PROCUREMENT
TAKING PROCUREMENT TO ANOTHER LEVEL
The traditional skills procurement leaders once relied on are no longer enough. Today’s CPOs need a new set of competencies, says Keith Hausmann, chief revenue officer at Globality
T
he role of the CPO within a business has changed. Gone are the days when CPOs focused solely on cost control and timely
purchases of goods and services. Now, more companies are recognising the wider value of their procurement function. Geopolitical developments, in addition to a
shift in business priorities, have transformed the role of the CPO in today’s business climate. More companies are now considering how procurement can be utilised to achieve their ESG objectives, for example, and procurement is being used to achieve business growth, sustainability, and resilience. This has meant that more CPOs now have a
seat at the table, empowering them to transform their business and giving them more of a say in where budget should be spent. CPOs today need to have the right balance of vision, purpose and collaboration while remaining flexible and open to driving forward business transformation. Below, I have outlined the top five core
capabilities that CPOs will need to overcome today’s challenges and bring about a lasting change within a business. 1. Willingness to take risks and disrupt the
status quo – Corporate leadership today is largely about driving change. While procurement leaders have traditionally focused on establishing and maintaining disciplines and methods designed around cost management and compliance, CPOs are increasingly becoming champions of break- through innovation and business transformation. This involves experimentation, calculated
risk-taking, and uncertainty, so new approaches should be viewed as learning experiences and any unexpected setbacks seen as stepping-stones to ultimately positive outcomes, including company and personal leadership growth. To help drive this positive change,
transformative CPOs are partnering with 48 NOVEMBER 2021 | PROCESS & CONTROL
start-ups, thought leaders, networks, suppliers, advocacy groups and internal stakeholders who can act as catalysts for innovation and show how existing models and processes aren’t necessarily the only, or the best, way to do things. 2. Agility and adaptability – To remain
competitive in today’s volatile economic environment, companies must evolve and pivot faster than before. Leading CPOs have recognised the need to develop best-of- breed digital ecosystems which allow multiple innovative technologies to work together and deliver superior user experiences for both their teams and business stakeholders. Procurement needs to become an agile
and adaptable function, embracing uncertainty and seeing each challenge as an opportunity to revisit models and processes, increasing the value it brings to both the top and bottom lines. 3. Building new types of teams –
Successful CPOs ensure that a wide range of voices are heard across their teams, with people from different backgrounds bringing fresh perspectives, insights, and experiences to the table. Rather than hiring managers with many
years of procurement domain experience in various category roles, transformative leaders are actively seeking to recruit new talent. This new talent has well-developed business or functional expertise, exceptional digital literacy, sales or relationships management backgrounds or consultancy backgrounds with strong, creative problem-solving skills. And, leading by example, these CPOs are
demonstrating that they have the ability to challenge convention and seek new approaches to solving procurement’s most pressing challenges. 4. Redefining procurement’s role –
Procurement leaders are now often called in
to help teams across the business with increasingly complex supply challenges— understanding the roles, goals, and challenges of colleagues in IT, HR, finance, or legal enables procurement to partner with those functions, empowering them to drive their own digital transformations. Indeed, the career paths of tomorrow’s
CPOs are likely to involve working in different areas of the business to develop relationship building, account management expertise, and even the sales and change management skills that are increasingly needed to fulfil procurement functions. These transformative CPOs are also
redefining how value is measured across the function to align with their vision for the future of procurement – including factors such as growth enablement, increased social inclusion, sustainability and development of new products. 5. Aligning resources to corporate
priorities –One of the biggest challenges CPOs face today is that their functions need to take on a more strategic role, rather than focusing primarily on day-to-day activities. They are focusing on the opportunities that will have the greatest impact on the entire organisation, whether leading the way on stakeholder experience, digital transformation or driving the ESG agenda through responsible and transparent business practices, and sustainable operations. To help guide this more strategic thinking,
leading CPOs are using new technologies to focus on human aspects of procurement, while at the same time exceeding the stakeholder expectations created by the consumerisation of enterprise buying.
Globality
www.globality.com
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