And any claims to the contrary are a considerable collection of cow cr@p!
So, needless to say, the doctor was disgusted at this thinly disguised advertorial by, and for, Amazon Business, which said technology, i.e. its platform, would solve your talent problem.
Not even close!
According to the advertorial, which appeared, appallingly, in USA Today:
While some churn may be inevitable, organizations can take steps to ensure their procurement teams are satisfied. One major step is ensuring they have the technology they need to do their jobs effectively.
Which is important, but not a major step.
If you ask people what they want in a job, which Gallup did in a survey to 13,085 US employees in 2022, it was:
- A significant increase in income or benefits (64%)
- Greater work-life balance and better personal wellbeing (61%)
- The ability to do what they do best (58%)
- Greater stability and job security (53%)
- Vaccination policies that align with my beliefs (43%)
- The organization is diverse and inclusive of all types of people (42%)
the doctor would bet with certainty that not a single respondent said “better technology” in their top five wants. As he repeatedly points out, which he did yet again in why do successful solution providers ruin everything by becoming tech companies?, no one wants tech or software … no one. They just want whatever makes their job easier, and that ain’t always fancy new tech.
At best, it’s a minor step that can enhance the ability to do what they do best.
Then it quotes their VP who says that since 74% of leaders seeing digitization as key to better operations, the interpretation must be it’s clear we need seamless, consumer-like experiences in business procurement because this is what we are used to.
No! NO! NO! Joël Collin-Demers recently penned a great post on why we need to stop chasing an “Amazon-like” buying experience for requesters in your business! In short, in business, it’s inefficient, ineffective, and downright unpleasant. As Joël says, it’s the paradox of choice.
B2B is not the same as B2C, it’s never been, and never should be. So assuming that B2C is the solution is just plain wrong. B2B needs different solutions customized for the needs of bulk buyers.
The really depressing part about the article is they quote a lot of studies by reputable organizations with really concerning findings about just how bad the talent problem is and give a lot of good advice on what kinds of technology a Procurement organization should have in place. It’s too bad they chose to wrap it in a layer of cow cr@p and sully what could have been a good article on why a company should have a Procurement solution run by good talent (two different problems, two different arguments). They could have written the most credible piece USA Today ever published on the subject, but instead decided to pen some self-service BS rubbish with bad arguments and known wrong conclusions.
The only good thing the doctor can say about it is at least they didn’t mention the Gen-AI bullcr@p when they talked about the use of AI in procurement and got that part right at least!
Here’s the thing, if you have a talent problem, it usually comes down to one of two reasons:
- you haven’t been able to / can’t hire enough talent
- the talent you have is leaving
If you can’t hire enough talent, that’s usually because you can’t attract enough talent, and that’s usually because you aren’t hitting the top 6 points in the gallup poll referenced above. You need to step back and
- evaluate your standard offer (pay and benefits) against the local & global industry norms
- analyze your work life balance options
- assess the freedom and control you give employees to do their job
- gauge the job security you offer
- minimize your (lack of) vaccination policy (which, if it exists, should match the jurisdiction in which your employee resides — i.e. you comply with legal requirements, and that’s it — the choice should be theirs)
- ask yourself if you truly are an inclusive organization (which, FYI, does not mean DEI — see THE PROPHET‘s many rants on why this is not inclusivity as, simply put, opportunity does not imply outcome and DEI only measures outcome, which simply means it is being used in some countries as a new form of legal discrimination)
And if you can’t keep enough talent, you have to consider the top reasons people quit (as captured in a 2021 Pew Research Center survey):
- low pay, see #1 reason for taking a new job
- no opportunities for advancement
- no respect
- child care issues, see #2 reason for taking a new job
- not enough work hour flexibility, see #2 reason for taking a new job
- poor benefits, see #1 reason for taking a new job
- wanted to relocate, see #3 reason for taking a new job
- too many hours, see #2 reason for taking a new job
- too few hours, see #4 reason for taking a new job
- COVID-19 vaccine required, see #5 reason for taking a new job
Now, do you see “poor technology” anywhere on that list? If you do, get a new prescription and review the lists again. You don’t. That’s because, only a small fraction of people who leave a job will quote technology as one of the reasons (and the doctor would guarantee 99/100 it’s not the primary reason), and it’s probably less than the 14% quoted in the article. If you actually dig up the quote Lakeside Software research study, you see it canvassed 600 executives, IT leaders, and employees on the state of workplace technology and their digital experience. Not only is that a small sample group compared to the Gallup and Pew studies, but that’s not a homogenous sample group of employees (who were only 1/3 of the participants) — as executives and leaders (who probably don’t even have to use a computer) have entirely different reasons for taking and leaving jobs than the workforce! And even if the statistic was that high, you should be a heck of a lot more worried about why the other 6 employees are leaving than the 1 who decides he doesn’t like the tech he’s being forced to use, because you have much bigger problems than not having the absolute best tech!
Anyway, if you want more insights into Talent Recruitment, Retention, and Revolutionizing, dig into the SI archives.