4 Key things I learned at ProcureCon and how its changed my perception of the function

This was my first time attending ProcureCon Europe, not knowing what to expect. Having spent my entire career in recruitment I had always tried to avoid contact with the procurement function seeing them as only interested in driving down cost. Having spent three days with some great talented individuals I feel a little embarrassed I felt that way for so long and realise that I have missed several opportunities over the years to collaborate and grow the businesses I have supported.

The 4 things that really resonated with me were;

Collaboration

We hosted a panel session on Transforming your Contingent Workforce Management: How Successful Companies Innovate. During the Session Adriana Jaton Serey, the Global Category Manager for Galderma, talked about how the collaboration between HR and Procurement had been key to the success of the project so far. In between coffee breaks and networking sessions I was struck by the fact that they didn’t shun me because I was a recruiter. They wanted to openly talk about external factors impacting the business and they were open to listen and engage in dialogue. It is clear to me that those I met were commercially savvy, business focused individuals who saw the benefit of genuine partnerships. As I said a lot of myths were dispelled at ProcureCon.

Change Management

What become evident in the number of sessions I attended and the conversations that took place during the event is that as businesses we aren’t as good as managing change as we need to be. Regardless of the size of project undertaken there needs to be more done to manage and engage stakeholders and take people on a journey. Forbes says 62% people fear change, that’s a strong emotion. Looking at the wider business impact and understanding how the change might be interpreted is the key to the success of any initiative.

Digitalisation

This was a constant topic during the conference. The impact of technology is touching every element of business, we are expecting an amazing User Experience, we want convenience, we demand intuitively, and we expect everything at pace.?This puts huge demand on Procurement teams to assess capability like never before.

Curiosity

There was a real desire to understand. Even people who I talked to that were not responsible for the category were intrigued to know what was happening in the talent market and how the current global issues were impacting business and whether this was across the globe. There were lots of questions during the sessions I attended; Questions to understand not to challenge. At the networking sessions people networked, they chatted, they shared insight and they did this willingly seeing the value in collaborating and wanting to understand.

I appreciate that nothing I have shared is earth shattering. I didn’t come away with a view that there were unexplored answers to the challenges faced rather a feeling that there was a genuine intent to move forward, to take the learnings shared and look at how they can be practically implemented. Procurement has the power to enable so many changes and help business thrive and my main takeaway is this;

Check how you are viewed by your business. Are you seen as procurer of things or a strategic business partner? Perception is reality and the reality should be Procurement adds significant value. In today’s market the function has never been more valuable.

Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts. If you would like to connect on LinkedIn to see further insights on Leadership and Talent, please feel free I’d love to have you as part of my network-

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/richardedwardbradley/