Sorry for the slow start this week, but my first Labor Day without a Telethon has thrown off my timing – ok, not really :-)…. Anyway, welcome back, I hope everyone had a great summer (or winter for those of you “down under”) – let’s get to it, shall we?
Sourcing experts and novices alike understand that sourcing can be a challenging and difficult process to master. As such, the classic sourcing process is not as deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of the average procurement and category teams as one might expect. This is a bigger issue than many enterprises realize, particularly when new technology solutions are introduced to help automate the “current” sourcing process.
If the current sourcing process is not well-defined or well-understood, the introduction of technology solutions may only serve to inhibit and confuse the staff, not improve existing practices. Sourcing and procurement professionals are no different than anyone else within the enterprise: if given the choice, they will prefer to operate wholly within their defined zone of comfort, experience, and interest.
Unfortunately, eSourcing still falls outside the comfort zone of many sourcing and procurement professionals. Additionally, processes that are not standardized nor regularly communicated and well-supported by training (initial and on-going) are hard to ingrain in a department. For these reasons, Chief Procurement Officers should make sure to include business process training as well as application-focused training when deploying eSourcing (and Spend Analysis and Contracts) solutions.
Developing training can be a challenge when resources and budgets are tight but as we discussed in the recent article, “Back to School (Time for Training)” now is the time to start planning now for next year. It will be time well spent.
Postscript: Thanks to those who have already taken the survey to our upcoming CPO Rising 2012: Keeping Score report. We still have a way to go so, if you can spare some time this week, please consider taking the survey by clicking here – I’ll be most appreciative to those who do.
