Episode show notes
“The common element is very similar between organisations. What you need to understand is the environment you’re working within, the stakeholders that you have and their agendas.”
Between impressively varied roles at Fulham FC, Harrods & and Allianz, Nick Brazier is evidence that when you understand your environment, third party management demands a similar skillset.
Having now set up a third party management function at Close Brothers, Nick joins us on Talent Talks to break down the fine balance between risk management and agility, the need for a properly structured team, and how our industry can act to improve the talent pool.
This episode of Talent Talks covers:
- Balancing risk management with agility and entrepreneurialism
- Creating a 3rd party management framework with buy-in across the organisation
- The need for a properly structured team, making the most of everyone’s skill sets
- Talent acquisition, and what the industry can do to attract more great candidates
This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by Nutral. Through their neutral vendor managed service, Nutral offers an easier, streamlined way to achieve better fulfilment, improved quality, 100% visibility & control of expenditure, less risk, and bottom-line savings. They place the interests of customers first when selecting suppliers – every time. Find out more at https://nutral.uk/
Episode highlights
“That’s the great thing about procurement third party management, which I call it more broadly these days. The common element is very similar between organisations. What you’re really needing to understand is the environment you’re working within, the stakeholders that you have and what their agendas are.” – 5:25 – Nick Brazier
“I think there’s a broader understanding of what procurement and third party is there to do. Now, I think that’s been helped by the fact that slowly, we’re relying more and more on third parties to run an organisation on a day to day basis.” – 8:05 – Nick Brazier
“If we’re short of time, or there’s some complexity to it, then you can actually take some freedom to sit down and think how to play this through. It doesn’t follow a rigid process, because that doesn’t work in a modern environment. It’s flexibility within a framework which is the key element.” – 9:55 – Nick Brazier
“We were finding some issues around handoff and the business weren’t quite clear who they should be contacting. So we’re actually bringing roles together and setting up pod teams that look after each business area, allowing a more holistic understanding of that business’ requirements from cradle to grave. ” – 16:10 – Nick Brazier
“There’s no point in me getting on a train and going to the office, if I’m gonna sit there and be doing computer based work all day long – I might as well sit at home and get more done. What we talk about really now are moments that matter. We want people in when it’s a moment that matters.” – 20:45 – Nick Brazier
“I’ve always been a believer in the ‘people first’ piece in terms of building the right team, we need people who have the natural competencies in third party management, because of that diversity of who you’re dealing with, and the variety of situations you’ll find yourself in.” – 25:10 – Nick Brazier
“Fulham FC had a surge of growth, and actually being there from the very beginning, having to help stand up a Premier League stadium building and use pitch within that stadium in one summer – it was a ‘You’ve got to get this done’ kind of thing. I learned a lot through that stressful situation, of how things work in the world.” – 27:50 – Nick Brazier
“We need more engagement with school leavers and universities so that people understand what third party management actually is, what the opportunities you get from it are, and what your day-to-day life can look like. I don’t think people understand it well enough.” – 29:50 – Nick Brazier
“We don’t have these rigid playbooks anymore that everyone had to just work their way through. It’s now, you’ve got this challenge, you’ve got this problem, this thing that needs a solution, how are you going to go and help the business deliver on it?” – 33:35 – Nick Brazier
Links & References
- Nick Brazier, Head of Customer, Third Party and Property at Close Brothers
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-brazier-fcips-a803244/
- Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsmith2009/
