Six pieces of advice from the professionals on the elements that can combine to create a great procurement team.

1. 6 elements of a model procurement
function

2. If there's commitment
across an enterprise to
develop procurement into
more than a purchasing
tool, it has the potential to
create long term growth,
innovation and sustainability
Here are 6 pieces of advice
from the professionals on
the elements that can
combine to create this

3. 1. Recruit the best people
Procurement can be seen as less glamorous
It faces strong competition for the best people
Changing the way it’s viewed is essential
Communicate the scope and exciting elements of the role, such as:
o Collaboration with colleagues, suppliers and partners,
o Opportunities to innovate and pursue sustainable practices

4. 1. Recruit the best people
Qualifications and evidence of learning is always important, but….
Soft skills are just as key to ultimate success
People need to communicate with colleagues around the business and
with suppliers
They often have to manage change
Empathy, intuition and people skills are vital

5. 2. Ensure cross team understanding
• Procurement needs to link its
work with the needs and
aspirations of the rest of the
business
• Colleagues across the
organisation need to know what it
does and see its success stories.
• Shadow other teams to
understand how they operate and
where the pressures lie
• Share information, compromise
and work together to plan for
eventualities

6. • Procurement functions are sometimes put in place relatively quickly with the aim
of making savings as quickly as possible
• However, insight and technology company CEB Global suggests that without a
full review at the very outset, important things can be missed, such as
o Spend profile
o The discipline of that spend
o Leadership understanding of procurement capabilities
3. Review fully before set up

7. 3. Review fully before set up
• A proper review at the start
will make organisations more
successful in tailoring the
function far more accurately
to their needs
• Create a short and long
term strategy
• Identify KPIs for
procurement before it spins
into action
• It could make all the
difference

8. 4. Ensure there’s a detailed spend map
• A detailed spend map can
be the driver for sustainable
savings across a business
• According to Ernst & Young,
procurement needs to engage
with the wider organisation to
understand how and where
costs could be reduced
across the value chain
• Or there is a risk of
undiscovered savings,
commercial decisions made
in isolation & archaic
processes undermining
progress

9. 4. Ensure there’s a detailed spend map
• A spend map can also be
developed through contract
management and supplier
relationship management
• Measuring supplier value
is not just tracking
performance but identifying
ways for all parties to
improve throughout the life
of the contract

10. 5. Get a balance between the long and short term
• Achieving savings over the
longer term, as well as
immediate future, shouldn't be
the sole responsibility of
procurement
• But it should work with other
business units to drive
awareness of longer range
goals
• And ensure that initiatives to
achieve this are implemented
as planned

11. 5. Get a balance between the long and short term
• Work on an
understanding of total
cost of ownership
• Ensure that colleagues
see the bigger picture
• Develop practices to
enable better long term
savings

12. 6. Work with facts
• Take a fresh approach to processes and deal with facts, rather than
beliefs, emotions or politics
• In category management, cross functional teams should work
collaboratively

13. 6. Work with facts
• Objectively review how categories
can be managed moving forwards
• Take an open approach to
maximising or pooling resources
• The right level of management
should be assigned to each category
• Responsibilities for making decisions
should be assigned at appropriate
levels and described fully to each
stakeholder

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