Dominic Barton, McKinsey’s global managing partner, stated that talent is the most scarce resource. Capital is a plentiful resource. It is talent that is required to drive it’.
What role should this talent play and what skills do they need? People with soft leadership skills, collaboration skills, empathy, and digital transformation specialists are all essential to an organization’s success.
It’s not hard to see how critical it is for businesses to be able to analyze and draw insights from data. Or that digital technologies are making it more difficult to empathise across a range of demographics.
But in the rush to link workforces to the next big trend is there a danger that companies may overlook a function that has been present in their company for years, and not give it the recognition it deserves?
The secret power of planning
Although it might sound like a joke, the phrase “proper planning prevents poor performances” is a powerful statement. Planning is the foundation on which organisations work, and anyone working in any business should be familiarized with planning cycles.
Although business planning has been around for many years in some form, organisations are only now realizing the importance of a dedicated planning group. Our benchmarking report, The State of Connected Planning found that the more successful a company is, the more advanced its planning.
77% of respondents said that they use enterprise-level planning technology in order to put their plans into practice. Worryingly, only 15% of companies actually execute all of their plans. What is the reason for this wastage?
Lack of ownership could hinder your ability to plan and even execute.
A lack of ownership over planning was often cited as a barrier to the development of effective plans across all sectors and regions.
It was felt by at least 25% of respondents to our survey as a significant obstacle in EMEA. This number rose to 34% in Japan and 38% across the entire Asia Pacific region. It was also a major issue in retail: nearly a third of respondents to our survey felt that they did not own the process.
This lack of ownership is not a sign of a lack interest. In fact, there was a similar consistency in the appreciation for planning across both functions as well as regions.
Over three quarters of respondents in the UK believed that planning was critical to enhancing revenue. This included supply chain, manufacturing, and sales professionals. It also reached 97 percent of Japanese businesses.
But there is still a gap between theory & execution. It is difficult to incorporate market changes into plans. Nearly half of respondents to our survey stated that it takes them weeks to update plans with market change.
Why is this? One problem is the people who plan – even if they are not in a specific planning role, they will have to incorporate it into their day-to-day jobs.
A dedicated planning team can be paired with functions to relieve stress. This is not by removing people who execute the plans but by allowing them focus on what they are responsible for: execution.
Another issue was their choice of tools. Our survey revealed that 92% of companies believe that better planning technology leads to better business outcomes. However, legacy issues, whether IT, cultural, or structural, can hinder the process. 86 percent face limitations in collaboration.
