Monthly Top 5 - January 2022

Hi there,

I hope the start of 2022 is treating you well.

A new year is an arbitrary milestone. However, it is a collective cultural milestone that reminds us to take some time to re-examine our priorities and objectives to ensure they are still aligned with our values, reality and desires.

As you get "scooped up" by the yearly corporate objective setting exercises that are typical for this time of year, I challenge you to go beyond the top down objectives that have trickled down to you. What are you doing for you this year and how can you tie it into where your organization is headed? The articles below should help you in your process.

Enjoy and, as always, don't hesitate to get in touch,

Joël

Top 5 Source-to-Pay Articles - January 2022

#1 - How to Make Yearly Objective Setting in Procurement Meaningful

Tis' the season for setting yearly objectives in most organizations right now. How can you ensure your teams are coming up with their own meaningful objectives instead of just copy/pasting top-down objectives?

The following list of questions is a great place to start!

5 Questions Every Manager Needs to Ask Their Direct Reports
by Susan Peppercorn at HBR

#2 - Objectives Should Fit Into a Career!

Yearly objectives are powerful when used correctly. However, how do you ensure they fit into your wider individual career plan?The following article provides a narrow definition of what career progression within Procurement can look like but it does highlight some great dimensions to think about when crafting a personal career roadmap in Procurement.

How to Build your 5 Year Procurement Career Roadmap – for 2022!
by Procurious

#3 - Retool How You Sell Procurement Internally for Better Outcomes

Again and again, we collectively reiterate how important it is to highlight the value Procurement can bring to the rest of the organization. I'm sure you've been working on this in your respective organizations...However, if you feel the message is still not resonating with your stakeholders, this article may help you adapt your talking points to increase success!

How to Sell the Value of Procurement – And Win People Over!
by Procurious

#4 - Does Stakeholders Roll Their Eyes at the "7-Step Sourcing Process"?

As your maturity as a Procurement department grows, you will have formalized your different processes for sourcing, contract management, Procure-to-Pay, Supplier Management, etc. However, this will most likely have been done in a very "Procurement-centric" fashion (How can we best do our jobs?).Once you've mastered this stage as an organization, the guiding question should become "How can we best serve our stakeholders while doing our jobs?". The following article will get you thinking about how your stakeholders perceive Procurement and what you can do to influence this with the verbiage you use to engage them in your processes.

How to Create a Winning Procurement Experience
by Kelly Barner at Art of Procurement

#5 - Sustainable Procurement is Simply Good Business

“Top performing sustainable procurement programs generate more than three times the spend cost reduction and avoidance than typical companies.”

As sustainable Procurement continues to gain traction as a top priority item in the CPO agenda, it's also starting to become clear that it's more than just a moral imperative. It's also more profitable!

A look ahead at sustainable procurement in 2022
by Procurement and Supply Australasia

You wrote or read a great article? Send it my way, I'd love to read it.