In the procurement sector we often find that some professionals are the natural leaders, the influencers, whereas others tend to follow the lead of the influencers.
Naturally, everyone would like to believe they are a procurement leader, but what actually defines a leader? And how can procurement professionals work towards asserting themselves as leaders in their sector?
Higher Spend Savings and Total Spend Management
It may seem like an obvious one to begin with, but procurement leaders tend to be the ones who are consistently delivering a higher level of spend savings than their colleagues.
By delivering higher spend savings, a procurement leader will often in turn be tasked with managing a much larger share of the company’s overall spend.
Encouraging Supply Chain Collaboration
Procurement leaders expand upon the current accepted practices, for instance strategic sourcing, category management and supplier relationship management, by using new and innovative methods.
Using procedures such as innovation networks, product tear-downs, collaborative cost reduction and price benchmarking with their supply chain, the leaders are increasing performance and savings, as well as tackling issues such as sustainability.
Advanced Risk Management
Procurement leaders often use advanced internal risk mitigation tactics to prevent disruptions in supply. They may also use megatrend analysis to work out the prospective impact of trends such as population growth, better living standards and alternative energy sources.
Sourcing From Emerging Markets
Procurement leaders source from emerging markets including Brazil, Russia and India, with more migrating contracts to these countries from China, Southeast Asia, Mexico and Eastern Europe, due to fears over quality, safety and intellectual property concerns.
Serious About Sustainability
It’s a growing focus in the procurement sector, and procurement leaders are currently the ones driving the focus. Looking to the future and putting in place measures now for long-term change in the supply chain are the actions procurement leaders are taking to tackle sustainability.
Progressive Use of Technology and Measurement
Procurement leaders are installing advanced procurement technologies to strengthen supplier contracts, trace spending, control demand and drive collaboration. They determine the effectiveness of their procurement efforts based on risk and supply chain security, sustainability and innovation.
Any procurement professional can become a procurement leader by working to go above and beyond the norm. If you would like to become a procurement leader, not a follower, then CIPS procurement qualifications can help you make that a reality.