In a tough economy an employer much watch its costs. Part of this process relates to what you are paying for your goods and services. In a volume business, the difference of a few cents can add up into serious numbers over the year. So it pays in many ways to hiring sourcing personnel who know their stuff.
Maureen Sharib posts a most interesting article on ERE.net. In Sun Tzu on Sourcing, Sharib demonstrates the relationship between the great war master’s requisite spies and a good sourcing agent. I found the comparisons most entertaining as well as accurate. In short, it was a fun read.
Of course, her writing lists the attributes Sun Tzu would assign to a good spy or a good sourcing agent. Some of these attributes while being beneficial can also prove a double edged sword. Before hiring a sourcing person, I would encourage background checks to be sure your employment candidate is what he says he is. That he has the necessary skill sets and that he has been honest and fair with past employers.
Sourcing, after all, is one job where kickbacks from suppliers is not what I would term a foreign concept. It is also wise to conduct reference background checks, if possible, to see if the sourcing specialist got his last job by usurping suppliers from his previous employer. This again is not a foreign concept. Going even by the dictum of Sun Tzu, the converted spy can easily be a double agent who has been turned on more than one occasion.
I encourage all the read Sharib’s article. As one who is not entirely unfamiliar with the fields of intelligence and espionage, I got a kick out of her article. Anyone who cites Sun Tzu and recruiting in the same article certainly has my attention.
Check them out before you hire.
