Resource Management Process

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified)
in
General Questions and Comments

BLUF: Anyone have resource suggestions or experiences for managing talent/resources in a large organization? 

BACKGROUND: I’ve recently been assigned to a team working on an “extra-curricular” project to define a process for capturing the availability and skill sets within our organization to match the demand for project and support needs of our division (Information Services).
 
Clearly, there are a lot of factors to consider.  I’m looking for some background info, examples of such a process, and experiences from the MT community.
 
I’m not looking for tools, applications, vendors of software, etc. While I fully respect that these tools have their use, I do expect that to achieve success, we need to look at the larger system of practice.
 
Some of the aspects that our leadership would value in such a system include:
-         Provides opportunities for employees to learn new areas
-         Lowers costs
-         Provides guidance on employee vs. consultant choices
-         Provides guidance on onshore vs. offshore choices
-         Has flexibility appropriate to our economic environment (recession, industry consolidation, etc.)
 
We’re a Fortune 500 global organization in a non-IT industry.
 
I have listened to/looked at the following ‘casts/threads related to this:
http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/04/retention (A good reminder of the employee’s perspective.)
http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-1790 (Almost all about the tools)
http://www.manager-tools.com/forums-3420 (Some suggestions in this...any experiences?)
 
Submitted by Craig Cleveland on Tuesday June 16th, 2009 8:03 pm

Wow...not one response!  Was I too specific?  ...to big in scale?  Surely resource management is a area where leaders have some significant impact, responsibility, and experiences.
-Jazz

Submitted by John Hack on Wednesday June 17th, 2009 8:55 pm

Maybe it's just that none of us here have exactly what you're looking for.  If I read the OP correctly, you're looking for a major program ("not tools or resources...we need a larger system of practice") , with lots of detail.  
Perhaps no one has such a comprehensive program that they can share.  
BTW, what's an "extra-curricular" project at a Fortune 500 company?  
John Hack

Submitted by Craig Cleveland on Wednesday June 17th, 2009 10:28 pm

Thanks for the response, John.
I see how this can be interpreted differently.  My point about "not tools or resources" was an attempt to avoid getting a list of software packages and the like.  What we're putting together is definitely a major program, using some of our existing tools and probably some new ones.
In any case, descriptions of experience with some system of resource and/or talent management would be helpful.
The "extra-curricular" part isn't germane to the core problem.  A group of us have been asked to do the necessary research and analysis to make a recommendation in additional to our normal work responsibilities.
-Jazz