As we see a world becoming
more global in coming year, but even more challenging, Senior executives,
including those in procurement, will have to be able to operate within this
fast moving and complex environment, and will need to show a range of skills,
knowledge and behavior. So we believe that the successful procurement
professional of the future will need to develop both strong internal and
external focus, and will demonstrate analytically and inter-personal strengths.
These two dimensions combine to re-invent the role of procurement
professionals:
The
Diplomat – worldly, sophisticated, connected to global world
The
Analyst – understanding global trends, data, markets and suppliers
The
Investigator – using internally generated data to drive value opportunities
The Leader – working with internal colleagues to
deliver organizational value
In this article, we’re
going look at the how Procurement may develop over the next few years. In
particular, we’ll consider the skills and characteristics that the future
procurement professional is likely to need in our rapidly changing world.
However, that doesn’t mean it is easy to forecast anything looking ahead,
including our topic here. But we’re going to give it a try.
It’s also worth noting
that different levels of seniority will need different skills, just as they do
now. Again, we will try and generalize as much as possible, but point out those
differences when they are particularly important.
We’ll look at the wider macro-level issues that
will impact on procurement’s role and activities. Then we’ll talk about what
that means for the skill-set that the typical procurement professional might
need, and finally we’ll briefly cover some of the likely consequences of this
new model of a successful procurement person.
The ability to work
collaboratively with colleagues and suppliers and think beyond cost into wider
business and social value is vital. We see a more professional approach to
procurement emerging. What does this tell us? Well, it is clear that technology
has impacted procurement considerably, and that we’ve moved away from a focus
on physical supply to much wider questions around value. We can also see how
the linkages between what procurement does within the organization and outside
it have developed, as we understand that both are important for procurement to
succeed. The world we operate in is more complex and challenging; but we also
have more information at our fingertips than ever before to help us make sense
of it.
So, if we’re looking into
the future, it seems reasonable to consider the wider landscape in which
organizations and senior individuals will be working over the next few years.
It is difficult to consider what will be needed from the procurement department
(if it still exists) or the individual professional, without trying to
understand the likely environment in which they’ll be operating.
Now, if we could predict
economic factors with any success we would already be very rich, having made
our fortune on the stock or money markets. But here are some macro-level
factors that seem likely to be important in 2020. Success for many organizations
will depend on access to scarce resources, and for larger firms in particular,
an ability to work successfully with governments. Note the current situation in
the financial services world, with regulatory issues, or take the example of
large mining companies. Their ability to persuade national or local governments
to grant them exploration or mining rights relies strongly on what they can
offer in terms of developing the local economy. And a major factor within that
is supporting and developing a local supply base. So procurement activities and
executives play a key role in what is one of the most important and strategic
drivers for the organization – winning the trust of government.
We see this understanding
of what we might call “responsible procurement” as being key for the
procurement person in future. And yet, responsible procurement must be allied
with a hard headed, practical and pragmatic understanding of how to operate in
a global environment. That also needs strong negotiation skills – but not a
simple power based, “beat the supplier across the head” approach!
And when we look at that
list of skills we defined, what they resemble is quite simply, effective
leadership. Whatever level the procurement professional is at, the ability to
work with key colleagues and deliver results is the essence of a Leader. Those
skills will stand procurement people in good stead in their careers now and in
the future.