Risk Management is Big – But Are You Failing to Manage Your Talent Risk?
Risk management skills that work in your supply chain can also form a strategy for mitigating the risk of talent loss. Most supply chain managers are familiar with risks like time-to-recovery, revenue-at-risk and supply shortages.
How can you use the same risk management strategies to managing your talent pool?
Time to Recovery – If you were to lose a key employee today, how long would it take you to replace them? Include the time it would take to recruit, screen, hire, on-board and get the replacement up to speed on job responsibilities.
Revenue at Risk – In the above scenario, what would such a loss mean to your bottom line? What are the costs of hiring a replacement? Would you need to spend more to get the same or better quality employee? What is the true dollar cost of the time used by other employees to cover the gap while you get a new employee in place?
Supply Shortage – Is there a large pool of talent available in the marketplace with the skill set you need or are talented employees hard to come by in your industry or region? What impact could shortages of top candidates have on your time-to-recovery and revenue at risk?
How can you mitigate these risks?
Reduce Risk of Catastrophic Loss – Do you have employees whose departure would have a devastating impact on your business? Create a backup plan to ensure that other employees are cross-trained and can step into the breach. Also stay connected to your employees on a daily basis so that you can detect and resolve job dissatisfaction to anticipate and possibly avoid the loss.
Take Regular Inventory – Stay on top of changes in your industry so that you can plan areas of potential expansion or business segments where you have weaknesses. This will help you to analyze understaffed areas where you can add staff to prevent burnout, or bring in employees with diversified skill sets to relieve current employees who may be struggling with projects outside their comfort zones.
Diversify Your Supply Chain – Just as you likely have a variety of vendors that you can turn to in your supply chain, you should have a number of sources for adding talented new employees or contractors to your workforce. Turn to current employees or your network for referrals or partner with a staffing agency that can provide a steady pipeline of qualified prospects.
Another excellent way to mitigate the risk of talent turnover in supply chain is by partnering with a knowledgeable supply chain recruiting agency. If you are looking for a recruiting agency with insider industry experience, contact ZDA Supply Chain Recruiting. We can help you mitigate talent loss risk by providing immediate access to supply chain professionals.