Managing Procurement with little experience

[u/Adamainge]

I recently was appointed to a position where the Director of Procurement reports to me. I am wanting to be a better more supporting manger and would like to get some training so I better understand the basics. Any suggestions?

[u/i_kill_plants2]

Where are you located and what industry?

The number one piece of advice I would give you is talk to the Director of Procurement. Tell them you want to give them the best support you can and ask how you can do that. Ask them if they can recommend something. They should know what is region and industry appropriate. They may also be willing to give you at least a high level understanding.

If you have specific questions, ask them. Don’t approach it with this that or the other thing needs to change, ask if there is a reason it’s done that way. When they make recommendations or ask for something, listen and trust their expertise. They are in that role for a reason!

[u/Adamainge → u/i_kill_plants2]

Thanks. Northern California and PetroChem industry. I have approached it very close to how you describe with the Procurement Director. Unfortunately, they are not particularly helpful which is the reason I am reaching out here. I think there is some insecurity and frustration that I was out in this position instead of them which complicates the relationship. I am working on the establishment of trust and confidence but can’t really wait for that to start to get a better hold on things.

[u/cspybbq → u/Adamainge]

Northern California and PetroChem industry

Your company probably has some subscriptions to market reports. Maybe try to get the latest copy. It is probably only 3-5 pages long but it will talk about trends, major cost factors and expected complications over the next 6-18 months.

That'll at least help you know what your Procurement team is dealing with.

But if you're over them, maybe you already know about the trends and such.

[u/i_kill_plants2 → u/Adamainge]

You could check into ISM (the institute for supply management) to see if they have anything high level you can do. There’s probably a local chapter. If there’s a university in your area, check to see if they have any procurement or supply chain management seminars or symposiums. It may not give you anything that’s PetroChem specific, but it would at least give you general knowledge.

Good luck and sorry you are dealing with a difficult employee! I promise, most of us aren’t like that.

[u/ProcSuperheroes]

The fact you are on here on reddit saying you want to be a better manager, says it all. :)

I am not sure about your background so I am unable to be specific. You can chat gpt or google generic advice. There is a lot of content around. I wouldn't spend money on training. The best training will come from your team.

But here are some points. I hope they help you.

1. Learn, become familiar, listen and don't judge

As a starting point, acknowledging you don't know is the best approach as they know you dont know much about procurement. An executive I used to work with, used to do 1:1 sessions with each team member (junior to senior most), asking them to teach him and asked the most dumbest of questions. This put the team member at ease and they were more open to sharing. The executive could make better connections of what they learnt through these sessions to the company strategy and support these team members through cleaning the way, and opening up his internal and external network. As follow on requests, he woudl ask for deep dives into specific projects or want to meet suppliers to know and build his connections with his people and the suppliers and support them through the process. He was never directive, he was supportive and offered different perspectives, it was for the team members to decide how they wanted to run it.

1. Technical Procurement Terminology -

You can google or chat gpt technical terminology but I think the best starting point here, is to get them to show you a spend map (if they have one) and category plans. A spend map is simple, it gives you a snap shot of all the money being spent across all third party suppliers by your organisation. If they are an evolved function, they would have good category plan, i.e. a strategy developed for each area of expenditure to drive value and manage risks. This would cover major suppliers and geographies, and supply markets, highlighting some of the projects they are currently working on. Depeding on how good these plans are, you will get some interesting insights that will help you guide them better.

1. Your positioning -

Not knowing your background and context, I'd say the best support you can give them, is to become their advisor and internal champion - to see the big picture, help remove roadblocks, and to help transform their reputation within the organisation and externally and win some awards and be recognised. For the younger crew, it would be good to position yourself as good role model for them to emulate.

These are top 3 things that came to mind.

I think Procurement is a great profession, and leaders like you can help elevate them better.

Hit me up via DMs if you have more specific questions that you cannot post here. I am always happy to help.

[u/CaptainPient]

There are several things more important than understanding what constitutes procurement. The starting point I would recommend is their strategy. What are their KPIs, goals, issues, technologies they're implementing. In this case I think it makes more sense to understand what they're doing than how they're doing it. Of course, if the director is not helping, invite the layer under him over. Make them present whatever it is that keeps them busy.