Over the years, procurement has suffered with its reputation, and it would be fair to say in several instances, has been mis-understood internally within many organisations.
However, in recent years there appears to have been a turning of the tide in some instances, with many more companies offering procurement a seat in the board room and its true business value coming to the fore.
Economic difficulties in recent times and challenges from Brexit, Covid and global conflicts have further accelerated the rise of procurement as a strategic value adding function. Whilst some industries and companies are struggling and redundancies continue to rise, we are still seeing a whole host of career opportunities opening up within the world of procurement given its tangible value offering.
So, why a career in procurement?
Procurement is being recognised as a major contributor to company growth, therefore becoming increasingly important and valued members of the boardroom. This in turn will bring more quick track progression potential to procurement professionals.
As procurement is responsible for optimising costs and delivering cost savings, amongst many other things, there is a tangible benefit being delivered to the business. As such, career progression in many cases will be based on performance rather than the number of years of experience you have.
Salaries within procurement are on a par with many other business areas such as Finance and IT, however, given the increase in senior appointments and responsibility, you might expect procurement salaries to continue rising at a faster pace than many other more established business functions.
Managing multi-million pound contracts, delivering millions of pounds in savings and enhancing company profit and performance all whilst dealing with a diverse range of cross functional stakeholders can be very challenging, yet very rewarding!
Procurement may not have the ‘sexiest’ reputation in the world of business, but it certainly offers up its fair share of excitement!
Careers in procurement can offer a wide variety of options from specialising in strategic sourcing, cost reduction and spend analytics, through to contract management and supplier risk management. Or all of the above! Category generalist or category specialist, whether it is variety or specialisms you prefer, procurement has lots of options. And those options are continuing to increase with procurement becoming involved in more and more strategic projects in areas like digital transformation and sustainability. Companies struggling with their Sustainability targets (elitesearchsolutions.co.uk)
Talent shortages – how can we attract more talent to procurement?
Despite the benefits of a career in procurement, there is still a shortage of talent coming through. Procurement represents a fantastic opportunity for graduates to gain a challenging and progressive career. So, what can we do to make the youth of today say ‘Procurement Manager’ when they are asked what they want to be when they are older?
With the rise of procurement, coupled with the current economic situation making career employment for graduates more challenging than ever, this should be a great opportunity to attract top future talent into the sector.
The key to do this is for procurement to be promoted better at grassroots level. Getting into universities for talks or distribution or informative material to demonstrate the benefits of a career in procurement can raise procurements profile. Many business-related degrees will have an element of procurement & supply chain within them, so getting more students taking up internships, master’s degrees or graduate placements in procurement, will lay the foundations for a thriving procurement talent market.
However, this will not be a quick solution to the demand and supply issue. In the short term, companies must look at their existing talent or the current talent within the marketplace. There are a fewer options available.
Upskill your existing team by investing in their training and development. Whilst this may be more cost effective, it isn’t the quickest of solutions, therefore another option would be to plug skills gaps or capacity shortages with highly skilled interims. Quick, but certainly not cheap!
Then there is to hire externally. This is fairly cost effective and if hiring the right person, can offer a good timely solution. However, as this article has highlighted, this for many organisations is proving more challenging than they expected! Organisations facing challenges to attract & retain talent (elitesearchsolutions.co.uk)
Whilst many organisations focus may be on the now, given the current challenges in a highly competitive recruitment world, it is important to plan for the future. With a shortage in graduate talent coming through in procurement, it is imperative that companies take ownership in doing their bit to elevate the profile of procurement as a function.
And to individuals seeking a rewarding and challenging career - procurement really should be on your radar!
If you are considering a career in procurement or would like to find out more about opportunities and the benefits of a career in procurement, do not hesitate to reach out for a confidential discussion
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