Two-thirds of U.S. employers are doing no workforce planning of any kind, says Peter Cappelli, and the advice they're getting about how to start is based on 1950s realities. Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, says the best way to look at talent is through a supply chain lens.
How is talent management similar to supply chain management? "Supply chain management is about anticipating what the organization is going to need internally to produce products or services, and talent management is the same thing--anticipating the talent needed by the organization," says Cappelli.
"A lot of organizations feel that they're either going to hire on the outside or develop talent from within. For some companies, it's a matter of principle that they make their own talent. Others by default hire outside. Companies ought to be thinking not either/or, but some of both. You ought to be thinking almost job by job. For some jobs, it makes sense to do more internal development, and for others, it doesn't." (Adapted from an article in the Harvard Business Review)
Source: Computerworld, http://www.computerworld.com