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Procurement Specialists Interim and permanent recruitment
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Money isn't (quite) everything Keeping Exceptional Procurement People When Kaka, the Brazilian World Footballer of the Year, turned down a £91 million move from Milan to Manchester City, he said "I feel great in a place where everybody loves me and I'm very happy to stay" Your best procurement people are unlikely to be offered quite that much money but their reasons for staying or leaving may not be so dissimilar. And you need to know what makes them happy and what keeps them making their above average contribution to your organisation.
Challenge them What motivates exceptional people? Beyond a certain point (but pay attention to it – it is usually higher than average) they cease to be driven by money. What engages talented people is challenging work. Let them loose on projects that have the potential to make a difference and allow them to prove themselves. An average employee will do what they have to and give you 70% commitment. Challenge the exceptional and you’ll get their 30% discretionary commitment too
Get out of their way Talented people need less support, but they also require the space and freedom to excel. They are not the type of people who will respond to task management. Give them clear, unambiguous goals and manage them with honest performance feedback. If you need them to deliver a saving of 20% on a particular project, explain why, rather than how. At this level, a procurement professional needs the context, not the content. Then make sure they have every tool at their disposal, remove any potential barriers, and then get out of their way.
Talent Loves Company Spreading your stars across different teams makes sense on one level. It puts energy, skills and drive into all parts of your organisation but consider the power of putting them all on one team. High performers love working with other high performers and the total is considerably more than the sum of the parts. What is the most significant business objective in front of you right now? Delivering a key component of the savings target? Re-sourcing a business critical supplier? Consider combining the skills of your most talented people. Inspired people inspire results.
Invest in them Give them the tools but give them energy too, they will respond to your input with multiplied output. Invest on two fronts; training and development but also your personal investment; time. Firstly, invest in their training and development: it provides skills, inspiration and the knowledge that they are highly valued. Stretch them into areas of procurement that they may not be used to; if they are a sourcing expert, inspire them with the latest thinking in supplier relationship management. Consider expanding their horizons with wider business skills; an MBA qualified procurement professional becomes an incredibly versatile resource. Secondly, invest your time. Recognise that, at this level, they may be far better than you at what they do, so your role is one of coach - to bring out the best in their performance. Meet regularly, discuss the wider implications of their work, provide the bigger picture and expose them to procurement at a senior level. Investing your time will make the biggest difference. In short, the answer to keeping hold of your procurement stars is to turn them into leaders.
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