Strategic Supply Chain Management - Supply Chain Online

128 Strategic Supply Chain Management
Even worse than making wrong fits is designing an organization that
is too strongly influenced by the skills and interests of existing employees.
We worked with a computer peripherals company that was moving to
an outsourced production model. The company engaged two contract
manufacturers, each responsible for a major product line. The supply
chain vice president created two relationship manager positions, knowing
that managing each of these new relationships would be a full-time job.
Not surprisingly, several current employees saw the new positions as
an excellent opportunity. Although the new jobs called for a more sophisticated
set of skills, the vice president found himself lobbied aggressively
by internal candidates. He also was under tremendous pressure to “just get
someone in here.” He ended up hiring both an internal candidate and an
external hire—a seasoned industry expert who had been managing a contract
manufacturing relationship for several years. Not surprisingly, the
“home grown” relationship manager struggled with his new responsibilities.
After six months, he was replaced by a more qualified individual.
The lesson Your supply chain strategy and associated processes will
fail to move your company forward if you don’t have the right people.
Effective execution demands the right skills and capabilities. Define your
organization around the end-to-end supply chain processes, identify the
skills you need for each role, and then go shopping—both inside and outside
your company. Don’t let the “inventory on hand” limit the success of
your organization.
NEXT-GENERATION ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN
The end-to-end supply chain typically needs management skills and roles
that did not exist previously (see Figure 3-11).
Given the relative newness of some of these positions, your human
resources department may not know how to find the people you need or how
to screen them effectively without some support from your organization. To
ensure that you have the right people in the right positions, put together
a description of your supply chain strategy, a description of each key role, a
clear definition of available career paths, and a comprehensive hiring plan.
This is not to say that every reorganization requires a major workforce
turnover. Most supply chain organizations have only a few extremely
critical roles—before or after an overhaul. These are the jobs that require
specific qualifications, and you shouldn’t settle for less. Current employees,
with appropriate retraining or coaching, can fill most of the other roles
in your new organization.