7 Things Procurement Professionals Want For Christmas

No doubt you completed your Christmas wish-list and posted it to the North Pole long ago –  after all, Santa’s workshop is not exempt from the supply chain delays caused by COVID-19.

Hopefully, you’ve earned a place on Santa’s “nice” list, which means a sizeable pile of gifts awaits you on Christmas morning. But have you given much thought to what you want from your professional life this year?

Don’t worry if not, because the PASA Christmas Elf has compiled a list of seven things procurement professionals want for Christmas, complete with advice on how to get them.

1. Career progression

2020 has been filled with seemingly endless uncertainty and disruption. As a result, career advancement has taken a backseat for many professionals, particularly amidst the threat of mass redundancies.

Whether you are feeling vulnerable in your current role, looking for a new challenge, or were recently let go, December is the perfect time to get your affairs in order – starting with your CV.

Check out our guide on writing an outstanding procurement CV to help you land the job you deserve in 2021.

2. Secure supply chains

The importance of good risk mitigation strategies has come to the fore in 2020, with the responsibility of managing and reducing risk throughout the pandemic often falling on procurement’s shoulders.

Alongside shipping delays, stockouts, and spikes in consumer demand, procurement professionals have been challenged with a sharp increase in supply chain attacks.

In this piece, we address the best ways to prevent a supply chain attack.

3. Top talent

It’s more important than ever before that procurement teams hire the right talent, which often requires the guidance and expertise of a recruitment agency.

Working alongside a recruiter can save a significant amount of time and stress, as well as resulting in the hire of the best possible candidate for any given role.

In this piece, we look at the key considerations you should be making before committing to a partnership with a recruitment agency.

4. Happy and healthy supplier relationships

When the procurement times get tough there is nothing like knowing your suppliers have your back.

The benefits of nurturing meaningful, collaborative, and positive relationships with your preferred suppliers should never be underestimated – improving supply chain visibility, reliability, and innovation. Fostering intimate relationships with your suppliers also means you’ll be the first to know when something isn’t right, giving you time to prepare accordingly and mitigate disruption.

In this piece, we list the nine supplier red flags you should never, ever ignore.

5. Just-in-case supply chains

Another lesson 2020 has taught procurement professionals is that the just-in-time supply chain model is not fit for purpose. As evidenced by the enormous stock-out challenges faced by retailers at the beginning of the pandemic, contingency planning is crucial.

Moving forward, organizations will likely re-evaluate their supply chain strategies, which could include a focus on reshoring or onshoring their manufacturing activities.

In this piece, we explore the benefits of buying local.

6. Sustainability

As organizations around the world slowly rebuild from the economic devastation reaped by COVID-19, there are concerns that sustainability efforts will take a back seat.

In recent years, sustainable procurement has become a key focus for many organisations and the idea that these efforts might be undone in the coming months is a concerning one.

Experts have argued that a sustainable recovery is very much attainable, but only if governments and businesses make it their mission to achieve it.

7. The right skill-set

The most in-demand skills are constantly and quickly changing in procurement, but perhaps never more so than in 2020. As the nature of work has shifted, so too have job descriptions, responsibilities, and priorities.

In this piece, we reveal the top five procurement skills you will need to master for the post-COVID-19 world.