{"id":1746,"date":"2013-03-26T15:35:35","date_gmt":"2013-03-26T19:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/?p=1746"},"modified":"2013-03-26T15:35:35","modified_gmt":"2013-03-26T19:35:35","slug":"perfect-candidate-profile-in-business-forecasting-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/2013\/03\/26\/perfect-candidate-profile-in-business-forecasting-planning\/","title":{"rendered":""Perfect Candidate Profile" in Business Forecasting & Planning""},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joy<\/a>

Joy White<\/p><\/div>\n

Panel discussions are most interesting when the panelists represent similar disciplines across a variety of industries. At the recent\u00a0IBF Conference<\/a>\u00a0in Scottsdale, each of the 4 panelists were\u00a0<\/ins>asked about various aspects of the planning process within their respective organizations. The range of topics included the single forecast plan (the one number plan), execution of the plan, use of metrics, frequency of the S&OP review and, of course, talent within the organization<\/a>. There appeared to be a great deal of commonality and agreement on the various business approaches between the respective organizations. As we might expect, the degree of integration and frequency varied. Importantly, they all shared a very similar view regarding the \u201cperfect candidate profile\u201d and the increasing need for these individuals to develop and exhibit strong leadership skills.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s highly competitive workplace, questions regarding the \u201cperfect candidate profile\u201d are always intriguing. The varying demographics of the workforce, coupled with the increasing use and sophistication of technology and the required \u201cspeed to market\u201d make the \u201cperfect candidate profile\u201d an interesting discussion.\u00a0 Of course in our field of business forecasting and demand planning, we know that sound analysis and mathematical skills are a prerequisite for success. However, the panelists resoundingly agreed that the number one skill required for success is the ability to lead and to confidently influence across the organization, and this ability requires \u201csoft skills\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0It was also acknowledged that these so-called \u201csoft skills\u201d were not necessarily an innate attribute and required training and development. Randy Wilp<\/a>, Leader of Global Commercial Forecasting at Merck & Co. Inc shared his experience utilizing an outside organizational behavior coach in his effort to build and foster the communication and \u201csoft skills\u201d of his team.<\/p>\n

In my own prior experience with managing large inventory planning teams, it has been critical to the success of my organization to be able to not only build a solid forecast and replenishment strategy, but also to be able to communicate this plan to the appropriate business partners. The successful communication and \u201cbuy-in\u201d lead to the best execution. This required the planners to be able to communicate their forecasts and plans in easy to understand terms, while clearly articulating the business benefits.\u00a0 It is usually best to save the \u201cgeek speak\u201d for like-minded peers.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0forecasting and planning<\/a>\u00a0organizations begin to take on a more front and center role within organizations, should we begin to consider the aspects of more robust leadership training<\/a>? There is a recent post regarding new trends in Supply Chain Management Review\u00a0which discusses preparing students for the work world in a pragmatic way. Perhaps it is also time to give greater consideration to the \u201csoft skill\u201d and leadership development as well. What are your thoughts?<\/p>\n

Joy White<\/strong>
\nSupply Chain Leader<\/strong>
\nIBF Ambassador<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Panel discussions are most interesting when the panelists represent similar disciplines across a variety of industries. At the recent\u00a0IBF Conference\u00a0in Scottsdale, each of the 4 panelists were\u00a0asked about various aspects of the planning process within their respective organizations. The range of topics included the single forecast plan (the one number plan), execution of the plan, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1445,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[61,172,65,34,35,36,150,37,38,250,240],"class_list":{"0":"post-1746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-forecasting-and-planning","7":"tag-business-forecasting","8":"tag-collaboration","9":"tag-demand-forecasting","10":"tag-demand-planning","11":"tag-forecasting","12":"tag-ibf","13":"tag-new-product-forecasting","14":"tag-sop","15":"tag-supply-chain","16":"tag-talent","17":"tag-talent-management"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1445"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demand-planning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}