10 Best Ways to Up Skill
Content
10 Best Ways to Upskill Yourself ...
... and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process!
Hello and Welcome
“10 Best Ways to Upskill Yourself”...
... and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process!
A
s you read through these 10 Best Ways – and how they can help you – you’ll easily be in a position to make a difference to your organisation and your career – more easily and more often.
In fact: It is the lack of knowledge and application of these 10 Best Ways that stops more procurement professionals making more money than any other single factor.
Steve Carter Procurement Practitioner and Consultant
Over the years, working with large and small organisations in both the public and private sectors, I have seen procurement people fail to take full advantage of these 10 Best Ways and as a result fail to get the breakthrough in their career progression that was available to them. They have had to settle for mediocre performance at best when outstanding results were possible.
I’ve made this report as brief as possible but at the same time, I have given you everything you need to know about the 10 BEST WAYS TO UPSKILL YOURSELF. No padding or waffle – just useable ideas you can put into action – immediately!
But one more thing before we start:
That is, why should you listen to me? A good question and one that I would ask if I was in your shoes. The reason is that I have been working for more than 20 years with organisations, both large and small, in the public and private sectors. I have done this both as a practitioner (I have held senior line positions in purchasing and supply functions with major US and UK multinationals) and as a consultant. In that time I have worked with hundreds of people perfecting the ideas I will share with you today ... so they are all tried and tested methods that work.
The next question I know you want to ask is ... “Why would Steve give me this FREE report on the 10 Best Ways to Upskill Myself?”
You may not have phrased the question quite like that – true? But you still knew deep inside that there must be a reason (or catch!) for me to take time out from my busy consulting practice to write this report and build the website that goes with it – yes? Well, here is the reason: The reason WHY I wanted you to have this important report was to do a number of important things:-
I only wanted to give the report to people who were serious about taking control of
their career, whether this be in the private or public sector (and there are more similarities between the two than are often acknowledged) and helping their organisation in the process
This report, I hoped, would show anyone that read through it that I do have some
great ideas – practical ideas – for improving individuals’ procurement effectiveness
Once someone reads this report they will be more positively inclined to take a look at
the paid for services I offer (informational products, software, online coaching and consulting)
It’s a good way to start a relationship with a new client by ... ... making the first sale an easy sale
And what’s easier than a FREE product to start! Does all of that make sense to you? Good! Then let’s start.
Once upon a time I knew a procurement officer who continually complained that he received no recognition for his work from his Chief Executive. He was convinced that his career was being held back because his CEO did not recognise the value he added. It got to the stage where he approached his CEO one day in the car park and told him about his frustration. The CEO’s reply was illuminating. He said that he looked at procurement people in the same way that he did the front wheel of his car. He didn’t pat his front wheel every day and thank it for getting him safely from one place to another – it was the wheel’s function in life to do exactly that. However, if he ever had a tyre blow out, he would be eternally grateful that he had chosen the right wheel for the job! The message that my friend drew from this was that the value his CEO attributed to procurement was to keep him and the organisation out of trouble! In other words, procurement, in the CEO’s eyes, was to act as a policeman and security expert – make sure we stick to the rules, keep us away from risk and sort it out quickly and effectively if things go wrong! This CEO had no understanding of how procurement could help to drive his organisation forward and add significant value. Without this understanding, it is difficult to get a seat at the top table – in other words, become a Director or VP of your organisation. The way, then to boost your career prospects is to equip yourself with the means of adding value, deliver that value and then shout it from the rooftops! Here are the 10 Best Ways I have seen over the years for doing this.
Way #1: Set and Achieve Audacious Goals
If your organisation is in the private sector, the two things that are continually on the mind of your CEO or MD are: “how do I make this organisation more profitable?” and “how do I make sure that we are not running any risks that could destroy the company?” If you work in the public sector, risk is still one of the two top items for your CEO but profit is not a consideration. The equivalent in the public sector is “how do I deliver all of our services to the degree needed and stay within budget?” Whether profit or budgets are the driver, getting cost reductions are key. But to grab your CEO’s attention, small cost reductions are not enough. You need to make BIG reductions – 10%, 20%, 30% or more.
So, how do you do that? Set a BHAG – a Big Hairy Audacious Goal! A BHAG is one that really stretches you to think differently about your value chains. It’s the goal that's going to help you transform the way you work with suppliers, rather than being satisfied with incremental change. The first step is to shake off any beliefs about what is possible in your supply chains. If you already have a mindset that limits your achievements you’ll never get serious about a BHAG. Next, pose some Very Hairy Challenges – like these: I want to halve my costs in the next 12 months I want my supply chain to deliver the highest quality product or service in the UK I want to reduce the delivery time for my purchased products from 2 weeks to one day.
Now you have to work backwards from this end point in 3 steps. Let’s take the “halve your costs” example. Step 1: Brainstorm ideas (or use other techniques that are explained in our coaching course – visit http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com ) for reducing costs. No limits remember – everything is possible. For example: Reduce the purchase price Eliminate all sources of waste in the supply chain Re-design the product or service Innovate a new way to deliver the service and sell this to other organisations (in other words, change a cost into a revenue generator) Find a way of leasing the product or service rather than buy it.
Step 2: Make a list of obstacles and ways of getting around them. Don’t have any ideas for re-designing the service? Get some users together and have a brainstorming session. Don’t know how to innovate? Identify people who have this reputation and hire them in as a freelance. Suppliers won’t lease the product? Take the idea to a leasing company and see if they will do a deal.
There’s nothing that can’t be overcome if you are really committed. Step 3: Identify what needs to happen for you to be successful.
For example: Surround yourself with creative people Build your knowledge in certain areas Set monthly Little Hairy Audacious Goals that progress you towards your milestones Get the support you need.
Way #2: Develop Your Leadership Skills
Why are leadership skills so vital for a Procurement Executive? Well, if you think about it, you are tasked and goaled with managing and reducing costs and bringing about innovation with your suppliers – but you have no executive authority in the areas affected. For example, you are tasked with reducing costs – but the budget for the things you buy are usually “owned” by someone. You can’t deliver without their cooperation. The same thing goes for getting more value and innovation from your suppliers. If they don’t see your account as important or are playing you off against your colleagues who own the budget – then they are unlikely to play ball. What you need to do in all of these cases is show leadership skills that motivate people to align themselves with your goals. So, what is leadership? One good definition of leadership is this: Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organisation. This means that leadership is largely about relationship building skills. It also means you have to have good plans and the ability to set meaningful goals (which we covered in Way #1) and set a strategy that delivers them. It also means that the test of your leadership skills is the results that you deliver for your organisation. Here are some key factors that determine whether or not you are a good leader: The ability to set goals which was Way #1 described earlier.
The ability to communicate those goals clearly and concisely so that no-one is in any doubt as to what you mean (keep checking understanding – it’s no good taking the attitude “they must know; I told them myself”). The ability to influence people to adopt your goals and align their work to them. Good decision making – always base your decisions on sound facts. If you only have opinions or guesses, work out what you need to do to turn them into facts. Also, make your decisions quickly and decisively. Good listening skills. Avoid the temptation to screen out information that does not support the decisions you have already made – whether consciously or unconsciously. The ability to plan ahead. It’s no good having goals without realistic plans to deliver them – as is often said, “a vision without a plan of action is a daydream”. Problem-solving skills. This is so important that I cover this in a later “Way” – its importance is that problems are the obstacles that get in the way of delivering your plan and so your objectives. Handling difficult people. This is another key skill and I explain more in “Way #5”. Handling performance issues. These could come from your colleagues or your suppliers. You need to learn to handle them sensitively so that you don’t turn people off and they withdraw their support but you do need to be decisive and get things back on track (see “Way #6”).
Way #3: Be Interested in Colleagues and Find Out What They Value
One major reason that you might find it difficult to get the cooperation of your colleagues outside of procurement and so demonstrate the value you can add is this: What they want doesn’t always line up with what you want! For example, marketing people have goals that centre on building market share, developing new products and getting them to market. They may well perceive your cost cutting objective as potentially damaging their ability to deliver their goals – they may equate cost cutting with damaging their relationship with their creativity agencies which in turn will impact in a bad way the quality of their advertising. What you need to do is to work out how your objectives can support theirs. But first, you need to know what their objectives are – what do they value?
Here’s how you go about it. You meet them and ask questions! The kind of questions that you can ask to build rapport and get them to open up to you should be open questions – questions that begin “how”, “why”, “who”, “where”, “what” and “when”. These are open questions that elicit a reply. Another word that should be used as frequently as possible is “you”. Too many times we use “I” or “me” – these focus on what you want to get out of it which has little interest for non-procurement people. Here are some typical questions you can ask to get your colleagues or suppliers to give you an insight into their world and their objectives.
What could we do to make this a good meeting, well worth your time? What are your goals? What is the biggest challenge you’re facing right now? What is it costing you in time/money/resources? What would be an ideal outcome? Is there anything else we need to talk about today?
Answers to these questions naturally lead onto additional questions that you can ask until you are completely satisfied that you understand their real issues. Try asking “why” five times after you get an answer to probe for the real underlying issue. Once you have identified what their goals, problems and issues are, you can work out how your goals can help them to deliver theirs or how you can help solve their problems or resolve their issues. This is what gets their attention and their interest and ultimately their agreement to help you. Here are some potential benefits that you can deliver to colleagues from your management of suppliers:Service related benefits Early supplier involvement helps to shape the question that their product or service aims to answer for you and so gives a more effective solution Captures and shares IPR Provides a better balance between technical and purchasing requirements Reduces the supplier learning curve Acts as a free source for “hot housing” and incubating new ideas and problem solving Commercial related benefits Lower cost of bidding and engagement Marginal costs from account planning Lower costs from target costing and benchmarking Reduced costs from supply chain management i.e. suppliers’ suppliers Better ”lock in” of suppliers if demand outstrips supply
Shared risk
People related benefits Continuity of work allows suppliers to have a career path for their people (if you are buying a professional service such as consulting) and ”refreshes” ideas and lowers costs Enhanced skills from problem-solving with suppliers Improved communications and collaboration (if your organisation has multiple sites) Process related benefits Reduced non-value adding tasks Capture and use knowledge and learning for use in future work Faster response to your needs from improved processes A more consistent pool of people (if a service related purchase) who will build a knowledge bank of your organisation
Way #4: Learn How to Create and Deliver Value With Your Suppliers
In supply management you get value from your key suppliers by agreeing a purpose for your relationship with them and then translating this into objectives, targets, measures and specific actions that deliver that purpose. If you don’t do this then their failure to deliver real value either goes unnoticed (and so operational problems are never solved and there is no innovation) or at best is informal and unstructured and therefore never delivers. To get this value you need a process and this article explains the seven steps in such a process. Step 1: agree a purpose for the relationship. A client of mine and one of their key engineering services suppliers agreed that the purpose of their working together should be to create a relationship that continues to deliver value to both sides. This makes it a mutual strategy and one that continues into the future. Step 2: write a mission statement based on the purpose. The mission that then flowed from my client’s purpose with their supplier (abbreviated here for simplicity) was for each party to be first choice for the other in commercial matters (for example the supplier bringing new ideas and innovation to the buyer first). Step 3: set objectives based on achieving the mission. Three objectives were agreed that supported their mission (to identify gaps in the supplier’s service offering that the buyer wasn’t commissioning; to reduce the cost for the supplier in bidding for work from the supplier; and to start open book costing and activity based costing so that the true cost of providing the service could be identified and waste eliminated).
Step 4: develop a strategy for achieving each objective. In my example, one strategy was to extend the range of services it offered my client and start a process of early supplier involvement in setting project briefs that they bid for. Step 5: decide how you will measure the progress of these strategies. One measure my client and their supplier agreed was the percentage of the supplier’s range of services that my client used in a year. Another was the cost of bidding for new projects. Step 6: set targets for the measures you have just agreed. For the measures just described, the target for the first measure was 60% of the supplier’s services used in the following year and for the second measure that bid costs should be less than 10% of the value of the contracts for which they bid. Step 7: develop improvement initiatives that will deliver the targets. Initiatives are delivered by cross-functional teams from both sides assembled for that specific project and then disbanded when the project is completed. The projects are the glue that holds the whole process together and are the means of achieving value for both sides (because they are linked to the objectives, mission and purpose of the relationship). Carrying out these seven steps successively will show that you are a rounded business person – not just a procurement technician but someone who can set business related objectives, design a strategy and plan to deliver them and motivate and lead people to achieve great results when you don’t have formal responsibility.
Way #5: Resolve Conflicts Constructively
Even if you have managed to agree your goals with your colleagues and suppliers and have co-opted them into your team and plans, there will inevitably conflicts along the way. These are a natural consequence of having different priorities, measures of performance and pressures from higher levels of management. With suppliers conflicts often occur because of tensions created by the contract with them. The question is how to resolve these conflicts without destroying the relationships you have worked so hard to build and seeing your projects hit the buffers. This ability to resolve conflicts in such a way that the outcomes are constructive is a key skill that you will need to have if you are to climb the corporate ladder. The starting point in resolving conflicts is to listen carefully to the other party. It’s too easy to assume that we know what the problem is and jump straight to solution mode. Or even worse, start to criticise or threaten the other person. Active listening is a way of checking whether your understanding is correct. It also demonstrates that you are listening and that you are interested and concerned with
the way the other party feels or the problems that they face. But beware ... active listening is not the same as agreeing with the other person. It is a way of showing that you are prepared to listen and to understand their point of view. In resolving conflict you need to avoid doing or saying anything that will escalate the situation. Here are some pointers: Be careful with your choice of words (here is one occasion when using “I” more often than “you” can in fact help) – avoid using words and phrases that could be seen as inflammatory; words that are hurtful, provoking or demeaning. Soften the tone of your voice. Make sure your body language echoes the words you are using. Be specific and factual and avoid generalisations.
What this means is that these discussions need to be face to face. Too often, people use emails for this and without the benefit of seeing the body language and hearing the tone of voice the wrong inferences can be drawn. Studies have shown that by only communicating with email, supplier conflicts are escalated and become confrontational much earlier than they do if people have real contact. A key part of resolving conflict is your ability to solve problems. Here is a wellproven approach to problem solving:Step1 Step2 Step3 What's going on? In this step you identify the problem. What do you know? This is the data gathering step. What are the underlying issues? Here you analyse the data collected in the previous step and draw conclusions that aid you in developing a solution. What could you do? In this step you generate options for addressing the underlying issues and solving the problem in step 1. What's the best thing to do? Here you select the best solution in terms of meeting the problem as posed by your colleague or supplier. How do you go about it? This is where you plan for implementing your chosen solution. Have you achieved your objectives? In this step you implement your solution and test that you have achieved a result your colleague or supplier agrees solves their problem.
Step4
Step5
Step6
Step7
Step8
Can you improve on what you have? This step keeps an eye on the problem originally stated to check that it has been solved or whether an improved solution has emerged.
Ultimately, though, your objective should be to avoid conflict rather than resolve it. This means being aware of what could trigger conflict, having a process to deal with it and training your team members in the skills of conflict resolution.
Way #6: Become a Commercial Consultant, Coach and Mentor to Your Colleagues and Suppliers
The barriers to achieving your plan and objectives are what we know as problems. These often need creative solutions if you are to resolve them to everyone’s satisfaction. This is where you need to develop consultancy skills. So, what are consultancy skills? The first skill you need to develop as an internal consultant is the ability to identify the real problem. What I mean by this is that in the real world (a phrase I hear a lot as a consultant!) problems don’t come to you neatly packaged as a problem that everyone can immediately see and agree. In the real world, problems are unstructured, result in lots of issues and can be “red herrings”. Your role is to put structure into all of this and drive out the real problem that needs to be addressed. Here is one way to do it:[chunking] You also need to encourage others in your organisation and in those of your suppliers to overcome barriers to performance by challenging, encouraging and motivating them to achieve their objectives and yours. This requires you to have coaching skills. A good coach has certain attributes. A good coach is: positive. Your job is not correcting mistakes, finding fault, and assessing blame. Instead, your function is achieving goals by coaching people to peak performance. enthusiastic. As a coach, you set the tone. If you project gloom and doom, then you'll get gloom and doom back from those you are coaching. If you put forward reasons why things won't work out, you will never be disappointed — things won't work out.
supportive. This means more than providing an encouraging word and a pat on the back. To lead, you must serve, anticipating needs and preventing problems from happening. focused. Deal in particulars. Keep the task manageable. You're far more likely to get action if are focused on resolving the issue at hand. goal-oriented. If you leave people wondering what they need to achieve after you've explained a task, you've only done half the job. Base your coaching on clear, definable goals. Tie specific tasks to those goals. Communicate those goals to the people who actually have to do the work. knowledgeable. Do you know what you're talking about? If you do, you'll command respect and loyalty because you know the job better than anybody else, not because you have the job title. Above all, if you don’t know the answer to something, say so and then find it for them.
A mentor on the other hand acts more as a role model and advisor, sharing experiences and often suggesting courses of action rather than helping the individual identify the solution for themselves. They don’t teach, train or instruct in the way that a coach does. You know you have been a good mentor if the person you are mentoring: becomes more self-aware, understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, their personal skills and how they add value; becomes self-directing by setting their own goals, knowing what action to take and driving themselves to achieve their goals without being directed by others; gains insights into themselves and others and translates this into actions that help deliver organisational and personal goals.
Way #7: Keep on Top of Trends and Events in Your Markets
If you are to be effective in showing your colleagues and senior management that you can add value, you need up to the minute information about your supply markets and trends within those markets. Here is some of the information you need to collect and top tips for collecting it. Market trends can be split into four groups: Cost and price trends Technology trends
Market structure trends Demand and customer trends
The end result of all three will be an analysis that can help determine when to buy and even how to buy. There are two ways in which you can monitor markets for all four groups of trend; desk research and field research. Published market information and your own data can tell you a lot about your suppliers and your markets - but it's unlikely to tell you everything. Field research can be quantitative or qualitative: quantitative research provides statistical information - for example, how many potential suppliers there are and what their average sales are qualitative research examines people's feelings and attitudes towards your organisation or service and what motivates them.
Top tips for field research: Do ask the right questions – avoid closed questions that only elicit a “yes” or “no” answer. Instead ask questions that begin with “how” or “explain”. Do talk to the right people – check that the people you are talking to have the right level of experience and knowledge to answer your questions credibly. Do talk to enough people – basing your analysis on the views of a limited number of people may not give you the depth and breadth of analysis that you need. Don’t ask leading questions – these are questions that also suggest the answer. You want independence of view from others even if you have strong views yourself. Do be careful as to what conclusions you draw – people may give you an answer that is designed to distort the result. For example, suppliers may say that they would be interested in providing “X” if the price was higher. Don’t be selective in your use of your research – it can be tempting to use only data that supports the view you already have. Ignore this temptation at all costs.
Way #8: Develop Your Personal Skills
As we have seen in this book, career success in procurement is not only a matter of having the right technical knowledge to buy things effectively and let contracts. You need to become a rounder business manager if you are to deliver outstanding results that your senior management value and so reward.
Many of the skills you need are not specific to procurement. The skills you need include: Leadership Goal setting Strategy setting Listening and questioning Problem solving Research Communications Persuasion and influencing Psychology Coaching and mentoring
You might think that some (if not all) of these skills are things that you are born with and to an extent you might be right. But many of them can be taught if you seek out the right way to acquire the skills. Although reading articles and books and attending training courses goes some way to acquiring the knowledge you need, unless you see how to use them practically, the knowledge will quickly melt away. The answer is to acquire the knowledge and then to apply it under the supervision of a coach who can help you when you get stuck or can’t immediately see how to do it. But where can you find an effective, affordable coach that can fit into your busy work schedule? I suggest you visit http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com.
Way #9: Learn to Manage Risk
Risk is inherent in everything we do – including running an organisation. A successful leader needs to acknowledge this and manage it. Unfortunately, too often procurement professionals are perceived by their colleagues and management as being totally risk averse which can be seen as counter-productive.
The starting point is to list all of the potential sources of risk. This is best done as a brainstorming exercise with the team members of the sourcing strategy project or as a “Delphi type” process as explained previously. What you do then is to rate each risk in terms of its potential impact on your organisation if that risk event was to happen. A scale of 1 to 4 where 1 represents a minor impact and 4 is a mission critical impact) is sufficient. Next, you need to asses each risk for the likelihood that it would happen. Again, a score from 1 (unlikely to happen) to 4 (almost certain to happen) will suffice. You can then put these two scores (impact and likelihood of occurring) in a table as shown below. This gives you an indication of the extent to which your strategy option creates a risk.
One important risk management tool that procurement can major on is a business continuity or disaster recovery plan for key suppliers. This spells out in very practical terms what a supplier must do to carry on delivering a vital item or service in the event of a major event disrupting its business. One example of this is that several years ago one major distribution company that worked for water utility organisations as ked itself what would happen if one of their clients ran out of water. Although at the time this was a far-fetched scenario and one for which this distribution company was ridiculed, nevertheless they went ahead and produced a detailed plan for how they could transport water from one part of the country to another. When a few years later there was a major drought and people in some areas of the country were having to collect water supplies from a stand pipe in the middle of the road, this distribution company won contracts worth millions because they had this disaster recovery plan.
Way #10: Have a Habit of Continuous Learning
The Duke of Wellington once said “Fools learn when they must; Wise people learn when they can”. If you are to acquire and polish the skills I have outlined in these “10 Best Ways to Upskill Yourself and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process” then you need to establish a lifelong habit of learning.
And not just the technical aspects of procurement but also the softer, personal skills that make you into a valuable business manager. So, here’s a question for you ... If you are serious about improving your skills and knowledge in this vital commercial area, will you take just a few minutes to take a look at a product that can accelerate your learning? Yes! Then all you need do is go to this link and you will have immediate access to everything you need! http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com
In the meantime, I wish you every success in your upskilling endeavours and your career progression and look forward to speaking soon. Kind regards
Steve
Steve Carter
About the author
Steve Carter has been a consultant and interim manager in Purchasing and Supply since 1993. He has a wide range of clients from both the public and private sector, including Essex County Council, Transport for London, Lloyds TSB, AXA, Compaq, Glaxo Wellcome and the NHS. Prior to that, Steve worked for Deloitte and KPMG (where he headed up KPMG’s Purchasing consultancy practice). His clients included National Power (at the time they were moving from the public to the private sector), LDV, BT and the Ministry of Defence. Before becoming a management consultant, Steve worked in purchasing and materials management for two multinationals, one a UK specialty chemicals company and the other a Fortune 100 manufacturing company in the automotive sector. In both companies, he worked with subsidiaries around the world to improve their purchasing and supply chain operations. Steve started his career as an accountant with the Co-operative Wholesale Society where he progressed to the most senior management accounting position in a division of more than 100 factories.
Some testimonials:
“Steve has been a huge asset to the Council in his role as interim head of procurement. As well as driving tactical savings, he has successfully introduced the concepts of category management and supplier relationship management, both of which have started to pay off and kick started the Council on its transformation journey. I would have no hesitation in recommending Steve to any organisation that required a high level procurement professional who can deliver both short term, impactful results as well as longer term strategies”. Nick Bell, Deputy CEO and Group Financial Director, Essex County Council "... you demonstrated a level of professionalism I didn’t believe existed in the consultancy world " Graham Jackson, UK Head of Commercial Services, Compaq Computer " ... thank you very, very much for the magnificent contribution you have made this year and the way in which you have driven professional purchasing practice in this company forwards" Pete Wilkinson, Group Director of Strategic Procurement, AXA UK
" ... better value for money than some larger organisations" Denis Mellon, Director of Materials, ICL Sorbus " Over the years I have been involved with a number of companies that carry out strategic reviews but feel you grasped our requirements very quickly and delivered results promptly and professionally. If I need to carry out a similar project in the future I will pick up the phone to you" John Hall, Chief Executive, Ring Ltd "Steve brought critical thinking and strategic clarity to a complex and under-performing area of TfL's business while mentoring the TfL team and impressing a professional client base enough to secure their support for a wide ranging programme of commercial change in one of TfL's most crucial areas of spend. Knowledge transfer has enabled TfL to drive the programme forward for itself now but continued support and training from Crest at critical stages in the project will be material in ensuring long term success" Dave Williams, Group Director of Procurement, Transport for London
... and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process!
Hello and Welcome
“10 Best Ways to Upskill Yourself”...
... and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process!
A
s you read through these 10 Best Ways – and how they can help you – you’ll easily be in a position to make a difference to your organisation and your career – more easily and more often.
In fact: It is the lack of knowledge and application of these 10 Best Ways that stops more procurement professionals making more money than any other single factor.
Steve Carter Procurement Practitioner and Consultant
Over the years, working with large and small organisations in both the public and private sectors, I have seen procurement people fail to take full advantage of these 10 Best Ways and as a result fail to get the breakthrough in their career progression that was available to them. They have had to settle for mediocre performance at best when outstanding results were possible.
I’ve made this report as brief as possible but at the same time, I have given you everything you need to know about the 10 BEST WAYS TO UPSKILL YOURSELF. No padding or waffle – just useable ideas you can put into action – immediately!
But one more thing before we start:
That is, why should you listen to me? A good question and one that I would ask if I was in your shoes. The reason is that I have been working for more than 20 years with organisations, both large and small, in the public and private sectors. I have done this both as a practitioner (I have held senior line positions in purchasing and supply functions with major US and UK multinationals) and as a consultant. In that time I have worked with hundreds of people perfecting the ideas I will share with you today ... so they are all tried and tested methods that work.
The next question I know you want to ask is ... “Why would Steve give me this FREE report on the 10 Best Ways to Upskill Myself?”
You may not have phrased the question quite like that – true? But you still knew deep inside that there must be a reason (or catch!) for me to take time out from my busy consulting practice to write this report and build the website that goes with it – yes? Well, here is the reason: The reason WHY I wanted you to have this important report was to do a number of important things:-
I only wanted to give the report to people who were serious about taking control of
their career, whether this be in the private or public sector (and there are more similarities between the two than are often acknowledged) and helping their organisation in the process
This report, I hoped, would show anyone that read through it that I do have some
great ideas – practical ideas – for improving individuals’ procurement effectiveness
Once someone reads this report they will be more positively inclined to take a look at
the paid for services I offer (informational products, software, online coaching and consulting)
It’s a good way to start a relationship with a new client by ... ... making the first sale an easy sale
And what’s easier than a FREE product to start! Does all of that make sense to you? Good! Then let’s start.
Once upon a time I knew a procurement officer who continually complained that he received no recognition for his work from his Chief Executive. He was convinced that his career was being held back because his CEO did not recognise the value he added. It got to the stage where he approached his CEO one day in the car park and told him about his frustration. The CEO’s reply was illuminating. He said that he looked at procurement people in the same way that he did the front wheel of his car. He didn’t pat his front wheel every day and thank it for getting him safely from one place to another – it was the wheel’s function in life to do exactly that. However, if he ever had a tyre blow out, he would be eternally grateful that he had chosen the right wheel for the job! The message that my friend drew from this was that the value his CEO attributed to procurement was to keep him and the organisation out of trouble! In other words, procurement, in the CEO’s eyes, was to act as a policeman and security expert – make sure we stick to the rules, keep us away from risk and sort it out quickly and effectively if things go wrong! This CEO had no understanding of how procurement could help to drive his organisation forward and add significant value. Without this understanding, it is difficult to get a seat at the top table – in other words, become a Director or VP of your organisation. The way, then to boost your career prospects is to equip yourself with the means of adding value, deliver that value and then shout it from the rooftops! Here are the 10 Best Ways I have seen over the years for doing this.
Way #1: Set and Achieve Audacious Goals
If your organisation is in the private sector, the two things that are continually on the mind of your CEO or MD are: “how do I make this organisation more profitable?” and “how do I make sure that we are not running any risks that could destroy the company?” If you work in the public sector, risk is still one of the two top items for your CEO but profit is not a consideration. The equivalent in the public sector is “how do I deliver all of our services to the degree needed and stay within budget?” Whether profit or budgets are the driver, getting cost reductions are key. But to grab your CEO’s attention, small cost reductions are not enough. You need to make BIG reductions – 10%, 20%, 30% or more.
So, how do you do that? Set a BHAG – a Big Hairy Audacious Goal! A BHAG is one that really stretches you to think differently about your value chains. It’s the goal that's going to help you transform the way you work with suppliers, rather than being satisfied with incremental change. The first step is to shake off any beliefs about what is possible in your supply chains. If you already have a mindset that limits your achievements you’ll never get serious about a BHAG. Next, pose some Very Hairy Challenges – like these: I want to halve my costs in the next 12 months I want my supply chain to deliver the highest quality product or service in the UK I want to reduce the delivery time for my purchased products from 2 weeks to one day.
Now you have to work backwards from this end point in 3 steps. Let’s take the “halve your costs” example. Step 1: Brainstorm ideas (or use other techniques that are explained in our coaching course – visit http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com ) for reducing costs. No limits remember – everything is possible. For example: Reduce the purchase price Eliminate all sources of waste in the supply chain Re-design the product or service Innovate a new way to deliver the service and sell this to other organisations (in other words, change a cost into a revenue generator) Find a way of leasing the product or service rather than buy it.
Step 2: Make a list of obstacles and ways of getting around them. Don’t have any ideas for re-designing the service? Get some users together and have a brainstorming session. Don’t know how to innovate? Identify people who have this reputation and hire them in as a freelance. Suppliers won’t lease the product? Take the idea to a leasing company and see if they will do a deal.
There’s nothing that can’t be overcome if you are really committed. Step 3: Identify what needs to happen for you to be successful.
For example: Surround yourself with creative people Build your knowledge in certain areas Set monthly Little Hairy Audacious Goals that progress you towards your milestones Get the support you need.
Way #2: Develop Your Leadership Skills
Why are leadership skills so vital for a Procurement Executive? Well, if you think about it, you are tasked and goaled with managing and reducing costs and bringing about innovation with your suppliers – but you have no executive authority in the areas affected. For example, you are tasked with reducing costs – but the budget for the things you buy are usually “owned” by someone. You can’t deliver without their cooperation. The same thing goes for getting more value and innovation from your suppliers. If they don’t see your account as important or are playing you off against your colleagues who own the budget – then they are unlikely to play ball. What you need to do in all of these cases is show leadership skills that motivate people to align themselves with your goals. So, what is leadership? One good definition of leadership is this: Leadership is influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organisation. This means that leadership is largely about relationship building skills. It also means you have to have good plans and the ability to set meaningful goals (which we covered in Way #1) and set a strategy that delivers them. It also means that the test of your leadership skills is the results that you deliver for your organisation. Here are some key factors that determine whether or not you are a good leader: The ability to set goals which was Way #1 described earlier.
The ability to communicate those goals clearly and concisely so that no-one is in any doubt as to what you mean (keep checking understanding – it’s no good taking the attitude “they must know; I told them myself”). The ability to influence people to adopt your goals and align their work to them. Good decision making – always base your decisions on sound facts. If you only have opinions or guesses, work out what you need to do to turn them into facts. Also, make your decisions quickly and decisively. Good listening skills. Avoid the temptation to screen out information that does not support the decisions you have already made – whether consciously or unconsciously. The ability to plan ahead. It’s no good having goals without realistic plans to deliver them – as is often said, “a vision without a plan of action is a daydream”. Problem-solving skills. This is so important that I cover this in a later “Way” – its importance is that problems are the obstacles that get in the way of delivering your plan and so your objectives. Handling difficult people. This is another key skill and I explain more in “Way #5”. Handling performance issues. These could come from your colleagues or your suppliers. You need to learn to handle them sensitively so that you don’t turn people off and they withdraw their support but you do need to be decisive and get things back on track (see “Way #6”).
Way #3: Be Interested in Colleagues and Find Out What They Value
One major reason that you might find it difficult to get the cooperation of your colleagues outside of procurement and so demonstrate the value you can add is this: What they want doesn’t always line up with what you want! For example, marketing people have goals that centre on building market share, developing new products and getting them to market. They may well perceive your cost cutting objective as potentially damaging their ability to deliver their goals – they may equate cost cutting with damaging their relationship with their creativity agencies which in turn will impact in a bad way the quality of their advertising. What you need to do is to work out how your objectives can support theirs. But first, you need to know what their objectives are – what do they value?
Here’s how you go about it. You meet them and ask questions! The kind of questions that you can ask to build rapport and get them to open up to you should be open questions – questions that begin “how”, “why”, “who”, “where”, “what” and “when”. These are open questions that elicit a reply. Another word that should be used as frequently as possible is “you”. Too many times we use “I” or “me” – these focus on what you want to get out of it which has little interest for non-procurement people. Here are some typical questions you can ask to get your colleagues or suppliers to give you an insight into their world and their objectives.
What could we do to make this a good meeting, well worth your time? What are your goals? What is the biggest challenge you’re facing right now? What is it costing you in time/money/resources? What would be an ideal outcome? Is there anything else we need to talk about today?
Answers to these questions naturally lead onto additional questions that you can ask until you are completely satisfied that you understand their real issues. Try asking “why” five times after you get an answer to probe for the real underlying issue. Once you have identified what their goals, problems and issues are, you can work out how your goals can help them to deliver theirs or how you can help solve their problems or resolve their issues. This is what gets their attention and their interest and ultimately their agreement to help you. Here are some potential benefits that you can deliver to colleagues from your management of suppliers:Service related benefits Early supplier involvement helps to shape the question that their product or service aims to answer for you and so gives a more effective solution Captures and shares IPR Provides a better balance between technical and purchasing requirements Reduces the supplier learning curve Acts as a free source for “hot housing” and incubating new ideas and problem solving Commercial related benefits Lower cost of bidding and engagement Marginal costs from account planning Lower costs from target costing and benchmarking Reduced costs from supply chain management i.e. suppliers’ suppliers Better ”lock in” of suppliers if demand outstrips supply
Shared risk
People related benefits Continuity of work allows suppliers to have a career path for their people (if you are buying a professional service such as consulting) and ”refreshes” ideas and lowers costs Enhanced skills from problem-solving with suppliers Improved communications and collaboration (if your organisation has multiple sites) Process related benefits Reduced non-value adding tasks Capture and use knowledge and learning for use in future work Faster response to your needs from improved processes A more consistent pool of people (if a service related purchase) who will build a knowledge bank of your organisation
Way #4: Learn How to Create and Deliver Value With Your Suppliers
In supply management you get value from your key suppliers by agreeing a purpose for your relationship with them and then translating this into objectives, targets, measures and specific actions that deliver that purpose. If you don’t do this then their failure to deliver real value either goes unnoticed (and so operational problems are never solved and there is no innovation) or at best is informal and unstructured and therefore never delivers. To get this value you need a process and this article explains the seven steps in such a process. Step 1: agree a purpose for the relationship. A client of mine and one of their key engineering services suppliers agreed that the purpose of their working together should be to create a relationship that continues to deliver value to both sides. This makes it a mutual strategy and one that continues into the future. Step 2: write a mission statement based on the purpose. The mission that then flowed from my client’s purpose with their supplier (abbreviated here for simplicity) was for each party to be first choice for the other in commercial matters (for example the supplier bringing new ideas and innovation to the buyer first). Step 3: set objectives based on achieving the mission. Three objectives were agreed that supported their mission (to identify gaps in the supplier’s service offering that the buyer wasn’t commissioning; to reduce the cost for the supplier in bidding for work from the supplier; and to start open book costing and activity based costing so that the true cost of providing the service could be identified and waste eliminated).
Step 4: develop a strategy for achieving each objective. In my example, one strategy was to extend the range of services it offered my client and start a process of early supplier involvement in setting project briefs that they bid for. Step 5: decide how you will measure the progress of these strategies. One measure my client and their supplier agreed was the percentage of the supplier’s range of services that my client used in a year. Another was the cost of bidding for new projects. Step 6: set targets for the measures you have just agreed. For the measures just described, the target for the first measure was 60% of the supplier’s services used in the following year and for the second measure that bid costs should be less than 10% of the value of the contracts for which they bid. Step 7: develop improvement initiatives that will deliver the targets. Initiatives are delivered by cross-functional teams from both sides assembled for that specific project and then disbanded when the project is completed. The projects are the glue that holds the whole process together and are the means of achieving value for both sides (because they are linked to the objectives, mission and purpose of the relationship). Carrying out these seven steps successively will show that you are a rounded business person – not just a procurement technician but someone who can set business related objectives, design a strategy and plan to deliver them and motivate and lead people to achieve great results when you don’t have formal responsibility.
Way #5: Resolve Conflicts Constructively
Even if you have managed to agree your goals with your colleagues and suppliers and have co-opted them into your team and plans, there will inevitably conflicts along the way. These are a natural consequence of having different priorities, measures of performance and pressures from higher levels of management. With suppliers conflicts often occur because of tensions created by the contract with them. The question is how to resolve these conflicts without destroying the relationships you have worked so hard to build and seeing your projects hit the buffers. This ability to resolve conflicts in such a way that the outcomes are constructive is a key skill that you will need to have if you are to climb the corporate ladder. The starting point in resolving conflicts is to listen carefully to the other party. It’s too easy to assume that we know what the problem is and jump straight to solution mode. Or even worse, start to criticise or threaten the other person. Active listening is a way of checking whether your understanding is correct. It also demonstrates that you are listening and that you are interested and concerned with
the way the other party feels or the problems that they face. But beware ... active listening is not the same as agreeing with the other person. It is a way of showing that you are prepared to listen and to understand their point of view. In resolving conflict you need to avoid doing or saying anything that will escalate the situation. Here are some pointers: Be careful with your choice of words (here is one occasion when using “I” more often than “you” can in fact help) – avoid using words and phrases that could be seen as inflammatory; words that are hurtful, provoking or demeaning. Soften the tone of your voice. Make sure your body language echoes the words you are using. Be specific and factual and avoid generalisations.
What this means is that these discussions need to be face to face. Too often, people use emails for this and without the benefit of seeing the body language and hearing the tone of voice the wrong inferences can be drawn. Studies have shown that by only communicating with email, supplier conflicts are escalated and become confrontational much earlier than they do if people have real contact. A key part of resolving conflict is your ability to solve problems. Here is a wellproven approach to problem solving:Step1 Step2 Step3 What's going on? In this step you identify the problem. What do you know? This is the data gathering step. What are the underlying issues? Here you analyse the data collected in the previous step and draw conclusions that aid you in developing a solution. What could you do? In this step you generate options for addressing the underlying issues and solving the problem in step 1. What's the best thing to do? Here you select the best solution in terms of meeting the problem as posed by your colleague or supplier. How do you go about it? This is where you plan for implementing your chosen solution. Have you achieved your objectives? In this step you implement your solution and test that you have achieved a result your colleague or supplier agrees solves their problem.
Step4
Step5
Step6
Step7
Step8
Can you improve on what you have? This step keeps an eye on the problem originally stated to check that it has been solved or whether an improved solution has emerged.
Ultimately, though, your objective should be to avoid conflict rather than resolve it. This means being aware of what could trigger conflict, having a process to deal with it and training your team members in the skills of conflict resolution.
Way #6: Become a Commercial Consultant, Coach and Mentor to Your Colleagues and Suppliers
The barriers to achieving your plan and objectives are what we know as problems. These often need creative solutions if you are to resolve them to everyone’s satisfaction. This is where you need to develop consultancy skills. So, what are consultancy skills? The first skill you need to develop as an internal consultant is the ability to identify the real problem. What I mean by this is that in the real world (a phrase I hear a lot as a consultant!) problems don’t come to you neatly packaged as a problem that everyone can immediately see and agree. In the real world, problems are unstructured, result in lots of issues and can be “red herrings”. Your role is to put structure into all of this and drive out the real problem that needs to be addressed. Here is one way to do it:[chunking] You also need to encourage others in your organisation and in those of your suppliers to overcome barriers to performance by challenging, encouraging and motivating them to achieve their objectives and yours. This requires you to have coaching skills. A good coach has certain attributes. A good coach is: positive. Your job is not correcting mistakes, finding fault, and assessing blame. Instead, your function is achieving goals by coaching people to peak performance. enthusiastic. As a coach, you set the tone. If you project gloom and doom, then you'll get gloom and doom back from those you are coaching. If you put forward reasons why things won't work out, you will never be disappointed — things won't work out.
supportive. This means more than providing an encouraging word and a pat on the back. To lead, you must serve, anticipating needs and preventing problems from happening. focused. Deal in particulars. Keep the task manageable. You're far more likely to get action if are focused on resolving the issue at hand. goal-oriented. If you leave people wondering what they need to achieve after you've explained a task, you've only done half the job. Base your coaching on clear, definable goals. Tie specific tasks to those goals. Communicate those goals to the people who actually have to do the work. knowledgeable. Do you know what you're talking about? If you do, you'll command respect and loyalty because you know the job better than anybody else, not because you have the job title. Above all, if you don’t know the answer to something, say so and then find it for them.
A mentor on the other hand acts more as a role model and advisor, sharing experiences and often suggesting courses of action rather than helping the individual identify the solution for themselves. They don’t teach, train or instruct in the way that a coach does. You know you have been a good mentor if the person you are mentoring: becomes more self-aware, understanding their own strengths and weaknesses, their personal skills and how they add value; becomes self-directing by setting their own goals, knowing what action to take and driving themselves to achieve their goals without being directed by others; gains insights into themselves and others and translates this into actions that help deliver organisational and personal goals.
Way #7: Keep on Top of Trends and Events in Your Markets
If you are to be effective in showing your colleagues and senior management that you can add value, you need up to the minute information about your supply markets and trends within those markets. Here is some of the information you need to collect and top tips for collecting it. Market trends can be split into four groups: Cost and price trends Technology trends
Market structure trends Demand and customer trends
The end result of all three will be an analysis that can help determine when to buy and even how to buy. There are two ways in which you can monitor markets for all four groups of trend; desk research and field research. Published market information and your own data can tell you a lot about your suppliers and your markets - but it's unlikely to tell you everything. Field research can be quantitative or qualitative: quantitative research provides statistical information - for example, how many potential suppliers there are and what their average sales are qualitative research examines people's feelings and attitudes towards your organisation or service and what motivates them.
Top tips for field research: Do ask the right questions – avoid closed questions that only elicit a “yes” or “no” answer. Instead ask questions that begin with “how” or “explain”. Do talk to the right people – check that the people you are talking to have the right level of experience and knowledge to answer your questions credibly. Do talk to enough people – basing your analysis on the views of a limited number of people may not give you the depth and breadth of analysis that you need. Don’t ask leading questions – these are questions that also suggest the answer. You want independence of view from others even if you have strong views yourself. Do be careful as to what conclusions you draw – people may give you an answer that is designed to distort the result. For example, suppliers may say that they would be interested in providing “X” if the price was higher. Don’t be selective in your use of your research – it can be tempting to use only data that supports the view you already have. Ignore this temptation at all costs.
Way #8: Develop Your Personal Skills
As we have seen in this book, career success in procurement is not only a matter of having the right technical knowledge to buy things effectively and let contracts. You need to become a rounder business manager if you are to deliver outstanding results that your senior management value and so reward.
Many of the skills you need are not specific to procurement. The skills you need include: Leadership Goal setting Strategy setting Listening and questioning Problem solving Research Communications Persuasion and influencing Psychology Coaching and mentoring
You might think that some (if not all) of these skills are things that you are born with and to an extent you might be right. But many of them can be taught if you seek out the right way to acquire the skills. Although reading articles and books and attending training courses goes some way to acquiring the knowledge you need, unless you see how to use them practically, the knowledge will quickly melt away. The answer is to acquire the knowledge and then to apply it under the supervision of a coach who can help you when you get stuck or can’t immediately see how to do it. But where can you find an effective, affordable coach that can fit into your busy work schedule? I suggest you visit http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com.
Way #9: Learn to Manage Risk
Risk is inherent in everything we do – including running an organisation. A successful leader needs to acknowledge this and manage it. Unfortunately, too often procurement professionals are perceived by their colleagues and management as being totally risk averse which can be seen as counter-productive.
The starting point is to list all of the potential sources of risk. This is best done as a brainstorming exercise with the team members of the sourcing strategy project or as a “Delphi type” process as explained previously. What you do then is to rate each risk in terms of its potential impact on your organisation if that risk event was to happen. A scale of 1 to 4 where 1 represents a minor impact and 4 is a mission critical impact) is sufficient. Next, you need to asses each risk for the likelihood that it would happen. Again, a score from 1 (unlikely to happen) to 4 (almost certain to happen) will suffice. You can then put these two scores (impact and likelihood of occurring) in a table as shown below. This gives you an indication of the extent to which your strategy option creates a risk.
One important risk management tool that procurement can major on is a business continuity or disaster recovery plan for key suppliers. This spells out in very practical terms what a supplier must do to carry on delivering a vital item or service in the event of a major event disrupting its business. One example of this is that several years ago one major distribution company that worked for water utility organisations as ked itself what would happen if one of their clients ran out of water. Although at the time this was a far-fetched scenario and one for which this distribution company was ridiculed, nevertheless they went ahead and produced a detailed plan for how they could transport water from one part of the country to another. When a few years later there was a major drought and people in some areas of the country were having to collect water supplies from a stand pipe in the middle of the road, this distribution company won contracts worth millions because they had this disaster recovery plan.
Way #10: Have a Habit of Continuous Learning
The Duke of Wellington once said “Fools learn when they must; Wise people learn when they can”. If you are to acquire and polish the skills I have outlined in these “10 Best Ways to Upskill Yourself and Boost Your Job Prospects in the Process” then you need to establish a lifelong habit of learning.
And not just the technical aspects of procurement but also the softer, personal skills that make you into a valuable business manager. So, here’s a question for you ... If you are serious about improving your skills and knowledge in this vital commercial area, will you take just a few minutes to take a look at a product that can accelerate your learning? Yes! Then all you need do is go to this link and you will have immediate access to everything you need! http://AcademyForProcurementExcellence.com
In the meantime, I wish you every success in your upskilling endeavours and your career progression and look forward to speaking soon. Kind regards
Steve
Steve Carter
About the author
Steve Carter has been a consultant and interim manager in Purchasing and Supply since 1993. He has a wide range of clients from both the public and private sector, including Essex County Council, Transport for London, Lloyds TSB, AXA, Compaq, Glaxo Wellcome and the NHS. Prior to that, Steve worked for Deloitte and KPMG (where he headed up KPMG’s Purchasing consultancy practice). His clients included National Power (at the time they were moving from the public to the private sector), LDV, BT and the Ministry of Defence. Before becoming a management consultant, Steve worked in purchasing and materials management for two multinationals, one a UK specialty chemicals company and the other a Fortune 100 manufacturing company in the automotive sector. In both companies, he worked with subsidiaries around the world to improve their purchasing and supply chain operations. Steve started his career as an accountant with the Co-operative Wholesale Society where he progressed to the most senior management accounting position in a division of more than 100 factories.
Some testimonials:
“Steve has been a huge asset to the Council in his role as interim head of procurement. As well as driving tactical savings, he has successfully introduced the concepts of category management and supplier relationship management, both of which have started to pay off and kick started the Council on its transformation journey. I would have no hesitation in recommending Steve to any organisation that required a high level procurement professional who can deliver both short term, impactful results as well as longer term strategies”. Nick Bell, Deputy CEO and Group Financial Director, Essex County Council "... you demonstrated a level of professionalism I didn’t believe existed in the consultancy world " Graham Jackson, UK Head of Commercial Services, Compaq Computer " ... thank you very, very much for the magnificent contribution you have made this year and the way in which you have driven professional purchasing practice in this company forwards" Pete Wilkinson, Group Director of Strategic Procurement, AXA UK
" ... better value for money than some larger organisations" Denis Mellon, Director of Materials, ICL Sorbus " Over the years I have been involved with a number of companies that carry out strategic reviews but feel you grasped our requirements very quickly and delivered results promptly and professionally. If I need to carry out a similar project in the future I will pick up the phone to you" John Hall, Chief Executive, Ring Ltd "Steve brought critical thinking and strategic clarity to a complex and under-performing area of TfL's business while mentoring the TfL team and impressing a professional client base enough to secure their support for a wide ranging programme of commercial change in one of TfL's most crucial areas of spend. Knowledge transfer has enabled TfL to drive the programme forward for itself now but continued support and training from Crest at critical stages in the project will be material in ensuring long term success" Dave Williams, Group Director of Procurement, Transport for London
