“Leading with a discussion around sustainability and an organization’s overall impact on the planet and on society is a way of opening doors.”
The Sustainable Procurement Pledge has an ambitious goal to enlist 1 million procurement professionals on their mission to transform sustainability from a luxury to a necessity in our industry.
Bayer’s CPO and the pledge’s Co-Founder, Thomas Udesen, recalls how he’s seen the sector’s approach to quality become a non-negotiable standard, and hopes that the same can be true of environmental impact caused by supply chains.
This episode of Talent Talks covers:
- The opportunities unlocked by appealing to more sustainability-focused execs
- How hybrid working has managed, and will continue, to reduce our environmental impact
- The Sustainable Procurement Pledge’s ambitious goals, and the incredible progress they’ve achieved so far
- Sustainability as a future ‘need-to-have’ rather than a ‘nice-to-have’
- Ensuring regulation is as universal as possible to avoid unnecessary confusion
This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by 4C Associates – a leading European procurement and supply chain consultancy, who work collaboratively with forward-thinking clients to deliver real business value across a wide range of transformation and cost optimisation service offerings. Visit https://www.4cassociates.com/ for more information.
Episode highlights
“Leading with a discussion around sustainability and the organization’s overall impact on the planet and on society is a way of opening doors. Increasingly we’re finding executives who are engaged and interested on a personal level and on a very human level by that.” – 5:25 – Nick Muir
“Covid has been a human disaster, right? It’s humbling, it’s painful. But I think if we don’t just look at the pain that it has caused, but really start looking at what we have learned in terms of how we can do things differently, I think there’s a lot of really great nuggets.” – 11:35 – Thomas Udesen
“People have had a moment of shock in terms of how vulnerable our society can be, and how vulnerable the human race can be, and a moment to reflect on what’s important to them. The massive uptake in things like gardening, the huge appreciation for outdoor space for those of us who’ve been sort of caught living in inner cities, and all that sort of thing, I think has given a real renewed energy.” – 17:43 – Nick Muir
“Before anything is going to really start getting into scale and carry the volumes that are required, you need the market player, you need to create demand, and that’s where procurement sits. We are the ones who will be able to drive the demand, change opinions, introduce new technology, and have that pull effect from the innovators to the markets.” – 23:38 – Thomas Udesen
“I think it’s going to become increasingly important – it’s no longer going to be a couple of questions on the supplier onboarding questionnaire. It’s going to be about deep partnerships, right across the supply base, in order to make sure these commitments are met.” – 29:25 – Nick Muir
“The aviation sector is one where they are doing everything they can in terms of minimising the waste that’s coming off the aircraft, and looking at their broader impact in terms of their investment into society. But that is a challenging industry, where its primary way of operating is very difficult with today’s technology to solve for.” – 31:40 – Nick Muir
“My wish would, of course, be to avoid that every country now makes their own regulation because, as a procurement professional, we’re going to go crazy, right? We should have this at the highest possible level, so that it’s not an administrative burden, but a catalyst for positive change.” – 36:15 – Thomas Udesen
“I really can’t think of a function that’s better placed in terms of visibility, data and understanding of where the majority of impact comes from, than the procurement function. There’s an opportunity here, and hopefully the chief procurement officer or equivalent is seen as the custodian of the vast majority, if not all, of the sustainability agenda.” – 42:00 – Nick Muir
Links & references
- Thomas Udesen, Chief Procurement Officer at Bayer & Co-Founder of The Sustainable Procurement Pledge
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-udesen/
- Bayer
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bayer/
- The Sustainable Procurement Pledge
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-procurement-pledge/
- Nick Muir, Managing Partner at 4C Associates
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-muir-a133a612/
- 4C Associates
https://www.linkedin.com/company/4c-associates/
Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsmith2009/
