A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of a being part of Ardent’s third Annual CPO Rising Summit, the company’s event that is designed “for CPOs by CPOs” at the historic (and elegant!) Harvard Club in Boston’s Back Bay. Following up on the reflections by my colleagues here, here, and here at CPO Rising, there were several instances of the criticality of people and talent within the procurement function. At the end of the day, today’s business climate is not only fueled by the advancements in technology and innovation, but also the very people and talent that continually drive strategic value to procurement departments across the globe.
Talent: The Link to Procurement’s Future
I had the pleasure of sitting on an engaging panel with New York City’s Deputy Chief Procurement Officer (CPO), Ryan A. Murray, and its Director of Contract, Vince Pernetti. The theme of the panel revolved around the idea that procurement’s future is predicated on the function’s ability to not only make the function more attractive to younger generations of talent, but to those already working in this profession. “We don’t want to engage, hire, and foster talent to only let it leave in a few years. If we can find a way to make procurement “sexy” to the younger generation(s), it’ll help the function as a whole be better prepared for the future,” said Murray during the panel, adding that, as CPO of NYC, he and his colleagues are consistently searching for new ways to incentivize procurement professionals using non-financial means.
As innovations like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-enhanced analytics become a bigger part of the procurement function, it could be an interesting way of making the unit more attractive to those workers that want to leverage next-generation technology.
The “Human Side” of Digital Transformation
Former Rio Tinto CIO/CPO (and newly-minted CPO Rising Hall of Famer) Scott Singer delivered one of the highlights of the Summit during his Day Two keynote address on the balance between innovation and “human-ware.” Digital transformation is a critical technological strategy for the growth of procurement, but it requires human-led and organizational approaches for it to serve the greater goals of the function. Organizational strategy and transformational procurement thinking (the outlets of “human-ware”) are what can take any greater transformation initiative from theory into practice and reality. As Singer noted during his keynote presentation, the very path of digital transformation within the procurement function is dependent on the skillsets, expertise, and drive of the function’s “human element.”
Procurement’s Role in the Future of Work
I also had the pleasure of presenting a breakout session during the CPO Rising Summit on procurement’s role in the evolving Future of Work. In a talent-led market within today’s contingent workforce industry, does procurement have a viable role? The answer is, of course, yes. The antiquated notion that procurement can only tell business units how to spend their finances will not benefit the evolving world of work. In order for procurement to play a true role in the Future of Work, its objective is clear: take a new approach to contingent workforce management by leading with a talent-led focus, and, instead of merely being a spend facilitator, work towards driving innovation in how the greater organization leverages its agile workforce.
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