In the coming years, the procurement function will continue to transform across all sectors. While buyers must refocus their skills on strategic vision and relational intelligence, procurement managers must also rethink their roles and required aptitudes to prepare for the future. Every buyer knows precisely what they expect from their superior: advice on key future topics, close support, and recognition of their team's achievements within the company or organisation.
Strengthening knowledge of sustainability
As more companies commit to sustainable development, the procurement management function must become familiar with this universe. Scopes 1, 2 and 3, CSRD, product life cycle analysis, sustainable products, responsible sourcing, reverse logistics... The concepts, methods, and regulatory requirements governing sustainable procurement are rapidly evolving. It’s part of the procurement manager's responsibilities to master this vocabulary and upskill in these areas. They need to understand how each of these notions applies to their organisation and supply chain to lead the way for their teams.
Imran Rasul, Chief Procurement Officer at Co-op Group, adds: "Professionals have to become comfortable in having these conversations with suppliers and internal stakeholders around carbon reduction and methods of measuring supply chain emissions." This echoes the findings of Deloitte's latest survey, indicating that improving CSR is among the top three priorities for procurement managers.
Evaluating overall procurement performance
At the dawn of a hyper-digital world, companies are strengthening their data-driven approach. The procurement manager, like their peers, must align with this dynamic by selecting the right key performance indicators. The important thing is that these KPIs allow them to assess the procurement function's contribution to value creation for the company.
In one of its latest reports, Deloitte explains that the most efficient and agile procurement departments generally track a larger number of KPIs compared to others.
These may include:
- Cost savings and/or avoidance;
- Sustainability;
- Risks and compliance, such as the number and severity of incidents;
- Supplier performance, in terms of deliveries, innovation, and service quality;
- Treasury improvement, for example, working capital requirements;
- Internal stakeholder satisfaction;
- Work efficiency, including operating costs, for example;
- Innovation capacity;
- Speed to market of product offerings;
- Revenue increase;
- Etc.
These results demonstrate the procurement function's performance and its contribution to business needs, development and value creation for the organisation. The procurement manager can then work more extensively on the professional recognition of the procurement function internally and thus gain influence.
Leveraging digital tools
Today, the procurement departments' daily operations are disrupted by the development of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, Big Data, Robotic Process Automation, blockchain, etc. Like the buyer, the procurement manager must strengthen their skills in procurement digitalisation. This covers technical mastery of these tools, computational thinking to interact with these machines, and analytical skills to interpret information accurately.
In the same Deloitte survey, more than half of procurement decision-makers believe they lack digital ability, particularly in analytics. As such, they plan to invest in developing key management skills such as advanced analytics, robotic process automation, and the Internet of Things.
Coaching procurement team members
Brice Malm, former senior partner at Page Group, explains: "Teams are looking for a leader who is more like a coach. They must set a clear direction, support their teams, be with them on the ground, help them ask themselves the right questions and to develop their potential."
In this sense, the procurement manager critical role involves genuine human support for their teams. They must listen, motivate, and reassure each team member to help them grow in their professional journey while ensuring an enriching employee experience within the company. To do this, they need to master certain techniques and tools such as systemic analysis, which involves focusing more on the relational context rather than on the individual alone. To become a successful procurement manager, they will also need to strengthen certain soft skills:
- Communication skills;
- Leadership;
- Resilience;
- Stress management;
- Etc.
Leading by example
Lastly, procurement managers are responsible for leading by example, like any supply chain manager within the company.
This stature is based on three key notions:
- Transparency: Giving as much visibility as possible to their procurement teams and being clear about their own position, activities, use of time, and added value;
- Humility: Acknowledging mistakes, welcoming feedback positively, setting improvement goals, and accepting challenges from their teams;
- Collective interest: Being fair to their procurement teams and leaving no doubt that collective interest takes precedence over individual interests of team members.
If buyers want to see their procurement manager lead by example, it's also for them to embody the values of their team and company to all stakeholders.
As you can see, the procurement manager must become familiar with new purchasing levers, in terms of sustainability, data, and digitalisation. They must also refocus on team members and different ways to create collective dynamics to establish the strategic positioning of the procurement function. As a true ambassador for the procurement department, they will showcase the expertise and added value of their entire team.
