Supply chains must embrace a constant diet of volatility and create a level of operational excellence that will allow them to “sustain performance no matter what is occurring in the larger economy.” And while both of these are core operational objectives, we believe that, to excel, supply chains must also create a human capital strategy that integrates operational performance objectives with the organization, talent, culture, leadership and analytic capabilities required to drive sustainable growth and create a lasting talent advantage.

1. Globalization, Complexity, Speed, Agility
Is Your Supply Chain Talent
Ready for Growth?
By Geoff Deines

2. In today’s highly uneven and complex
global economy, with growth slowing and
recession fears increasing, companies are
looking at new opportunities to manage costs
and drive growth. Further complicating business
models is the fact that growth is occurring
almost entirely in emerging markets, and a
two-speed economy has developed that is
likely to endure for some time to come. In this
new era of globalization, emerging markets
require more resources (investments, materials,
commodities and talent) than mature markets,
which are being asked to do more with less
and still deliver expected profitability.
This disparity contributes to a hyper-
competitive, complex environment of rapidly
evolving customer expectations and eroding
margins. Most supply chain workforces are
unable to execute at the pace required to excel
in this environment.

3. Why are supply chain
organizations struggling to adapt?
Many companies used the downturn Putting these human capital elements
to streamline operations and become together in alignment with supply
more efficient. Some companies chain operational strategies is the
invested in new technology, capital critical action that high performers are
and infrastructure; and some focused pursuing today. Witness the success
on luring talent from less fortunate of supply chains at UPS, P&G, Danaher
companies. These tactics, while useful, and Reckitt Benckiser in leveraging
were typically executed in isolation and talent to outperform their peers in a
outside the context of a clear talent consistent and enduring manner.2
strategy. As a result, few companies
reaped the returns they expected.
Supply chains must now embrace a
constant diet of volatility and create a
level of operational excellence that will
allow them to “sustain performance
no matter what is occurring in the
larger economy.”1 And while both of
these are core operational objectives,
we believe that, to excel, supply chains
must also create a human capital
strategy that integrates operational
performance objectives with the
organization, talent, culture, leadership
and analytic capabilities required to
drive sustainable growth and create a
lasting talent advantage.
3

4. What are the first steps in
creating a human capital or talent
advantage in a supply chain
organization?
In the current two-speed recovery, companies can create a
supply chain talent advantage by aligning their operational
strategies with an integrated human capital program focused on:
Removing Creating Leveraging
operational and leadership and talent analytics to enable
organizational complexity strategies to create and predict business
to increase agility and an environment of and human capital
speed to business results. improvement and performance to align
accountability for success. supply chain operations
and results.
4

5. Figure 1: Sample benefit/effort matrix
Before Diagnostic Prioritization and Sequencing After Diagnostic Prioritization and Sequencing
high
high
strategic and
structural issues
medium
medium
Benefit
Benefit
complex projects
with high benefits
rapid
improvements
low
low
low medium high low medium high
Effort Effort
Remove The payoff is well worth the work:
more efficient and agile organizations
Enabler: Focus
Focus allows companies to identify,
complexity from can better respond to existing and
emerging consumer demands, and pursue and measure operational and
organizational improvements that
the supply chain the ability to execute allows supply
chain organizations to maximize the are likely to have the largest impact
Complexity in supply chains grows productivity of their talent. In a seller’s on business results with the least
by accretion, one process, product, market, with top talent once again in effort. Prioritizing these efforts, along
and software tool layered on top of high demand, an agile organization is a with longer-term projects with high
another. A wide range of factors in strong drawing card for attracting and returns, enables the organization
the current global market —the global retaining key talent. to quickly improve performance
dispersion of production facilities, lack and contribute to the short-term
of access to commodities, increased In our work with supply chain and long-term bottom line.
volatility in commodity pricing, and organizations, we see leading supply
chains taking a holistic, end-to-end Figure 1 shows how a supply chain
political disruptions, to name a few —
approach rather than the tactical team can map opportunities (projects)
spurs on this increased complexity.
spot fixes sometimes associated on the benefits/effort matrix. Then
Removing complexity from the supply with continuous improvement (CI) the team prioritizes and filters the
chain requires concerted will and efforts. As part of this holistic and opportunities based on the criteria and
continual effort from all levels of the foundational approach, companies buckets the opportunities into short-
organization. Such simplification is develop the organization, talent, and longer-term categories.
necessary to align processes and build culture and leadership to remove
an operating model and organization complexity and then activate with
capable of balancing emerging “enablers” such as:3
business strategies, talent strategies
• Focus
and available talent globally.
• Simplicity and speed
• Discipline
5

6. These high-value impact areas are Enablers: Simplicity process and organization complexities
further solidified when organizational create agility in their workforce
structures and capabilities are and Speed to deliver new outcomes in new
aligned to these business priorities. Inflexible processes, too many markets and increased customer
High-performance supply chains offerings, inefficient distribution, long value (see the sidebar “Using Talent
create the structure and decision- cycle times, and poorly understood Data to Sustain Simplicity”).
making practices (governance) customer needs are all root causes of
that institutionalize the constant Agility requires the alignment of
complexity. To simplify, companies
focus on measurement and operating metrics, targets, and
need to eliminate complexities that are
operational improvements. incentives across the supply chain
neither seen nor valued by customers.
organization with the goal of driving
And where customers value complexity,
Consider the leading global retailer speed, reducing complexity and
processes need to be standardized.
that has integrated its supply chain eliminating waste. These enablers
Process variation is a drag on an
and process improvement capabilities create a cultural mindset that is
enterprise’s speed and agility, like a
to focus on “perfect” customer order critical to sustained results. Our
weight tied to the leg of a runner.
fulfillment while optimizing processes experience and research suggests
and business profitability. This focus Often, companies focus on the pain that companies that excel at
area could drive inventory costs beyond points (e.g., budget overruns, transport creating agility in their organization
sustainable levels, given the need to be delays, high employee turnover) rather through simplicity and speed do
in-stock and meet customer demand. than the root causes of complexity. so because they have created
To balance this risk, the retailer has Or they simply eliminate low-volume a culture that demands it.
applied Lean Six Sigma principles products and services to streamline
to its operations while evolving its UPS is an example of a supply chain
operations — all under the guise of
organization to increase usage of company that has created a culture
efficiency. These approaches fail to
predictive analytics. The combination of “constructive dissatisfaction”4
give companies insight into which
of Lean principles with advanced that fosters change and agility. The
customers and offerings are truly
analytics capabilities has provided a company has mastered the ability
profitable and which services build
sustainable foundation to link process to reduce complexity in process
flexibility and brand loyalty. Supply
improvements, business performance execution (e.g., global delivery
chains that attack and remove
and organization priorities. standard practices for drivers) while
6

7. Using Talent Data to Sustain Simplicity
The increasing need to remove complexity from supply chain operations is
presenting unique challenges related to talent. Many companies have taken
costs out of their supply chains via process improvements and operational cost
changes. However, leading supply chain organizations have taken an additional
step. They use data and talent analytics to drive focus, speed, and discipline
into their organizations — in essence, institutionalizing these enablers.
By analyzing performance management data, supply chain organizations
can identify compensation imbalances that over- or underpay
resources. These imbalances in pay-for-performance can severely
impact the culture of discipline we have described here.
For example, consider the value of identifying employees who are
significantly overpaid (e.g., two standard deviations above their peer set)
based on the outcomes and performance they drive (e.g., two standard
deviations below). At one company, we identified almost $5M in annual
compensation costs that fell into this category — costs that weren’t
driving business results or reinforcing focus, speed and discipline.
Our belief that talent is the “new currency” for high performance further
reinforces the need to optimize investments and expect returns on
these costs. Creating a recurring and robust capability — most likely by
partnering with HR — that uses talent data and analytic modeling is
essential for high performance. This capability gives supply chain leaders
another data set to drive results and maintain organization agility.
managing business complexities
that customers are willing to pay for
cycles and corrective actions all
support the achievement of those
Companies need to
(e.g., overnight delivery, real-time goals. Leadership serves as the critical eliminate complexities
tracking, financial services offered). conduit for sustaining this discipline.
that are neither
Additionally, supply chain leaders and Leadership focus on discipline should
managers with experience in both not be underestimated. Today’s supply seen nor valued
the production (where the products
come from) and the commercial
chain leaders face multiple challenges
to their efforts to maintain discipline,
by customers.
(where the products are going) sides such as global and diverse talent,
of the business will drive the cultural complex stakeholder groups, and
elements often needed to reduce the need to develop local leaders in
complexity and enable speed. This type emerging countries.
of background fosters a collaborative
mindset and an intuitive business Discipline in the supply chain is just
savvy that is essential for success in as important when times are good
today’s global supply chain. as in times of economic crisis. High-
performance companies strive to
create a leadership culture based
Enabler: Discipline on a vision of execution excellence.
The discipline enabler is an essential These outcomes benefit the enterprise
foundation for the focus, simplicity (e.g., by making jobs easier or
and speed enablers. Discipline less frustrating and by building
is required to “swim against the transferrable skills) as well as improve
current” and continuously remove overall performance. Such a vision
complexity out of the supply chain. celebrates the benefits of collaborating
To do that, companies need a both inside and outside the supply
performance management system chain organization.
aligned with their strategic goals
so that the metrics, targets, review
7

8. Create in their talent currency curtail their
capacity for success.
When an organization rigorously
follows competence standards, people
Environments for Global and agile supply chain
at all levels of the organization
know what they must do to execute
organizations require new ways
Supply Chain Talent to lead, learn and collaborate to
their jobs well. At UPS, truck drivers
memorize the “340 methods,” which
effectively develop their talent. Role
to Succeed clarity, from senior leaders to the shop
cover everything from the most
efficient way to carry keys (to avoid
Talent is one of the largest investment floor, is essential. And organizations fumbling for them) to the number
costs for a company. And talent is also need talent strategies and workforce of steps per second that would be
the means by which organizations put models that capitalize on clearly considered walking at a “brisk pace.”5
tangible assets to work. Employees defined roles as well as the capability
development programs to drive In addition, companies need an
manage costs, identify efficiencies, aligned supply chain leadership team
streamline processes, manage collaborative results.
composed of champions in each region
inventory and make it possible to or business. These leaders drive the
delight customers. For an increasing Role Clarity for talent vision forward through the
number of companies, future growth Execution Excellence performance metrics they choose for
is dependent on the success of these their workforce, the learning options
costly, intangible assets. The first requirement for a successful they sanction, and the license they
talent environment is role clarity at give employees to fit development into
In fact, Accenture research and all levels of the organization. Clarity their daily work schedules.
experience suggest that talent is drives predictability and accountability
becoming the global currency for in the execution of supply chain Then, as part of the discipline involved
high performance. High-performance processes. And clarity is critical for in driving operational excellence,
organizations create talent surpluses, defining required competencies. these leaders communicate the
invest in the right local talent pools, importance they place on tracking
and maintain a strong global balance and measuring talent programs. They
to hedge on future talent needs. In pose questions such as: “Are people
contrast, companies that under-invest taking advantage of learning or
seeking development opportunities?”
8

9. and “Are employees able to articulate Talent Strategies for a • Foster employee-defined
the skills and knowledge they have personalization (e.g., using social
gained and how they apply their Workforce of One media to create a customized
expertise in their daily work?” Once role clarity and competence learning experience).
At Accenture, our Supply Chain and expectations are defined, high
While significant literature and
Talent & Organization Performance performers then look for ways to
research have delved into these
practices are jointly applying these customize their talent strategies to
customization approaches, the critical
principles of discipline internally to meet the needs of a “workforce of
focus for supply chain organizations
improve our consultants’ performance. one.” This concept has sprung from
should be on partnering with HR to
Our practice leaders have determined creative efforts to engage and retain
define the talent needed to achieve
the desired industry, business and talent in today’s hyper-competitive
supply chain results. Once the talent
supply chain acumen needed to labor market. Workforce-of-one
demand is defined, the approaches to
effectively serve our clients. approaches include:6
hire, develop, retain and engage the
• Segment the workforce (e.g., workforce may incorporate workforce-
This curriculum is then supported by of-one ideas.
senior leaders teaching, measuring based on learning styles, values,
and mentoring consultants on these personality, wellness profiles,
Limited Brands is an example of
principles while also leveraging new mobility).
an organization segmenting its
collaboration and learning techniques • Offer modular choices from a list of workforce to focus on specific value
(e.g., knowledge portals, podcasts, defined and sanctioned alternatives potential. Limited Brands has identified
social media formats). This approach (e.g., international job rotation merchants, merchandise planners,
helps align metrics and performance opportunities). and allocators as critical segments.
expectations with leaders who are • Define broad and simple rules (e.g., These segments make the buying and
responsible for enabling their teams to Google’s rule of having engineers product flow decisions to achieve the
serve and deliver outcomes for clients. spend 20 percent of time on company’s financial targets. On the
projects that create value for the basis of that analysis, Limited Brands
organization). has created customized development
and career path programs for these
talent segments. As a result, the
9

10. company believes it is creating a talent Fostering New generations entering the workforce
advantage in the market.7 and keep pace with best practices
Learning and across industries. Social media, mobile
Furthermore, developing programs
that enable these talent management
Collaborative Channels applications and wikis, for example,
are important alternatives to the
approaches supports role clarity Rapidly changing markets and traditional classroom.
and enables collaboration. A supply competitive landscapes require a
chain organization that focuses on nimble supply chain workforce — People learn best when they
driving workforce performance and and a flexible learning architecture.8 understand the relevance of the
strengthening its talent encourages job Structured learning available experience. To meet the diverse needs
rotations and movement in and out of anytime, anywhere, combined with and demands of a workforce that
traditional supply chain roles. effective use of social technologies spans three generations, supply chain
helps keep content fresh. For organizations must transition from
A supply chain workforce that includes example, insights from conference standardized, HR-driven curricula to
individuals experienced in sales, calls, presentations and third-party personalized learning experiences
customer management, planning, vendors can be turned into 3- to targeted to the strengths, competency
procurement, manufacturing and the 5-minute podcasts or vodcasts easily gaps, career goals and learning styles
like is significantly more collaborative, accessible to mobile workers and of individuals.
agile, and prepared for global business uploaded within a day of the event.
realities. People who understand and Supply chain learning solutions
appreciate the value of these roles As with the discipline enabler, the have traditionally been founded
as well as the expectations of each learning strategy must be disseminated on competency-based coverage
of these disciplines can better meet top-down and reinforced bottom-up. of supply chain functions such as
customer demands and drive greater Furthermore, the learning strategy procurement, planning, forecasting,
business outcomes. must draw on expertise outside the inventory management and logistics.
core competencies of the supply Filling competency gaps, however,
chain organization. For example, is only part of the story. It is just
organizations need to research and as important to identify people’s
support delivery, collaboration and strengths and to find opportunities
learning technologies that engage new to develop and communicate these
10

11. Figure 2: Analytics capability10
• Workforce mix scenario modeling
Competitive Advantage Optimization
• Build workforce optimization
• Recruitment optimization
• Constraint based optimization
Predictive
• Optimized broadband rollout
Modeling
• Attrition prediction
• Demand prediction
Forecasting
• Demand forecasting
Statistical • Supply forecasting
Analysis
• Causality/driver correlation
Alerts
Query • Exception alerts
Drilldown
Ad hoc • Efficient drill to detail
Reports
Std.
Reports
• Rapid analysis
Degree of Intelligence • Rapid report development
strengths for the benefit of the
individual and of the company. For
Consider the example of a major
retailer addressing an issue with the
Align Talent and
example, having recognized experts in
different areas provides opportunities
on-shelf availability of four product
categories. Poor communication
Supply Chain
for mentoring and informal assistance
that are a vital complement to
between the supply chain
organization and its 6000 suppliers
Analytics
any set of formal courses. was identified as the first root The value of quantitative data in
cause of the problem, and a lack of shaping decisions in the supply chain
A blended learning architecture understanding of each other’s supply has been well recognized for over a
supports these formal and informal chain operations was the second. decade. For example, we know that
learning opportunities. A good blend High-performance companies are
includes instructor-led sessions, The retailer adopted a two-pronged five times as likely to use analytics
simulations, classroom workshops, solution: Training to ensure all parties strategically, compared with low
blogs, webcasts, and online self-study, were speaking the same language performers.9 These companies use
to name a few. Learning opportunities and using the same processes for analytics as a differentiator by
should be provided 24/7 in a variety of forecasting and satisfying demand, ensuring they have the processes,
languages and draw on expertise from combined with new technologies to culture and expertise in place to gather
consulting, business and academia. support timely communications and raw data, distil it into insights and use
real-time decision making. As a result those insights to shape decisions and
Cross-training through job rotations of this initiative, shelf availability of
or collaborations with other parts of create value (see the analytics value
the four product categories moved chain in Figure 2).
the business should have a prominent back to acceptable levels.
place in the blend. Because of the Supply chain organizations can use
interdependencies between the analytics in the same way to drive
supply chain and other parts of the talent performance and therefore
organization, supply chain talent must improve execution and business
understand how the business works as outcomes. Just as companies
well as how the company’s positioning predict demand for transportation
in the competitive landscape needs using statistics and robust
influences the supply chain.
11

12. models, leading companies are now Most supply chain organizations, • Workforce investment analysis to
predicting the talent needed to however, lack the analytical muscle determine the impact of variables
optimally staff their organization and and organizational commitment to such as work climate, employee
deliver on consumer expectations. translate insights into action and satisfaction and retention on supply
to integrate analysis into everyday chain performance.
Leading supply chain organizations are processes. In one of our recent surveys, • Workforce forecasts to analyze
moving beyond traditional reporting fewer than one in five respondents turnover, succession planning, and
and looking at emerging opportunities used a disciplined, repeatable analytical business opportunity data and fill
to use talent as a critical analytic approach to inform how work gets potential shortages of key supply
opportunity. These organizations solve done and decisions are made.11 chain capabilities.
business issues by using robust tools
and data models, including business As a result, execution is hampered in • Talent value model, which uses
and human resource inputs, to predict every aspect of the supply chain, such analytics to determine what
supply chain talent impacts. as sourcing, transportation, inventory employees value and then create
management and talent management. personalized performance incentives
For example, workforce skill Of these, the role of analytics in talent and development plans.
segmentation can be combined management is the least recognized. • Talent supply chain, which covers
with customer demand to schedule “The best organizations see their how to make real-time decisions
service technicians during the hours people not only as individuals but about talent-related demands.
customers will most likely need their also as a rich source of collective data Human capital data and reports have
specialized skills. This type of analytics that managers can use to make better long been used in organizations.
has measurable business outcomes decisions about talent.”12 For a supply Analytic solutions for human capital,
that drive critical alignment of talent chain organization, the rich collective however, have only recently adopted
and supply chain metrics — customers data could cover: the rigor and analytic capabilities that
are happy, service technicians are
have been traditionally used to analyze
engaged, and the company achieves • Human capital facts (head count,
networking, logistical and inventory
higher profitability. turnover, recruiting success,
challenges in the supply chain.
willingness to recommend the
company) across unique supply
chain workforces.
12

13. High-performance organizations
couple the robust and predictive
This analysis demonstrated the
cultural and business performance
High-performance
methods used in supply chain analytics breakdowns across regions, functions organizations couple
with the emerging trends in human and individual leaders. The CEO then
capital analytics designed to address spearheaded cultural, leadership, talent the robust and
workforce optimization, organizational
analysis, functional diagnostics and
and organization changes to create
“interlock” between the supply chain
predictive methods
benchmarking capabilities. Human culture and business performance. used in supply
capital analytic solutions now use the This interlock was created through
same mature analytic platforms that revisions to the operating model chain analytics
supply chains have used (e.g., SAS, across the enterprise and then
Cognos) for some time. This analysis, creation of two new leadership with the emerging
based on consistent platforms, drives
new insights and capabilities.
competencies and expectations to
address the desired business outcomes.
trends in human
As an example, a large, global
Additionally, human resources capital analytics to
processes were revised to sustain and
conglomerate needed to address an enable these new accountabilities address workforce
underperforming healthcare business.
A new supply chain function had been
and expected outcomes. optimization,
created to serve new regions and
the organization wasn’t executing as
organizational analysis,
expected. This data-driven company functional diagnostics
was searching for insights to address
the poor performance. An organization and benchmarking
value analysis, based on robust
statistical models and structured
capabilities.
executive interviews, was used to
assess the client’s culture and barriers
to business outcomes.
13

14. Do Not Leave Value on the Table
Supply chain organizations are It is important to move on all three
leaving value on the table. They are fronts in an integrated manner. The
not growing as fast as they could and highest value to the organization is
they are missing market opportunities achieved when these three elements
because their supply chains are unable are focused on achieving the same
to execute successfully in what is likely outcomes in a defined time period.
to be a permanent era of volatility.
High-performance organizations
In response, high-performance demonstrate an urgency to deliver
organizations are developing a streamlined operations that enable
concerted plan of action that includes new leadership and collaboration while
all three of the following initiatives: using talent analytics to sustain their
performance. These high performers
• Creating a simplified and “at speed”
organization as well as talent also realize that the organizational
strategies that create the future changes these three initiatives drive
rather than sustain the past. is substantial. Thoughtful change
management programs are required to
• Developing new leadership,
support and sustain them. In today’s
learning and collaboration
volatile market, in which resources are
capabilities that enable the pace
at a premium, companies must create a
of change for supply chains.
talent advantage in their supply chain
• Building talent analytic models to deliver short- and long-term results.
and predictive capabilities that
mirror supply chain analytics
and process models.
About the Author
Geoff Deines is a senior director in
Accenture's Talent & Organization
Performance Management Consulting
practice. He has over 15 years
experience in talent management and
organization change management
across Retail, Consumer Goods
and Automotive clients. He has
supported many clients in developing
their workforces to improve and
sustain high business performance.
He is currently the Global Supply
Chain Workforce Practice co-lead,
responsible for developing client
solutions across all industries. Based
in Detroit, he can be reached at
geoffrey.b.deines@accenture.com.
The author would like to extend
a special note of thanks to the
following Accenture colleagues
for their contributions to this
paper: Terry Nulty, Marjorie Arnold,
Irfan Rahman, Randy Boyd, Marc
Sotkiewicz and Ritvik Bhawan.
14

15. Reference
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Mark George, “Transforming Business 6
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Organization,” Outlook, Accenture’s
4
Nunes and Breene, p. 97. online journal of high-performance
business (October 2009).
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15

16. Copyright © 2011 Accenture About Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture is a global management
Accenture, its logo, and consulting, technology services and
High Performance Delivered outsourcing company, with more than
are trademarks of Accenture. 223,000 people serving clients in
more than 120 countries. Combining
unparalleled experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most successful
companies, Accenture collaborates
with clients to help them become
high-performance businesses and
governments. The company generated
net revenues of US$21.6 billion for the
fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2010. Its
home page is www.accenture.com.
ACC11-1437