The Secret Sauce to Procurement Perfection? Shared Values

What does it take to achieve peak group performance? Find out why shared values matter more than you think in your procurement team!

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Have you ever seen a team that seems to be continually flying high? Not only do they meet their KPIs, their clients love their energy, and their performance is on a strong upward trajectory. They  know how to maintain good supplier relationships from the get-go. They know what it takes to lead in tough times. What’s more, it’s clear that this team really values each member – they have genuine, harmonious and supportive relationships, and they also somehow manage to smash it out of the park every day of the week.

‘How do I get my team to that level?’ You might be asking yourself. ‘What’s their secret?’

Well, if you ask us here at Procurious, it isn’t just about having teams with top technical skills. Sure, that’s very important. But the ingredient to a successful procurement team, that thing that so many of us forget to prioritise, is shared values.

Huh? Why do shared values matter so much?

We’ve got four top reasons why. Shared values:

• Drive positive workplace culture
• Foster a collective energy and sense of belonging to a group
• Eradicate toxic individualism and place importance on the team effort
• Create shared accountability and therefore alleviate pressure on individual members
• Establish and cement common goals and targets

In essence, shared values play an important role in shaping the brand and the identity of your working team. How do you want the rest of the procurement world to see you and your colleagues?

Hold on, our company already has values… so why do we need team ones?

Did you know that shared values are different to company values? 

This is because company values often reflect the larger organisation’s mission, vision, and goals, as well as defining their service offering and marketing how these services stand out from others on the market. Company values also encompass rules and guidelines with regards to how people should conduct themselves in the workplace and in their procurement practice. 

While shared team values are guided by the identity of the organisation at large, they  are more focused on bringing together the individual members of a department, and creating a shared outlook. 

So, if you’ll permit us, the Procurious team is putting our chef hats on and asking, what goes into the ‘team value secret sauce’? Our secret recipe is: a full glass of support, a cup of guidance, a measure of accountability, and to stir it all together? Good, strong communication.

Procurement speak – know your own value

If the last 18 months have shown us anything, it’s that procurement is in more demand than ever. Teams are recognising that their profession is essential to the survival and growth of the global supply chain, especially in these turbulent times. 

But when all’s said and done, how can procurement teams continue to prove their worth to the outside world if they haven’t established their own internal values inside? In order to do this, your team needs to get together and figure out what value you bring as procurement professionals. 

In an article for Paramount Workplace, Founder and CEO Salim Khalife identified the top 5 traits of successful procurement pros:

• Strong negotiation skills
• Embracing technology
• Detail oriented with a big picture view
• Fiscally responsible
• Service-minded, great communicators

We think these are great traits, and you can find a list of our own, here!

But how can procurement teams turn these skills assets into team values? It might seem tricky, but we’ll get you started. You know you’re on track to procurement perfection if your team possesses the following values:

Strong negotiation skills = team value PREPARATION

To foster that mindset of acing every negotiation, you have a formula or worksheet that outlines how to make a convincing pitch, or how to negotiate effectively with your suppliers. You might even practice your negotiations and presentations with your colleagues! This shows that your team values preparation.

Embracing technology = team value PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Your team acknowledges that technology has the potential to grow your company’s global outreach, innovate new strategies with clients, and mitigate future risks. So, you organise training sessions and demos with the latest software as it becomes available to your team, and ensure that everyone has an understanding of how it works. This shows that your team values professional development. 

Detail oriented with a big picture view = team value EXCELLENT SERVICE

Whether it’s a big picture agenda for the year ahead, or an important email to send out to your client base, your procurement team knows that attention to detail is key. You give it your all, and you leave no ends untied. You know what you are working towards – your everyday tasks are all in service of building strong client relationships, timely delivery, and all in line with the vision of the company. This shows that your team values excellent service. 

Fiscally responsible = team value ACCOUNTABILITY

Each team member has a sound understanding of spend management and how your company makes fiscal decisions. You stick to budget and look for ways to effectively cut costs, without compromising on company values (for example, sustainability). You continually seek to improve your fiscal performance and maintain best practices by sourcing ethical suppliers. This shows that your team values financial accountability. 

Service-minded, great communicators = team value PEOPLE FIRST

Your team knows that the supply chain is nothing without the people behind it, keeping the wheels in motion and overseeing all processes and exchanges. Therefore, you know that communicating effectively with these people is the key to your organisation’s success! You have clear guidelines on how to approach suppliers, how to negotiate terms and maintain good comms across various platforms, and how to have difficult conversations when needed. You communicate with your client’s needs in mind, as well as your own, and you empathise with your suppliers. This shows that your team values – you guessed it – people first. 

My team isn’t there yet… so, how do we develop our shared values?

Never fear, Procurious is here! To take your team values to the next level with these top tips:

1. Get the right people involved 

Establishing your values should involve the whole team. Try to have this mindset from the very beginning, and ensure you allow people to participate and feed into the process from the earliest discussions. People are more likely to back the end result if they’ve been a part of it from the beginning, not when someone cooks up a strategy in isolation and tries to sell it to everyone else later. 

2. Align with organisational goals and values

Take a good look at your organisation’s goals, objectives, strategic direction and commitments. Do these resonate with your team? How is your team’s purpose reflected in these organisational values and goals, and how can you best help to achieve them? 

3. Recognise your team’s input and output

What does your team’s peak performance look like? When you aren’t being procurement firefighters, and are working at your best, what do you achieve? How does your work contribute to the overall success of the organisation?

4. Find individual strengths among your team members

Ask yourself, what are your team members’ strengths? And what motivates them? Is Lucas a fantastic negotiator, while Freya loves strategising, and Angela enjoys administration? By ensuring that everyone has the opportunity, in their role, to play to their strengths, your team will be the unstoppable bunch of superheroes!

5. Make a mission statement – and write it down

What is the one short, sharp sentence that sums up your team’s mission or vision? Everyone should be able to see themselves in this and understand the role they each play, but also how, as a team, you collectively harness your shared values to get your work done.

6. Get feedback and guidance from other teams

Learning from others is a brilliant way to build up your team’s confidence and performance. So get inspired! Ask other departments what their values and procedures are, and see if any of them apply to you. What’s more, you can share your team’s values with others, and ask for feedback. You’ll naturally start to see how effective your team strategy is too – after all, it will directly affect how you interact with other teams, clients, suppliers and customers. 

7. Live those team values!

Don’t hide those superb team values, open them up! If others can understand your journey, and what allows you to work best, then they’re more likely to understand any product launches or change projects down the line. Make sure you embed them by providing clear communication with repeated simple messages that are delivered consistently – especially if there is a management team involved! Keep it simple.

To keep your team values active and top-of-mind, you can:

• Reference them in company meetings, especially with management or executives
• Include them in your branding and marketing assets
• Set weekly KPIs that incorporate these values
• Repeat, repeat, repeat! Keep talking about team values, and they’ll be second nature before you know it!

Ultimately, team values create procurement unity. It’s well-recognised that values-based leadership and effective communication at all levels is the secret to high performing teams. Focusing only on results without building a team culture is a sure-fire way to create a team of stressed individuals who feel that they must compete against each other. But with the right culture, and that secret sauce of team values, the results will manifest!

If you’re looking for more insight into what makes a high-performing procurement team, read this!