The role of procurement is constantly changing and new approaches are needed. Procurement leaders transform the old process and replace it with the new ethos, method, and technology. However, the adjustment also requires work from all departments across the organisation to building good relationships with the stakeholders.
There is no textbook answer to swiftly transform and establish effective engagement. Still, best practices exist and certain approaches can be implemented to assert successful and continuous procurement transformation. We have put together some tips to help you engage with different stakeholders more effectively:
#1 Aligning Processes and Goals
Aligning operational processes increases the smoothness of the workflow between procurement leaders and stakeholders to build a more cross-functional team.
Additionally, it is also important to ensure strategic goal alignment with stakeholders by getting them involve in the procurement process. It can simply be done by ensuring everyone is well aware of the objective of the activity and updating the progress from time to time.
Thus, incorporating these two elements will not only help to streamline procurement processes but also the organisation as a whole as a shared responsibility between different team players within the organisation.
#2 Understanding Procurement’s Roles
The traditional role of procurement is often marginalised as they are in many cases perceived as a mere cost reducer in an organisation.
Resetting the narrative of their role to their counterparts gives them a higher chance to recruit key stakeholders to become the agent of change and transform the organisation to a whole new level. Communicate more to help stakeholders be more aware of the other roles of procurement in their business. Gain better understanding of what each department’s primary role are, daily challenges and the objectives they set for themselves to improve procurement’s image in the organisation.
In order to improve procurement’s image, leaders need to understand the role of other department in the organsation and ho
#3 Increase visibility of procurement activities
Procurement’s primary focus should not only be seen as delivering cost-saving to the organisation for it will only mask the visibility of other procurement competencies. Instead, it should also extend to other capabilities including finding sustainable suppliers to source, mitigating risk, and increasing compliance. By doing so, the visibility of procurement activities can be increased. Then, procurement leaders can start focusing on non-cost cutting innovation and their additional benefits such as:
• Risk management
• CSR consultancy
• Finance expertise
• International and domestic consultancy
• Innovators
Consequently, once the strategic partners and benefits are recognised, procurement leaders can start finding metrics to measure their success on the other part of the business and perpetuate the success of the procurement process.
#4 Managing Organisational Communication and Support
Adapting to change can be uncomfortable and the same goes for implementing a new procurement strategy. To ensure a smooth transition with the stakeholders, continuous communication needs to be maintained. This helps to reassert that each of the stakeholders’ perspectives is highly valued by the procurement team. It is more likely that they are willing to carry out the new strategy and get the work done on their end which leads to the growth of the organisation.
Many organisations recognise the importance of stakeholder engagement. Despite that, the effort to engage effectively often falls short. Plus, transforming a company’s procurement process is not an easy task, but the process can be streamlined with each department having a better understanding of different roles they have within the organisation. It warrants effective collaboration and increases long-term business growth.
Working with different stakeholders for a seamless procurement can be time-consuming and we understand what you need to go through to streamline the process. Therefore, we are here to walk you through every step to ensure that you can experience the digitalisation process with ease. Starting from consultation with our team member to walking through the requirement with different stakeholders and successfully digitalise your procurement process with ADAM.
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