PROCUREMENT TRANSFORMATION
“ Technology exists to make their lives easier ; employees shouldn ’ t feel like their jobs are at risk , or that they are not performing well . Leaders should prioritise re-skilling employees , and clearly defining job roles . Employees need to see digital transformation as an opportunity rather than a challenge to be overcome .”
need to consider their employees when establishing their integration plan and approach it in a phased manner .
“ They need to ensure that all their employees understand what they ’ re trying to achieve ,” says Finnegan , “ but , most importantly , they need to get their buy-in and ensure that they ’ re on board well before implementation . Company culture is critical to the success of any digital transformation programme .
How to track the value of digital transformation It ’ s difficult to accurately measure the value of digital transformation in procurement , since it is a continuous journey . There will always be a new way of working – a new technology or tool – or ways of doing business . Leaders need to be smart and match digital solutions to real strategies that improve procurement performance .
Finnegan says : “ Organisations should ideally focus on identifying existing operational issues and reviewing legacy systems before making any serious investments .
“ By streamlining their operational models , companies will have far greater insight into data streams and into problems that need to be rectified . They will be able to establish the next stage of their procurement digital transformation journey , but there needs to be measurable impact . Given budget constraints , it ’ s important that leaders only purchase solutions or services that they can utilise , and that will improve their operational performance .
“ The real value here is when procurement teams can establish whether they are leveraging all of the data at their disposal . They should have far greater visibility of their revenue and data streams and be able to identify other areas of improvement . Only then , will they be able to make strategic decisions for their organisations , which leave them far more agile and adaptable to any given outcome .” procurementmag . com 91