Confessions of a Corporate Shopaholic

It’s not like we are devious.  Yes we get measured by how much cost savings we achieve for the company, and that’s what the company hired us for in the first place.  Some people, however, are just plain reckless.  Just because it does not come out of their own pockets, they would just spend it out on anything imaginable, perhaps as compensation to their perceivable below market pay or uncalled-for bullying by their bosses.  If only everyone treat the company’s money like their own, we would be jobless.  Oh yes, thank goodness we have you guys around.

So if you come to me complaining about worsening business traveling perks, I hate to break it to you, you are just so behind the times.  In this day and age of diminishing revenue and profits, top management has already been cutting traveling and operating expenses long before any procurement people was born.  It’s all top down.  It’s all policies.  They want to take away your printers.  I don’t even give a damn.  We are just so lucky to be the ones executing the policies to keep our jobs, and so stop complaining about how underprivileged you are.  Grow a pair and stop whining.  At least you get paid.

Those who protest against procurement people having special treatments and getting themselves upgrades or even freebies, get proof and report them to management.  Don’t let them get away with it.  They are the ones who hurt our brand and community and I don’t want any of them smearing my name.  Procurement people should assume the highest ethical standards because aside from technical skills and subject matter expertise, credibility, impartiality and ethics are the only pillars of who we are.  I fight for my company and my users / stakeholders.  Despite drastic budget cuts by top management, I strive to get the best value for the diminishing dollar.  If I am not doing my job right, the matter could be a lot worse.  In today’s markets of ever-increasing inflation, avoiding price increases or maintaining buying power is as important as getting discounts.

I hate to break it to you, these are challenges of procurement perhaps 10 years ago.  Every major company is done with cuts in traveling expenses, IT budgets, or office equipment spend.   In order to keep meeting ongoing cost savings targets summing up to millions of dollars per year, we have to continue looking for new and un-ventured areas for cost savings opportunities.  Business process outsourcing, recycling, above-the-line marketing buy, consulting, transportation, training, headhunting, health coverage, energy and utilities, professional memberships, private clubs, event planning, leases, corporate cards, and the list goes on.  I even once led a project in India selling company owned condos using reverse auction tools, for cash.  In another scenario I sold off tens of millions of dollars worth written-off customer debts to investors for immediate cash benefiting the company.  I go where the money is, period.

So you now get a better picture of how I am measured.  Like any salesmen, I need to deliver a set upon ROI (Return of Investment) to my employer.  Hypothetically, if I am paid a million dollars, my job is to help the company save at least 7 million.  In this case, the ROI is 7 fold.  Of course, there are procurement colleagues whose jobs are to process purchase orders and ensure timely receipt of goods and services.  They are equally important and they shall be measured a bit differently.  I am, however, more specialized in running projects that require more strategic planning and the collaboration of multiple stakeholders, and more often than not, extremely powerful suppliers.  I need to make sure my project outcomes are implementable across the region, but I am expected to keep building a cost savings pipeline to meet my targeted ROI.  That means I also need to convince my fellow procurement colleagues to support my initiatives and in turn help me implement the change in respective local markets.

If you look at it this way, I am very much a sales person as well.  I need to be humble, open, a good listener, resourceful, efficient, a good communicator, and entrepreneurial.  Better yet, my results are completely measurable.  In my opinion, these skills and attitudes will soon become the pre-requisites of strategic procurement professionals everywhere.

Next time when you have the honor to run into a procurement person, try to see which breed they are.