The Big Debate: procurement must change to attract talent
David Rae
in Leadership, Talent Management, Value Creation
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6 Comments
This Big Debate will be the subject of our very first TweetChat taking place on Friday 5 March 2010 at 4pm GMT. Do a search on #pldebate in your Twitter client, or go to TweetChat and search on #pldebate to get involved. The session will run for an hour maximum and will get to the bottom of how procurement can successfully attract the best talent on the market.
It's probably the single biggest issue facing procurement today: how to attract the best talent to the function so that procurement can cement its position at the top of the corporate hierarchy.
Whether the subject comes up at a roundtable or while sharing a beer with a senior procurement executive, it's a topic that's always debated passionately.
The general feeling is that procurement continues to struggle to attract the right talent - despite the fact that there are few more interesting or satisfying careers out there. What other functions allow for such impact over so many different aspects of corporate life, for example? We're also told that procurement - in the most part - pays just as well as sales and marketing, so we can't blame the problem on financial influences.
The problem is one of image. Until procurement is seen as a career worth getting into in the same way that sales, marketing and finance are, it will continue to struggle to attract the right talent. And the only people that can make that happen are CPOs.
As leaders of their functions, CPOs must sell the function, not just to the rest of the business but to the rest of the business world. They must forge better relationships with corporate communications, speak at more external (non-procurement) events, so the business press begins to see procurement as the rich vein of subject matter it is.
Until this happens, until CPOs are being quoted in the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal regularly, procurement will always play second fiddle to other functions such as finance, marketing and sales in the ongoing war for talent.
This Big Debate will be the subject of our very first TweetChat taking place on Friday 5 March 2010 at 4pm GMT. Do a search on #pldebate in your Twitter client, or go to TweetChat and search on #pldebate to get involved. The session will run for an hour maximum and will get to the bottom of how procurement can successfully attract the best talent on the market.
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Reader Comments (6)
In most cases you get the people you select, and you select from who you attract.
Hence, if you have an issue in attracting the skills & personalities you would like to hire, you should wonder if it lies only in the function name, the proposed compensation, or in the way you publicize your needs and the development you are able to propose.
I have summered at a top 10 law firm, yet did not enjoy the atmosphere. I also wanted to do contracting/negotiations which for the most part is in decline in the legal sector.
However, in light of the amount of interest I have in trying to enter the profession, the barriers of entry for someone of my education level seem to be extremely high. As it stands, it seems as though I will not be as competitive. One element is many of my qualifications will mean nothing to someone outside of the legal field.
When I say that I Amjured my Contract class, (receiving the highest grade in a class with a hard curve) that will probably be passed over as someone would not know the significance. When I say I was a summer associate, that does not hold much clout.
It is extremely disheartening that there is a profession I am very much interested in, yet an individual with a HS degree who has 5-7 years contracting experience (not a knock just an example) will always be a more attractive candidate. If I could get some insight otherwise it would be much appreciated.