PEOPLE
State of Flux opinion
In the Governance section, we emphasised the need for structure and process to provide oversight, control and continuity in supplier relationships. But it is people that provide both the oil for the machine and the spark of creativity that can genuinely change business fortunes. Their skills, and the relationships they can form and maintain, will be the crucial factor in ensuring that the value, engagement and governance pillars of SRM benefit the organisation. When we look at the reasons companies are less than satisfied with the progress of their SRM programmes, a shortage of skills is reported as the third mostly likely cause. It’s clear that skills and competencies remain ill-defined and the practice of assessing those skills before investment in training is not embedded. In addition, we find that many organisations are caught off guard as their SRM programme begins to gain momentum. When opportunities to improve, innovate or create incremental value present themselves companies can find they cannot adequately resource these activities because they do not have the people or the skills. They are, in effect, capping the value they can gain from SRM.
66 STATE OF FLUX
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