ManpowerGroup 2004 Annual Report Download - page 5

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As the global economy has transitioned from manufac-
turing into services, so has IBM, with more than 50 percent
of our workforce today engaged in providing services for
clients. And since service equates with people, that means
we are investing far more in human than in physical
assets. The company and its workforce have also grown
significantly, with more than 18,000 new employees
added in 2004 alone. The world in which we operate is
changing at an accelerating pace and we need to keep up
with it – not least in the way we manage our global talent.
DELIVERING “ON-DEMAND” SERVICES
Some two years ago, observing how our clients needed
access to our services on very short lead times, we
embarked on a program to redefine our business as an on
demand service provider, and to serve as a role model
for clients of all types in all industries. We obviously had
to start by considering our people.
With the help of Manpower, whose just-in-time talent-
management expertise clearly paralleled our on demand
strategic objectives, we created a consistent taxonomy
for defining the skills, capabilities, and experiences needed
for different positions along our talent supply chain. This
has enabled us to identify which talents are core value-
delivering capabilities and which are less critical; to obtain
insights into achieving the right balance between alternative
sources of talent; and to match our people strategy most
closely to our overall business strategy.
ACHIEVING FLEXIBILITY WITH QUALITY
Delivering on demand services requires an integrated,
seamless, end-to-end approach to acquiring and deploying
talent right across your business, building flexibility into
the workforce to accommodate variability in demand. It
means determining which HR partners can best work
alongside your own management, responding to both the
time dimension and the cultural fit to ensure the delivery
of talent to meet your business requirements.
In achieving our responsive on demand flexibility, we are
working with selected strategic HR partners to source
and deploy a global range of talent, both permanent and
contingent. Our partners understand our requirement for
quality and have the same commitment as we have to
the standards of capability and training that deliver the
differentiation that yields our competitive advantage.
JUST-IN-TIME TALENT MANAGEMENT (RILEY PERSPECTIVE)