Does Dublin Have a Passion for Procurement?

Does Dublin have a passion for procurement was a key question raised at the CIPS Republic of Ireland branch event last night at the Westin Hotel in the heart of Dublin. Despite the heavy downpours and localised flooding outside, the event was warm and in inviting and the drinks were pouring freely for the procurement professionals who managed to brave the weather and heavy traffic to attend the event.

As well-known figures in the procurement world the Speakers for the evening needed little introduction. Kicking things off was Andrew Coulcher FCIPS, Group Membership and Knowledge Director, CIPS followed by Gerry Walsh CIPS CEO and finishing off was David Loseby FCIPS, Group Procurement Director - Inchcape plc. Hosting the event was Eoin Lonergon FCIPS, Director EY Advisory - Procurement Lead (Ireland) the newly appointed Republic of Ireland CIPS Branch chair.

Key topics addressed were;

• Change – An inciteful overview of how the world is changing and the result this has on procurement, in addition to how changes within procurement are impacting the way business is done.
• Talent Management – addressing the challenge of putting together a high performing, motivated procurement team
• Behavioural Procurement – as procurement professionals, we are trained to be Logical & Objective, but do we really need to pay more attention to the Science behind behaviors?

A key theme for the evening and a topic of lively debate was very much how central Emotional Intelligence is to the future success of procurement.

Andrew Coulcher started the event with a talk on how the world is changing at an unprecedented speed; topics including Globalisation, Cyber Risk, Modern Day Slavery and generally a more inter-connected world have brought Supply Chain to the attention of the CEO more than ever before. CIPS have produced a highly informative and fascinating study on the future of the procurement profession in the CIPS Supply Century which may be downloaded here. The study highlights how the procurement profession now has the opportunity to become real agents of change; influencing and shaping the strategy of today’s businesses

Gerry Walsh gave real life Talent Management Case Studies from his career as procurement leader at both RHM (Rank, Hovis, McDougal) & LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games). Talking through the journey that he went on in both organisations he outlined the need to prioritise candidate attraction, retention and development. Gerry brought to life the necessity of having the best people within your procurement team and ensuring that they are motivated and engaged to deliver results.  

David Loseby gave a high-level overview of Procurement Behaviours and the impact of improved people skills in the procurement and supply community. David stressed that we can outsource procurement tools, systems or analytics but the one thing we cannot outsource is the people skills.

Behaviours play such a huge part in everything that we do, therefore the need for improved emotional intelligence, active listening, effective communication and stakeholder engagement must be high on the agenda for procurement as we move further into the 21st Century. 

Are you a Procurement Professional in the Republic of Ireland seeking the opportunity to network? Then please find more about your branch here.