In Procurement Maturity- Where does your procurement organization stand? we discussed how procurement strategies have evolved from having the word ‘tactical’ pinned to each step of the purchasing process to a more strategic approach that works to align cross-functional efforts and company-wide goals. In short, if procurement efforts remain a marginalized execution of reactive purchasing, your organization’s strategies will never have the power to translate to the plethora of benefits up and down your supply chain.

As the saying goes, ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’; and as beneficial as a strategic approach to procurement can be to an organization, any evolution of traditional business practice instigates reluctance to change. It seems counterintuitive to think that an internal stakeholder to your organization would discourage the idea of a more valuable approach to sourcing. Unfortunately, it’s in our nature as humans to resist change, especially when this specific topic is often neglected and seen more as a hindrance than an advantage to overall cost savings. However, as a procurement professional, some key factors to early stakeholder involvement include showing your support and alignment with the businesses’ goals, maintaining transparent communication, and demonstrating the impact of adopting a fresh strategy.

As the role of the consultant goes from third-party service to a functioning member of the client team, effective progress cannot be made until key stakeholders in the organization are confident and trusting in your vision for the future. Because procurement often finds itself siloed from other functions of the business, it becomes an even greater responsibly to maintain cross-functional relationships and understand the value-drivers of each team.

Throughout the process of enhancing your procurement practices, success in implementation is contingent on effective communication with your stakeholders. Whether it’s during an internal interview, brainstorming session, or finally delivering solutions to an outdated procurement practice, transparent communication will allow any skepticism a place to be addressed and not hinder any progress that has been made. Along with mitigating distrust, the ultimate goal here after all is a company-wide impact resulting from updated procurement strategies; and with proper communication, that strategy will be quickly realized and adopted by stakeholders.

Next week, Source One’s Procurement Transformation Advisors will be speaking at the Next Level Purchasing Association (NLPA) Annual Conference and Procurecon Pharma, speaking on how Procurement can best demonstrate the value it delivers beyond cost savings. During the NLPA Annual Conference, Source One’s Associate Director and Procurement Transformation expert, Jennifer Ulrich will be presenting a session on how Procurement groups can challenge the traditional preconceived notions of their role, to become strategic advisors within their organizations. She’ll cover how companies can leverage major procurement transformation pillars including metrics and talent management combined with external support to enhance Procurement’s performance.

During ProcureCon Pharma, happening in Philadelphia from October 26-28th, Source One Director David Pastore joins an impressive roster of guest speakers including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and Merk to discuss the unique procurement and supply management challenges facing the Pharmaceutical Industry. Pastore’s session will focus on how Procurement can best demonstrate and communicate its value through metrics and dashboard tools. Pastore will cover the key considerations when deciding relevant metrics to track, as well as how Procurement groups can decide the right dashboard tools for their needs.





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