Skills Required For A Modern Tech-Savvy Procurement Professional

The Deloitte CPO survey 2017 has some interesting findings that have a lot of take-away for the modern tech-savvy procurement professionals. The survey results say that-

1. 79 percent of procurement leaders to focus on cost reduction
2. Almost six in ten see managing risks as a priority
3. 52 percent are focused on new products, services and market development
4. 60 percent believe their teams lack the skills needed
5. Three quarters believe their role in delivering digital strategy will increase
6. 75 percent of C-suite executives support procurement’s role and further development

This would mean that a procurement professional who resonates well with these six findings, are pretty much aware of the demands of this evolving landscape of procurement and are likely to excel in their pursuit of delivering the best value to their clients and stakeholders.

To help the emerging procurement professionals we elucidate what we infer from the above findings.

1. 79 percent of procurement leaders to focus on cost reduction

• Cost reduction is a financial objective a company is always willing to achieve.
• Cost effectiveness helps business sustainability and over a period of time, strengthens the company in its financial positioning.
• As a procurement professional, your knowledge of a wider supplier base is an opportunity for better cost analysis and then on-boarding of the suppliers offering your business the best deal.

2. Almost six in ten see managing risks as a priority

• Overwhelmed by cost-effective supplier proposal, a procurement professional under no circumstances can forego evaluating associated risk factors.
• Understand that a supplier operating from a risk zone (say, geographically volatile) may propose a low cost deal, but instead of readily accepting the same, a risk analysis is mandatory to avert future disappointment.
• A procurement professional’s inherent managerial quality enforcing a thorough analysis of supply-chain risk is highly desired by organizations to keep predictable loss at bay.

3. 52 percent are focused on new products, services and market development

• New products, services and market development are the areas to watch for.
• It is about time that businesses get to harness newer technologies, automate cumbersome and mundane procurement tasks and look toward developing newer markets for supply-chain intelligence or cost-effective sourcing.
• As a procurement professional with leadership goals, one need not reject successful conventional business practices but certainly be in the know, ready to adapt/adopt the new in products, services, and markets.
• In no time, 52 percent will come full circle as 100 because business intelligence is forward moving hand in hand with all relevant innovation driving profitability for organizations.

4. 60 percent believe their teams lack the skills needed

• 60 percent of the respondents of the survey were not confident about their teams as they lacked specialized skills in procurement.

At Zycus we believe project management, business intelligence, and data analytics are top of the funnel skills that the procurement industry will look forward to in their ideal candidates.

• In this regard, approaching a senior leader/decision maker in one’s organization to discuss training possibilities is highly recommended.
• These training will align individuals to company’s procurement goals and groom professionals to high caliber delivery.

5. Three quarters believe their role in delivering digital strategy will increase

• Procurement has grown significantly more strategic over the past twenty years.
• Now whether for experienced procurement professionals or the young and emerging ones, the move toward digital is mandatory.
• As procurement professional if you wish to ace your game, it is important that you are in the know of digital supply chain management, how to leverage big-data, of various disruptive technologies and tools that can enhance your procurement mission and management. ​

6. 75 percent of C-suite executives support procurement’s role and further development.

• Great time is ahead of procurement as the advent of newer technologies is forging strategic breakthroughs.
• C-suite executives already see the value in it which would mean procurement would no more be the neglected domain and research, insights provided by procurement professionals will determine the success of business.

So, procurement is a serious business now.

• Professionals are expected to be more agile and adaptive to newer technologies and willing to cross-examine traditional methods, software that is outdated and losing relevance.