Procurement Personal Objectives: 5 Things to Achieve This Year

Personal objectives are a great way to kickstart your year. Here, we look at our top five things procurement professionals should achieve this year.

As we all know, procurement stretches far beyond simply purchasing goods and services. At its core, your role is ensuring smooth business continuity all year round – no matter what problems the supply chain throws up. This comes down to doing your market research, evaluating vendor suitability, negotiating contracts and mitigating risk.  

But what does that mean beyond a significant amount of responsibility? Well, it presents several important ways that those of us in the industry can add value to our companies. 

Those outside of the industry, and often many within it, are not always aware of the individual activities that take place to keep global supply chains operating. The knock-on effect of this is that opportunities to improve efficiency and sustainability are often missed. 

As we head further into 2022 we’ve sat down to think about how we can make the most of our positions to promote sustainable values this year.

Here are our top five personal objectives for 2022.

1. Improve Your Ethical Footprint

Over the last five years, ethical practises and the wider ideas behind CSR have become vital to the procurement process. As consumer behaviours have shifted, so have procurement practises. Gone are the days of absolute low costs winning business, we’re now in the era of ethical sourcing and sustainable procurement – all driven by consumers’ increasing willingness to pay a premium for ‘greener’ products. 

But how does this manifest itself in your day-to-day working life? Well, there are several things we can all do more of this year to improve our footprints. One of the most important is to start having the right conversations. Although changes require the buy-in from senior team members, highlighting problems when we see them and bringing the topic up for discussion is something we can all strive to do more of.

2. Champion Innovation

Innovation is the key to success in 2022 and staying ahead of the curve will be an important part of forming robust chains. Procurement holds a powerful position within wider businesses and as the stakeholders that choose which suppliers to work with, our choices define the type of chain we operate in. 

Crucially, choosing suppliers that hold the same innovative values as us benefits business and keeps our companies competitive. In 2022 your objective should be to promote the change you want to see by only working with suppliers that use the latest technology, equipment and processes.

3. Reassess Supplier Codes of Conduct

Supplier codes of conduct are a great way to promote sustainability in your supply chains. It’s important to not only have them in place but to understand how they can be leveraged to maximise sustainable practises from top to bottom. The understanding between supply chain stakeholders is key to defining expectations around working practises, boosting sustainability and promoting ethical sourcing. 

Reassessing these codes of conduct, making sure they are up to date and adding any required extra clauses is a good objective to have this year. By ensuring stakeholders throughout the chain agree on working practises we can help speed up the shift towards totally sustainable procurement. 

4. Leverage Social Procurement to Build Your Career

An objective many of us will have for the year to come is to further develop our careers. A way to fast track this process is to bring social strategy into the way you think and manage supply chains. You can read our recent article on how a social procurement strategy can skyrocket your career for more information.

In terms of how we can implement this day-to-day, having the right conversations with the right people is the perfect place to start. Doing this not only helps with our objective around improving our ethical footprints but demonstrates a passion for the topic to senior staff. Aligning our professional values with those of the consumer will be invaluable to your company and career ambitions. 

5. Brush up on Your Core Procurement Skills

Sometimes we get so caught up in developing new skills that we neglect the ones we already have. A great objective for this year would be to brush up on some of your core skills, particularly if you’re eyeing that big promotion you’ve been after. 

Some of your focus for 2022 could be refreshing your risk management skills, expanding your storytelling capabilities, solidifying your executive presence and ensuring your business intelligence is up to scratch. You can find out more about our top five skills to nail in 2022.

While we think these objectives are the best way to kickstart your 2022, we’re keen to hear your thoughts! Drop us a comment below and tell us what your objects for the year are.