What Was Your (Christmas) Number 1 Blog in 2023?

From the Procurement job market and overcoming imposter syndrome, to AI, interview techniques and even a look into the future, the Procurious Blog has had it all this year. But what was your Number 1?

Ready or not, here it comes – it’s nearly Christmas! Whether this fills you with festive joy until you brim over with excitement, or fills you with some level of existential dread, there really is no escaping it now. At Procurious HQ, we like to take a look back at the year that was and see what really took your fancy in the Blog.

It’s been a whirlwind year and the Procurious Blog has tried to keep with all the emerging trends, breaking news and must-have information to keep Procurement ticking. As a Community, you’ve read our articles a whopping 200,000 times this year and kept coming back for more, so thank you!

Some of our most popular articles this year included advice on the Procurement job market and how to interview for your dream role, how to set a long-term Procurement strategy, dealing with challenging colleagues and looking into the future to understand upcoming trends.

But what was your collective favourite this year? In the true spirit of the season, we’ll count them down with our favourite Christmas carols to help.

10. We Three Kings (of the Interview Process)

With the Procurement job market still going strong, plenty of you flocked to check out our advice on ‘3 Procurement Interview Fails You Should Never Repeat’ in your next job interview. Interviews are nerve-wracking and never anyone’s idea of fun, but we hope we helped you go in armed with solid ideas on what to do and, just as crucially, what not to do, to allow you to nail that first impression!

9. Silent Night – And How to Perfect Your Poker Face

Even the best professional cards players in the world have a tell, but they succeed by managing it or them and learning how to bluff. Learning ‘How to Keep your Poker Face During Tense Procurement Moments’ could be the difference between successfully negotiating with your suppliers or getting that pay rise, and going home empty handed.

You all clearly enjoyed this one, so we won’t be playing cards with you any time soon…

8. Aw-AI in a Manger

This was the year that the conversation around AI exploded. We had everything from new experts, warnings from familiar faces and it even played a pivotal role in the SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood.

Our article on ‘Is AI Coming For Your Procurement Job?’ certainly piqued your interest, but hopefully at the same time allayed some of your fears. If you want to understand why you’re probably not about to be replaced by Alexa or ChatGPT at work, why not give it another read?

7. Oh Come All Ye Faithful…C-Suite Leaders

It’s hit home in the past couple of years just how important Procurement is to an organisation as a key contributor and not just a cost-cutting mechanism. But bringing all the faithful C-Suite leaders along for the ride has been, and will continue to be, a challenge to overcome. 

Thankfully we had some top tips on the ‘Power of Persuasion’ and how to cultivate the C-Suite confidence to enable Procurement to step forwards once more.

6. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing of High Performance Procurement

And we had better listen to them if we want to put the correct measures in place for the collection, analysis and leveraging of data according to our article on ‘Three ways to drive High Performance Procurement’.

Poor data management was a major issue for Procurement this year, but it’s by no means an insurmountable issue if Procurement can work collaboratively and use all the tools available to it, including this great report from Procurious and SpendHQ.

5. Don’t Get Taken for a (Sleigh) Ride

We come to another career-focused article as we hit our Top 5. Despite Procurement’s successes, there are still many organisations downsizing their teams, or struggling to fill roles due to the high demand for talent.

If this seems familiar to you, then you may be one of the many professionals being asked to take on more work and responsibility. It’s important not to feel overloaded, and this piece on ‘How to Tell your Procurement Boss you Have too Much Work’ seemed to help a lot of you out.

4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – New Trends for a Procurement Strategy

The end of one year and the beginning of the next provides a pivot point for many people and organisations, a time for reflection but also looking ahead. It’s also a time for setting out aims, objectives and strategies for the coming year, planning ahead while still being mindful of the trends that have taken us to this point. 

When it comes to setting your next Procurement strategy, there are ‘Must-Have Trends to Include’ which are just as relevant now as they were when we published this article earlier in the year.

3. See Amid the Winter Snow’s…a Career Roadmap

Do you have a plan for your career over the next 5 years, and, if you do, have you mapped out the route to take to get you where you want to go? One of our most popular articles from this year is from way back in January, when we gave you the tools to help you ‘Build Your 5 Year Procurement Roadmap’.

Why not use your spare time over the holidays to have another look and start 2024 anew with your own roadmap, using our experts’ advice to help and guide you.

2. I Saw Three Ships – Reshoring versus Nearshoring

At number 2 we have an article strongly linked to organisational strategy for supply chains, risk mitigation and the after-effects of global disruption in recent years. If the 1990s and early 2000s were all about lean principles and Just-in-Time, the 2020s have most certainly been about having your supply chain closer to home.

If you’re considering a strategic change next year, then check out the pros and cons of ‘Reshoring Versus Nearshoring’ and how to bring your manufacturing closer.

1. Jingle Bells – Tolling for Degree Qualifications in Procurement?

And our number 1 and your most popular article of the year was about qualifications and exactly which ones you need to have to work in and make a career of Procurement. 

‘Is a degree necessary to succeed in procurement?’ is an extremely pertinent question for both employees and hiring managers due to the high demands on the Procurement jobs market. The world is changing and it’s clear that what was the norm once may longer be the case now. Revisit this cracker of an article to see where we stand!

There you have it, our top 10 for 2023. Hopefully we managed to cover some of your favourites and if you didn’t get the chance to read them the first time around, there’s no better time than now to revisit them!