In April and May, Ardent Partners hosted The CPO Rising 2K20 Virtual Series – The Resiliency Imperative as a way to bring together our global community of procurement, finance, and supply management professionals and collectively tackle the big issues we were all facing and continue to face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 2,300 people participated in the 20 virtual sessions including our livestream summit. We also had 27 experts share their ideas and insights. Once the dust settled on the series, Andrew went back to interview many of these leaders so we could learn a little bit more about them and their companies. We’re also working on a plan to replay many of the sessions, so stay tuned.
Fiona Wood is the Head of Global Standards at the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS). Fiona has led procurement teams in the UK, Europe, and in the Americas, focusing in the retail and media sectors, working on strategic projects involving construction, IT, logistics, marketing and financial services. Throughout her career Fiona has been an active member of CIPS, achieving Fellowship status in 2013. Andrew connected with Fiona this week and below is a transcript of their discussion (edited for clarity).
Andrew Bartolini: Good day to you Fiona! Thanks for taking some time today. To start, I wanted to thank you again for the great presentation where you and your colleague Phil Broughton discussed the impact of the Coronavirus on knowledge management and how eLearning can play a role in driving the procurement team’s engagement and performance. So, let’s start off today with a little bit of your bio, and while everyone knows CIPS, a little bit about them too.
Fiona Wood: The Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) is the world’s largest procurement and supply professional organization. It is the worldwide center of excellence on procurement and supply management issues. CIPS has a global membership of over 70,000 in 150 different countries, including senior business people, high-ranking civil servants and leading academics. The activities of procurement and supply chain professionals have a major impact on the profitability and efficiency of all types of organization and CIPS is here to help individuals and organizations make the best out of their procurement capabilities.
I have been a member of CIPS and worked in procurement for more than 25 years, mostly in the retail and media sectors. In 2013 I qualified as a teacher and moved into school leadership where I taught and lead the business operations schools.
I am currently Head of Global Standards and Product Development leading initiatives to support the development of global standards for the profession and qualifications. For instance I have been involved in the further development of our digital learning streams, which certainly resonates with how people want to study and learn not only during the pandemic but beyond too. It is important to develop products and services based on customer needs as the world of learning is changing with a greater demand for more bite-sized knowledge and interactive content.
AB: Yes, I agree, it really has been necessary to adapt to changing learning habits. How did you end up working in this industry?
FW: Working with CIPS was a natural next step after working in both the procurement profession and in education. I have had a long relationship with the institute over the years. Understanding my professional body has meant I have been able to develop some strong relationships and get involved in some major projects quickly and effectively.
AB: Recent events have taught us many things regarding short-term preparation and general planning, what should procurement professionals be paying attention to now, in the short-term, and in the future?
FW: Our Supply Management magazine has found that our members just before the pandemic were concerned about the potential of weakening UK standards in goods, such as food, as the UK rushes to make deals as a result of Brexit. Now, our members are managing disrupted supply chains, finding new and creative ways to build resilience and that means having trained, skilled professionals on board – it’s now more important than ever.
For the future, investing in staff will be important to develop skills of resilience and agility, both of which are key to improving decision-making. The power of collaboration is key to unlocking the potential of staff and teams, employers have the challenge to provide the infrastructure to support collaboration across and between businesses.
AB: This decade has gotten off to an inauspicious start, but it will eventually right itself. Where do you think procurement will be in 2030? What is something you hope we will have but do not have currently? What is the one thing you’d like to exist or see in 2030?
FW: Universal buy-in to procurement ethics – fundamentally a focus on people, plant, and profit in decision-making which leads to sustainable solutions for everyone.
For employers, to be actively engaged with staff learning to ensure that the staff knows it matters to their employer as much as it does to the individual. This is a key source of motivation for staff learning, it improves engagement and supports staff when they are struggling to find the time to learn as part of a busy work schedule.
We have seen great changes in the digitization of supply chains in the last few years and that is set to continue. We are also looking at how automation, artificial intelligent and 3D printing are set to make big impacts.
AB: During the shutdown, what was the best or most interesting thing you watched (movie or show), read (book, article) or saw (something online)? If nothing comes to mind, feel free to answer, what is favorite movie or book and why you like it?
FW: For best book I’ll say The Overstory by Richard Powers, which is a series of short stories about trees. It changed the way I value trees. I have planted two Silver Birch and ten new Ash trees as a result of reading the book! From a teaching and learning perspective, the work by Zimmerman and all, focusing on learner motivation and how learner motivation can be developed though employer engagement has been the most interesting.
AB: Hmmm, trees and learning… that actually sounds about right! Anyway, thanks for joining me today. Cheers!
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