Challenges in the permanent recruitment procurement process
At the dawning of the next decade and as the recession in South Africa begins to gradually fade away, many organizations may tentatively consider appointing more staff. The recruitment market changed from a scarcity of skills on the open market in early 2008 into a relative glut during 2009, with many people sitting tight in their current jobs waiting for an improvement in the economy. Alan Low of Purchasing Index (PI) discusses the challenges the permanent recruitment procurement process faces in this month's SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 9:40 AM
Current recruitment innovations under discussion at industry update-breakfast
"A multitude of external forces will reshape markets, products and industries over the next decade. To survive, Companies will have to rethink and revamp their business strategies in order to anticipate, react to and take advantage of these forces," predicts a recent research report released by CAPS, The ISM (USA) and AT Kearney.
Posted by Editor at 1:50 PM
Shed light on your suppliers
While shareholders' visibility requirements have been responsible for the growth of the audit industry, organisations continue to be plagued by other stakeholders requesting information on risk and performance. These include potential joint venture partners, benchmarking agencies, credit-rating agencies, environmental impact organisations, local government and customers.
Posted by StaffWriter at 1:09 PM
The skills shortage is still a reality...What about flexible staffing solutions?
"The shortage of skilled workers is the biggest constraint to business growth!" This is a quote extracted verbatim from an international survey that was recently conducted by accounting firm Grant Thornton involving 7000 privately held businesses in 36 economies across the globe. 33% of organisations in South Africa that participated in this survey cited that regulations, in particular 'employment laws', are inhibiting growth; and, surprisingly, red tape even outranks 'cost of finance' and 'reduction in demand' as barriers to growth.
Posted by Editor at 10:01 AM
Interim Contracts are Ideal for Both the Employer and the Procurement Specialist
In a recent issue of Supply Management , Pat Law writes that "contractors tend to do well in a downturn, as organisations switch to more flexible forms of employment". While this is written in the context of the UK and EU, it applies just as much to our own environment and the special circumstances in South Africa.
Posted by Editor at 11:30 AM
How important is price when selecting recruitment agencies?
Lindiwe Nakedi, the co-owner of and a Career Consultant at The People Shop, recently told SmartProcurement that many people often believe that recruitment is a commodity which hinges predominantly on price: “Recruitment organisations, or at least the good ones, differentiate themselves on quality and value added services which they provide and thus argue that there are more important issues to take into account than price only”, Nakedi said.
Posted by Editor at 8:30 AM
Reducing the increasing 'billable hour' cost in the procurement of professional services...
In the first instance, the commodity group 'professional services' nowadays encompasses an extremely broad range of technical and specialised services ranging from consultants (e.g. accounting and tax) to architectural, business communications, legal, medical, and so on. Secondly, because of the ever increasing complexity of the global economy and the processes of government, the need for outsourced expertise is rapidly on the rise.
Posted by Editor at 8:00 AM
Hiring some new talent? Check them out properly first...
"Unfortunately it is a fact that organisations are exposed to certain financial and other employee-related risks, many of which occur within the procurement area. Risks to be seriously considered are 'white-collar' fraud, IT integrity and identity theft, workplace violence and unethical conduct in all its forms", Elaine Porteous, Branch Manager - Interim and Executive Search - of Tech-Pro Personnel, told SmartProcurement.
Posted by Editor at 7:30 AM
How Good are Your Interviewing Skills: Do You Listen or Just Talk?
“Procurement professionals spend quality time preparing for their sourcing activities and negotiations with suppliers, but they are generally poorly prepared for interviewing job candidates”, Elaine Porteous, Managing Director of CA Procurement, told SmartProcurement. With job-hunting season fast approaching, you may find yourself recruiting to fill key vacancies, so here are a few tips...
Posted by Editor at 6:21 AM
HR Services procurement: Beyond the purchasing department's scope?
Who is responsible for contracting Human Resources (HR) services in your organisation? “In essence, this category falls under ‘Services Spend’ and should accordingly form part of the Strategic Cost Management portfolio of an organisation...
Posted by Editor at 4:47 AM
The Procurement of HR and Skills in the Spotlight
The past decade of unprecedented economic growth has firmly put the spotlight on the world economy's most important asset, namely Human Resources (HR). This has brought about massive globalisation which has tempted many of our talented professionals to greener pastures, and this, in turn, has highlighted the value of recruitment agencies.
Posted by Editor at 7:30 AM
Procurement vs Management Consultants and other Professional Services: Round 1
In a recent roundtable think-tank between UK members from Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply (CIPS) and the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), it was suggested that procurement should become more involved in the delivery, and not only the purchase, of management consultancy deals. Hugo Were, a partner at Accenture, and president of the MCA, said that he would "like to see procurement departments adding more value by seeing the deal through to the delivery. Once it has started, help see it to the end."
Posted by StaffWriter at 11:15 AM
Taking control of Professional Services Spend... even Dog Handling!
There are several interpretations of the Professional Services commodity group. Greg Buckley a sourcing expert with Volition tells Smart Procurement: "Normally I consider it to be 'the provision of services, by a 3rd party vendor, most often on an ad-hoc basis.' His article claims that, although perhaps not the easiest category of procurement spend to manage, it is certainly possible to take control of the category and to find value in terms of cost and efficiency. This takes initial effort and intent, but the requirement is often less than is generally expected.Posted by StaffWriter at 6:07 AM