A successful supply-chain talent strategy begins with a well-articulated statement about the basic competencies that a company requires. Beyond that, says Chadwick, executives need to consider issues of career paths, recruitment, retention and performance management.

Companies get stuck when they’re so inundated with activity that they fail to see the necessity for a high-level strategy. Their day-to-day decisions aren’t necessarily connected to the overall corporate strategy, Chadwick says. They might lack a full understanding of the return on investment from those key processes, and fail to have a person in place to support the highest priorities.

Companies need to spend time outlining the “pillars” of a talent strategy, with the understanding that it doesn’t need to be perfect at the outset, Chadwick says.

A number of business drivers are making it more critical than ever before to manage talent successfully. They include ever-changing technology and the divergent views that newcomers bring to the workplace. Companies need to be able to focus simultaneously on multiple generations of workers as they move through their careers.

Talent, says Chadwick, isn’t “something that just happens.” Companies can’t apply the same kind of concrete calculations to that area that they direct at investments in a factory or distribution center.

They might think of talent as “something else we do,” says Chadwick. “Leadership really is all about talent and talent development.”

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