Guest Blog from Dave Jones
A dynamic and target driven MCIPS qualified procurement leader with a high success rate in driving ambitious procurement strategies for leading global organisations e.g. John Lewis, Waitrose, Thames Water, Efficio, Yell and Vodafone.
Covid-19 has created the opportunity for procurement to step up like never before. Now that we are six weeks in, here are the four key areas I feel we should all reflect on in our own roles and organisations.
1. Board members are more interested in what we do than ever before! Are you providing them with the insight they require?
- CFO’s have to control costs and manage cash flow more carefully than ever before
- CEOS need to ensure there is sufficient PPE for their teams and are likely to foster even closer relationships with key suppliers
- COOs will be interested in the supplier’s ability to continue to provide services. They will be thinking about how to gradually reopen when the lockdown starts to ease.
- Functional directors will have needed our help to slow down or stop contractual commitments or find new sources of supply. They too will want to keep delivering with squeezed budgets.
My advice – Reflect on whether you are providing the kind of insight that your boards would expect. There is a massive opportunity to build a much closer relationship with the exec team during this crisis which has the potential to last for long afterwards.
2. Driving more sustainable solutions will be critical even in an era of cost focus
The temptation from some businesses will be to focus on cost. This is very shortsighted in my view. It is becoming increasingly the case that consumers will be more likely to support businesses with a lower carbon footprint or those driving a more sustainable agenda.
The procurement team at Unilever under the leadership of Dave Ingram are already showing leadership in this space. Their supplier web page has no mention of cost and poses a question to suppliers :
‘Together, we can realise a vision where sustainable living is commonplace. Are you with us?’
I urge procurement practitioners to get behind movements such as the sustainable procurement ambassador movement started by Thomas Udesen and the procurement with purpose movement which is in its infancy started by Peter Smith and Mark Perera.
Procurement teams sit at the center of the spider web of relationships inside and outside an organisation. I strongly believe we are well placed to show real leadership in this space. Remaining in our collective comfort zone will be a mistake.
My advice – Have a virtual brainstorming session with your team to solicit ideas for how your function can help your organisation be more sustainable. You could then prioritise the ideas by cost and impact / ease of implementation.
3. People
We have proven that we can operate effectively remotely and as leaders we must reflect on the balance of office vs. remote working that is appropriate in the future. We must support as furloughed people return to work and balance celebrating the successes of people still working with ensuring that people furloughed feel valued and needed when they return.
My advice : reflect on your own leadership style / approach. If you are more of a task focussed leader consider reining this in slightly so support people return to the office. Plan now for how you will ease furloughed employees back into their roles.
4. Hygiene factors are critical
Let’s face it the typical person comes into procurement to facilitate relationships, do deals and add value. They do not enter the profession to keep the contract database upto date! Covid-19 has shown that hygiene factors (such as an accurate contract database) are critical and I am sure you will have observed several gaps in your own teams capabilities.
For example :
- Metadata on : contracts, spend, relationships, performance
- Supplier risk : it will not be enough to rely on credit checks which often lag reality. For your most critical suppliers you will want to build a Identifying the health of suppliers and having contingency plans will be absolutely critical.
My advice : take a look at your own organisation and the best way of getting on top of these areas. To many in procurement they are not a natural focus area and it is worth reflecting on whether you need new skills in your team like contact managers and data leads for example?
Conclusions
- Forward looking leaders are thinking beyond the current firefighting to the kind of function they want to become in the future. What proportion of your time are you spending on strategic thinking?
- People are so key : do you have the right skills and attitudes in your function to set yourself up for success. Alongside systems and processes.
- Remaining in the traditional comfort zone of commercials misses an opportunity to lead in areas such as sustainability
- I strongly believe that the next 6 to 9 months is the most pivotal time for all leaders I have ever seen. This is exciting but also comes with a great responsibility as the decisions you make and how you behave will have more influence over your organisations success than ever before
