Little C vs Capital C – Do You Have the Commercial Skills You Need to Get to the Top?
There’s no doubt that in the coming years, automation, digitisation and AI will have a major impact on Procurement and Supply Chain roles, and yet, this isn’t the subject that has dominated conversations at a senior level. The changing nature of jobs in the profession is only half the story – the other half is whether or not we, as professionals, have the necessary skills to meet long-term business objectives.
According to research carried out at the end of 2023, the vast majority of Procurement leaders don’t believe that their teams possess the right skill set. However, far from seeing this as a threat, many are actually looking at the current situation as an opportunity to ensure their teams not only have the skills to future proof their business, but also thrive in a constantly changing environment.
What is clear from all of this is that a ‘traditional’ commercial skills mix is no longer enough on its own. These skills allow professionals to perform their current roles, but they now must add a whole new set of skills that will enable them to develop and perform the roles as they will look in the future.
Commercial Skills – The ‘Little c’
If you were asked to name the Top 5 or even Top 10 skills required to do a role in procurement, what would you have on your list?
Roles have traditionally focused on the day-to-day running of the team, the supply chain and the various organisational stakeholders who have skin in the procurement game. The skills involved in these roles have a much more technical slant – sourcing, supplier management, even the oft-derided ‘soft skills’. We can group these all together under the head of ‘Little c’ commercial skills.
This list includes all the skills you might expect procurement and supply chain professionals to have, even if they use a different blend of them as their role in the team changes and progresses. These skills include:
- Supplier Relationship Management
- Data Analysis
- Cost Management
- PO Management
- Risk Management
- Change Management
- Communication
In light of the profession’s on-going evolution, we should also add to the list those skills that will become more critical over the next decade:
- Working with Automation and Digitisation
- Understanding of the use of AI in Procurement
- Procurement Technology and Solutions and their applications
Most professionals will develop these skills over the course of their careers, prioritising some over others, and needing some far less as they advance through the hierarchy. However, these skills on their own aren’t enough to take an individual to the top of the profession, and here’s why.
The skills listed above are largely seen as the ‘day job’ for procurement. CPOs and the wider C-Suite are looking for Procurement to go beyond this foundation, actively pushing to add greater value for the organisation through their alignment with, and achievement of, strategic business objectives
This is where ‘Capital C’ commercial skills come in.
Commercial Skills – The ‘Capital C’
When we consider the ‘Capital C’ commercial skills, we are looking at a mix of skills that enable professionals to go beyond their traditional remit of cost management and focus on the bottom line. These skills are harder to define, especially when it comes to goals and performance management, and tend to have more intangible outcomes in the short-term at least.
However, these skills ultimately help professionals add value for the organisation by aiding better decision-making, ensuring more (and better) resources for teams and helping shift the dial for Procurement on the traditional focus on cost management and the bottom line. They include:
- Influencing
- Commercial Judgement
- Instinct or Nous
As well as having an impact that is harder to fully define, these skills are also harder to develop through traditional training methods, frequently being built up over time through learned experience. Due to this, you are more likely to have these skills in your armoury the longer you are in the profession. The key is to understand how best to develop them, and how to prove the results they help to deliver.
Training the ‘Capital C’
When it comes to results, one way of providing this evidence is to link them to Objectives and Key Results (OKRs). These are a set of goals and objectives that put stakeholders first and are aligned with strategic priorities, but provide a more tangible output to your development.
When looking at training and development for these ‘Capital C’ skills, individuals, shorn of traditional methods, need to understand what’s going to work best for them. There are a number of methods available, all of which have a common link to the people you work with and who have developed these skills themselves during their careers. A good place to start is in one of the following methods:
- Find a Good Mentor
Many organisations will have programs in place to link up employees with senior managers and leaders who are happy to mentor others and share their knowledge and experience. If there isn’t anything formal in place, you can always ask around – the chances are pretty good there will be someone willing to help.
Put an arrangement in place that suits you both by laying out your expectations and detailing what you want to get out of the relationship. Don’t be shy about putting a set length of time on the relationship – it can help with getting a commitment on both sides, and allows you to have more than one mentor to help develop different skills.
- On the Job Training
It’s the most common method of semi-formal or informal training, and one that we all take advantage of. Working with peers, colleagues and stakeholders who have been through similar situations allows us to pick their brains, and understand what has worked well in the past, what strategies are best avoided, and what challenges might still be faced.
We can then use this knowledge to inform our own decision making and put our own strategies in place.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
Let’s face it, none of us are perfect. We have all made mistakes during our careers, and there are probably plenty still to come. But this shouldn’t make us afraid to go out and make the bold calls for fear of something going wrong, or not turning out exactly the way we had hoped or expected.
This is all part of the learning experience and, as long as you are open with your team and your manager, you can make these decisions with a safety net and support in place. Just make sure that if something doesn’t go quite to plan, you learn from the experience (and share it with others).
