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Event takeaways: Putting words into action

Event takeaways: Putting words into action

Talent

Must read PL resource

Pulse, Future Procurement Leaders, Q1 2019

Talent-related issues are now CPOs’ fourth-highest priority but how effective are procurement chiefs at developing their staff?

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Key takeaways

  • Future-proof your team by honing next-generation capabilities that may be laying dormant. A panel on procurement talent – which included leaders from Heineken, Nokia and Proxima – identified challenging, influencing and persuading, and internal and external networking as vital future skills.

  • Be deliberate and proactive in building diversity into your team. Research indicates diversity and inclusion fosters happier and higher-performing teams.

  • Develop role specialisations within your teams to encourage a long-term focus. Len DeCandia, CPO at J&J, said specialisation may give staff a greater sense of accountability and purpose, encouraging excellent execution.

Respondents to a Future Procurement Leaders pulse say their deficiencies lie largely within ‘soft skills’ – leadership, emotional intelligence, strategy skills and business acumen account for 56% of skill gaps

Pulse: Future Procurement Leaders, Q1 2019

Business partnering

Must read PL resource

Insights now: Know your audience – tailor KPI reporting for maximum impact

Many procurement functions do not communicate their contribution to the wider business. Year after year, these teams fail to make an impact because their KPIs are misaligned or disconnected

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Key takeaways

  • Focus on the longevity of stakeholder relationships and pick your battles wisely. Rather than debate mismatched savings figures, BT group CPO Hari Sundaresan sets and rewards his buyers on targets that may not align with those recognised by finance.

  • Crowdsource answers to your biggest problems from business partners; staff throughout the business often have the answers to procurement’s challenges. Leaders such as Siemens CPO Klaus Staubitzer have used employee forums to share ideas and accelerate digitalisation.

  • Invest in technology and empower staff to challenge the function’s business partners. Insights derived from spend analytics tools enable procurement professionals to ask strategic questions such as: “Does this help to grow the business or could we spend money more wisely?”

The difference between leading and lagging Procurement teams? Nine percentage points of EBITDA. If you’re not using your CPO as a C-suite copilot, you’re missing out

Procurement Leaders CEO Nandini Basuthakur quotes recent McKinsey research on the function’s impact

Technology

Must read PL resource

Knowing where to automate – a challenge for procurement

Automating procurement processes is the quickest way to find efficiencies and empower the function to perform more effectively

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Key takeaways

  • Establish a formal governance process by which to clean, process and format data but accept it will never be 100% accurate. This will enable the function to quickly use and act on the information.

  • Develop a clear six- or 12-month plan for how your digital processes and activities will fit into the existing corporate strategy. This will help secure support and resources to enable these activities without the distraction and complexity of long-term roadmapping.

  • Focus on describing the benefits of digital solutions that augment procurement teams to neutralise their fear of replacement. This will help staff embrace the digitalisation process faster.

The future value proposition of procurement is digital. Developing automation and, as a result, better efficiencies in the function will unlock this

Henrik Larsen, CPO at AP Moller Maersk

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Upcoming Events

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Agility & Transformation Forum

A two-day event dedicated to improving stakeholder collaboration, delivering business value and creating competitive advantage.

icon location Ritz Carlton, Chicago

Event themes include:

  • Trust: How to change the perception of procurement from a policy enforcer and road blocker to a respected business partner
  • Transparency: Increase visibility with internal business partners and external suppliers, to develop stakeholder trust & clear business partnerships
  • Profitability: Ensuring the procurement function continues to expand its scope to include further revenue enhancing activities
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Data, Intelligence & Technology Forum

A two-day event focused on improving your end-to-end digital strategy with an emphasis on the talent and skills required leverage data and technology

icon location Code Node, London, UK

Event themes include:

  • Solving the talent and technology conundrum: How you find the right balance between upskilling your existing team while bringing in external expertise to drive digital initiatives forward.
  • Leveraging the big data value chain: The practicalities of embeding big data analytics into your function’s workflow to increase efficiency of spend management and supply chain visibility.
  • Designing a strategy that embraces a fail fast, win faster mindset: How to create a fluid strategy and agile culture that allows you to easily pivot without starting from scratch.
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Asia Pacific Procurement Congress

A two-day Congress, gathering Asia Pacific procurement executives to discover and discuss the processes, tools and behaviours needed for procurement to deliver value that contributes to top-line business growth.

icon location Singapore, SG

Event themes include:

  • Organisational design, talent and culture: Implementing a structure and culture to develop a world-class procurement team
  • Operating model, processes and delivery mechanisms: Developing partnerships for increased business impact and C-suite trust
  • Technology and access to relevant data sources and insights: Embracing digital opportunities to help reposition procurement as a valued business partner
Find out more