Don't settle for average
The savings that exceptional procurement people can deliver makes them quantifiably more valuable than their average colleagues.
Given the potential of exceptional talent to have such an impact on ROI, why would anyone settle for average?
They don’t just save you money. These are people deliver key projects and manage critical supplier issues. In the current climate of business critical delivery and supply-chain risk, these skills are an absolute necessity for procurement-led cost savings.
These people inject new techniques into teams, inspire colleagues and engage suppliers at a senior level. They provide credibility and re-assurance to key stakeholders and raise the standing of procurement in your business. They’re also talent magnets, attracting other high performers to your business.
But there’s a drawback
Exceptional procurement talent have more choice over where they work. You won’t be the only business searching for their skills. Finding and recruiting these people needs a different approach.
Keep looking
You can’t expect exceptional procurement people to turn up just when you want them. It’s essential to keep looking all the time, even when the corporate line is a recruitment freeze.
At Procurement People, we run talent banks for key clients. We search hard for the best people and create a pool of pre-selected and pre-assessed ‘ready-to-recruit’ candidates. This means you always have a presence in the candidate market and can keep the door open for exceptional talent. We then identify and flag suitable candidates even when you’re not actively recruiting.
Look everywhere
Talented people aren’t usually looking for work. Your HR department won’t find them by calling their usual generalist recruitment agency. Our experience is that you have to track these people down. Advertise, yes, but also research, network and headhunt. It’s worth the effort. You’ll find good people – and we’ve found that exceptional procurement people respond well to being actively sought out.
Move fast
Select people carefully but be quick about it. A thorough recruitment process will find high-potentials, but you may only have a short window of opportunity to lure an exceptional candidate out of their current position, or to secure them in the open market. Use web-based skills profiling and behavioural tools to accelerate the search, then proceed with urgency when you find the right person. You won’t be the only business looking for outstanding procurement people.
Inspire them to join you
Talent loves company. You need to make your team, your projects, your organisation and your attitude seem as attractive to them as possible. Introduce them to your people. Give them the chance to understand just how much you can offer (and we don’t mean just money). And make sure your recruitment consultancy is doing a good job of selling you too.
Who knows how much that could be worth?
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