Why talent isn't all you need to build a perfect procurement and supply chain team

While businesses need the top talent to succeed and thrive there are a number of other things that are required to build the ideal workforce. From understanding digital transformation to establishing a great team culture, read on to discover why talent isn’t all you need to build the perfect procurement and supply chain team. 

Plan for future talent requirements 

Even before the pandemic hit, the procurement and supply chain sector was heading with increasing momentum towards digital transformation. A raft of new and exciting AI technologies as well as advances in report automation and cloud-based record-keeping are transforming the way our businesses work - and business leaders need to plan their recruitment strategy accordingly. A recent Gartner report revealed some worrying skillset shortages in procurement and supply chain, particularly around digital and analytical skills. Businesses should ensure they are able to recruit the talent required to manage these new technologies and ways of working. This includes process automation, scenario planning, machine learning, AI, and data-based analysis. 

A good place to start is to align your plans for business growth and development with the skillsets you need to make it happen. If you have additional IT requirements, who will you need on board to take care of them? Will AI and new technologies expose your business to greater risk? If so, what cybersecurity experts will you need to recruit and when? Don’t worry if this sounds overwhelming. Give the team at Bramwith a call today about your skills requirements and we can point you in the right direction. 

Establish a great team culture

Recruiting all the leading lights of the procurement and supply chain world won’t help you build a successful business unless your team has a good cultural fit, can collaborate and cooperate well and feel happy and supported at work. Here are some tips for making it happen: 

• Make it clear what your values are. Your employees, candidates and customers should be able to see what your brand stands for throughout all your internal and external communications. This includes on your website, your job ads, your HR and other company policies, your social media - every touchpoint people have with your business. By doing this you can make sure you attract the right people and that your current staff feel a sense of belonging and cohesion. 
• Encourage collaboration and teamwork and try to make it fun, informal and unifying. Promote autonomy within teams and empower people to make their own decisions. 
• Cross-train team members. This is particularly valuable in procurement and supply chain where working together effectively in high-pressure situations is a frequent challenge. The more your employees understand and appreciate each other roles and responsibilities the better they will be able to help one another out and relate to each person’s unique pressures. 

Promote diversity and inclusion

The pandemic has exposed horrifying levels of inequality in the UK and beyond with the various economic and health impacts disproportionately affecting minority groups, as well as highlighting glaring issues around gender inequality. If you haven’t already got a robust D&I policy in place then now is the time to start. Aside from the rich benefits you and your team will experience from having a diverse workforce, racially diverse workplaces have higher revenue growth and a greater readiness to innovate. 

Be the leader your team needs to succeed

Even if your team works remotely or seems to function pretty autonomously, they still need a strong leader to succeed. Thankfully, we have moved on from the workplace culture of yesteryear so this doesn’t mean being an authoritarian figure. It means building trust with every employee and being approachable and open to ideas, issues and concerns. 

Being a good leader also means being transparent in your decision making and being able to delegate when necessary. It also means owning up when you have made a mistake. There is a lot of power in your team seeing you admitting you’re wrong as long as you make efforts to rectify the situation of course! Finally, great leaders must communicate what they want from their staff. Your employees will benefit from understanding what your business goals are so they can perform to the best of their abilities and help you to achieve them.