Wow, this has been quite a year for ALL of us! Our Supply Chains have been disrupted and both our Supplier and Customer relationships have been put to the test. Our employees are mostly working remotely and learning how to be productive with all the distractions that come from working at home. We are playing the roles of procurement professional, risk manager, consultant and problem solver; all while trying to keep ourselves, our staff and our families safe. But amid all the chaos, many in our organizations have recognized the important role Procurement plays and are looking for us to do more.
For the first time, your CEO may even know the name of your CPO and you need to jump on that. Is your organization prepared to seize the opportunity? At TMG, we utilize our Maturity model to help client organizations determine where they are and what they need to be able to play the strategic business partner role that your executives are looking for. Do you know where your organization is on TMG’s Procurement Maturity Model?
Earlier this year, we added a new level in honor of COVID-19, which required us to focus first and foremost on resiliency and agility. Here is a sample of some of the elements of our Post-COVID maturity level across a handful of domains:
Category Strategies
- Proactively develops “shadow” supply chains for critical categories & capacity redundancy
- Establishes variety and redundancy in the supply base (small vs. big, local vs. regional vs. global) post COVID
- Ensures that shifts in category strategies post COVID-19 are not only reflected but strongly influence the corporate strategies
Stakeholder Engagement
- Proactively ensures that relevant and critical Stakeholder Value Drivers (decision criteria) are adopted to mitigate risk
- Stakeholders actively seek out professionals as trusted advisors during crises and other opportune times
- Stakeholders consider themselves to be primarily responsible for Supplier Relationship Optimization – supported by Procurement
- Establishes quick / effective decision-making processes and principles with Stakeholders to unfreeze them in times of crisis
- Stakeholder Value Drivers are dynamically and actively updated prior to Stakeholders even asking
Risk Management
- Goes beyond cross-functional response teams AND ensures more than an immediate response to major risk events
- Drives risk management by using a portfolio approach to assess and proactively manage “system” Risk
- Uses advanced analytics not for prioritizing risks but for getting to effective and efficient decisions and actions
Supplier Relationship Optimization
- Strategic Suppliers are treated as part of your company and may be involved in planning and decision-making activities (New markets, new products etc. etc.)
- Adopts new metrics to actively measure and improve Response Lead Time (Agility & Resiliency) for both parties
- Ensures that the value of the relationship is a key METRIC, based on collaboration / cooperation (especially during crises and other critical times
- Helps suppliers survive during challenging times by changing terms, advancing credit, pulling ahead business, ordering raw materials, etc.
- IS a CONFIRMED “Customer of Choice” for your most strategic suppliers
Talent
- Strategic Competencies are even more critical, and professionals are certified experts in those competencies (change management, critical thinking, problem solving, etc.)
- To ensure best resources, Strategic workforce planning is in place and focuses on Competency Based Talent Management, flexible staffing, and resiliency
- Recruiting is significantly expanded beyond local resources as remote work becomes the norm
- Leads the effort to be an “employer of choice” to allow the best & brightest to thrive and become a competitive advantage
- Talent is managed as a critical asset and resource and appropriate investments are made
Do any of these sound like your organization? Are you prepared to make 2021 the “Year of Procurement” for your company? My New Year wish for all of you is to seize this unique opportunity. If you need help doing so, please contact us because we would love to help. Happy Holidays to you and your family and PLEASE stay safe!
Please join in the conversation and let us know what you think . . . . .
