5 Procurement Resolutions to Set For Your Career This Year
Eaten too many mince pies and feeling bummed about the year ahead? Recharge and reinvigorate your role by following our top 5 New Year’s Resolutions.
Whether you’ve eaten too many Christmas mince pies, downed one too many festive tipples or just flopped on the couch after an insane work year and never got back up, the impending arrival of a new year can often stir the desire to reset and refresh.
Many people set personal new year resolutions but have you considered setting new resolutions for your career?
Why make resolutions in the first place?
There is a bucket load of research that has been conducted over the last decade on goal setting and the psychological impacts and benefits that this can bring.
Setting goals helps you to:
- Focus on the priority areas you’ve set
- Provide an “end game” and deadline for you to work to
- Gives the ability to measure your progress and provide motivation
- It can help keep you accountable
- Can help trigger and support new desired behaviors
Goal setting isn’t for everyone, for some people it gives the opposite effect and induces anxiety so make sure you take an approach that suits you!
Translation into the workplace
Whether you’re a goal setting type of person or not it can be beneficial to take this framework and apply it to your role. Goal setting in the workplace can provide an opportunity to spring clean your role and take charge of your work plan.
How to make meaningful resolutions
- Don’t compare yourself to others and use that as a the basis for setting an “improvement” regime for yourself
- Pick something that is right for you and your circumstances
- Make sure it’s achievable and realistic
- The smaller you aim the more likely you are to achieve it
- You have to be ready for the change and be ready to do the work – you may need to change behaviors or habit patterns, are you up for this?
The most popular new year resolutions
Why reinvent the wheel? Let’s start by looking at the most common and popular new year resolutions and flip them into the procurement context.
- Get healthy = go back to basics and do them well
Success in procurement is often about the quality of relationships and doing the basics well. The new year can be a great time to review what contracts, accounts or suppliers are due for a review, check which contracts are expiring or which suppliers need to be engaged and checked on.
- Increase exercise! = engage with your stakeholders
With some of us able to get back into the office, it is amazing how much business is done at the water cooler or in the kitchen. Many problems are resolved in corridors, new ideas are formed at the photocopier, issues are raised in the lift. Connecting and chatting with key stakeholders is critical, who do you need to be in contact with and how frequently? Plan it out and set up calendar reminders for yourself at the beginning of the year. Set up regular one to one meetings where required, it saves you in the long run.
- Take up a new hobby = look for smarter ways of doing things
Simplifying processes or tasks can be the best form of innovation and the new year can be a good time to take a fresh look at your operating models and ways of working.
Where are your pain points? Where are your blocks? Is there anything you can do about them? Is there anything in the way that you work that is inefficient? Are there any processes that take up more time than they should?
The new year can be a great time to priortise your work plan. Each year I map out what I think are the critical areas and projects for the year ahead. I then prioritise them in regards to highest risk to the business, spend, criticality of supply and importance to the client. I then estimate how much time and effort each will take me and propose a work plan that I circulate with my management and my senior stakeholders. Life doesn’t always go to plan but if I find myself drowning mid-year I can revert back to this work plan and reset.
- Better work life balance = map out your contracts and focus on the right ones.
We all get carried away and swept up in the hustle and bustle of busy jobs. Procurement Pro’s can tend to be reactive as we respond to the needs of the business or clients, it’s easy to put your work at the bottom of the list and deal with the fires that are in front of you.
At the beginning of the year I extract data of the key commodities, accounts, contracts and business units and then I map them out using a supplier positioning model and right size my time.
- Prioritize self care = block out your calendar
The beginning of the year is the perfect time to proactively think about your career and set aside the time for it. Think about what this could be and then set the time aside now.
Some examples include making the time to listen to procurement podcasts, reading articles and signing up to webinars. It can also be networking and staying connected with various people. I was strict on myself this year and found a 1 hour window a week where I could concentrate on fuelling my brain. I also made a list of all the people I find valuable connecting with and once a month I organise 2 coffee or zoom dates and work through my list – it’s always invaluable and energising.
Top tip – the out of office hack
I put my out office on and say that I will be back in the office 2 days later then my actual start date. That way I get 2 full days to clear emails, work at my own pace and set my priorities for the year. I don’t respond to any emails and I don’t take my out office off (obviously my manager and team know i’m there). In a demand driven business, stemming the flow of contact from clients and suppliers has been an absolute life saver, is this something you can try?
What new year energy will you bring to your new role?
