanding of engineering concepts,
• Technologically, culturally and socially savvy, etc

Thus talent acquisition and retention is a lot more different now. Below are the considerations for devising a talent management strategy that can meet the challenges of today’s time.

1. Define talent

• As highlighted above, decide what talent means to you as a CPO and define the exact nature of talent required.

2. Attract talent

• CPOs should be collaborating as a group —across companies and industries— to find effective ways of marketing and branding the function at both the college and secondary(high school and technical/vocational school) levels.
• CPOs must focus on their personal brands as managers and leaders.
• Beyond building personal brands for great leadership, CPOs will also need to shed their perspectives as buyers and approach filling positions as sales propositions.

3. Teach talent

• Talented people love to learn. They may tolerate low compensation as long as they are gaining knowledge in the organization.
• Invest in conducting more training and development programs.
• Promote job rotation into other functions.
• Formalize coaching and mentoring.

In the next blog we will discuss the remaining 3 steps to manage talent.