Extraordinary performance from your procurement people
It took a while for famous conductor Benjamin Zander to find what it took to get the best out of people;
‘It wasn’t until I was forty-five that I realised something amazing: the conductor doesn’t make a sound, the conductor’s power depends upon their ability to make other people powerful.’
You need to make your procurement talent powerful too. Talented procurement people can outperform their peers. Exceptional procurement people can deliver more savings than their average colleagues. But this level of performance does not come as standard, it needs to be liberated.
Expose them to Senior Leadership
Don’t be afraid to show off your talented people to senior management. You should be showcasing your people to your boss and your boss’s boss.
Talented people thrive on that kind of challenge. The exposure outside of procurement and into the wider business will reward and inspire. It also shows the organisation that you are a talent magnet.
Create a pipeline of procurement catalysts
Nothing will make you more valuable to your organisation than being the person people come to for talent. Give your people the opportunity to work in cross-functional teams, loan them to other functions and give them the opportunity to work outside of procurement.
You will create procurement people with a rounded awareness and commercial acumen. Working across the business will raise their profile but will also raise the profile of procurement.
The drive to push procurement into previously uninfluenced spend areas has been strongly resisted but it’s missing the point. Use your procurement talent as catalysts and procurement will be pulled into those very same areas.
Dare to be Inspiring
Your group will be more likely to achieve peak performance by unleashing the power of your people. This is not done by managing them, nor by leading them, but by inspiring them.
We’ll leave the final words on getting the best out of people to Benjamin Zander: ‘enable people to be the best they can be; allow people to aspire to their dreams; ensure that their eyes are shining; and wake them up to not remaining complacent.’
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