Episode show notes
“Procurement’s relevance depends on our ability to embrace technological change.”
Greenfield procurement presents an opportunity that most procurement professionals would relish, a chance which Robert Jones has taken with open arms at Community Fibre.
Currently Senior Procurement Manager in a function that he’s helped to grow since roles at The AA and Johnson & Johnson, Robert joins Martin Smith on Talent Talks to discuss the growth of procurement and how technology is core to staying relevant.
We also take a look at who’s responsible for the sustainability agenda, managing stakeholder expectations, and consider the value of CIPS qualification in the future.
This episode of Talent Talks covers:
- How to get a greenfield procurement function started and making impact
- Addressing expectations of procurement and potential pushback by working to solve stakeholders’ challenges
- How useful the CIPS qualification can be in the day-to-day, real world
- Procurement’s responsibility for sustainability agendas vs the rest of a company
This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by 4C Associates – a leading European procurement and supply chain consultancy, who work collaboratively with forward-thinking clients to deliver real business value across a wide range of transformation and cost optimisation service offerings. Visit https://www.4cassociates.com/ for more information.
Episode Highlights
“For me to hit the ground running, it was really important for me to establish a solid foundation and try to get some efficiency improvements in terms of processes that support the organisation’s goals, and what the objectives are.” – 4:20 – Robert Jones
“It’s always understanding what those challenges are that the stakeholder may be facing, and how I, as a procurement professional, could help alleviate those concerns.” – 10:45 – Robert Jones
“What CIPS allows you to do is apply that best practice to how you would conduct a particular procurement, for example, within media. That’s where you need to be a bit creative and think the CIPS way of doing things is the industry standard, but there are ways that some things will need to be adapted.” – 15:30 – Robert Jones
“AI, automation, RFP systems, and machine learning are all going to become more prevalent in the procurement process. We, as procurement and the wider organisation, have to be willing to embrace these changes and learn how to use them, because I think procurement’s relevance depends on our ability to embrace technological change.” – 18:45 – Robert Jones
“Sustainability needs to be on the top of the execs’ objectives and what we’re trying to do, because we need that backing. Procurement and supply chain will have so much pressure and personal objectives that we need to try to adhere to, to basically to keep the business running. ” – 29:00 – Robert Jones
“I wouldn’t say, for example, that procurement is anywhere near the same kind of understanding of what marketing does. Procurement is often misunderstood in terms of why it exists, and what it’s there to do.” – 34:00 – Robert Jones
“What I’m trying to achieve with Community Fibre this year, it’s to make that real jump and leap from procurement being this tactical, reactive function where I’ve got the basis of greenfield sorted, and how I can turn procurement into a strategic function which has a seat at the top table.” – 38:15 – Robert Jones
Links & References
- Robert Jones, Senior Procurement Manager at Community Fibre
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-jones-cfl/
- Community Fibre
https://www.linkedin.com/company/community-fibre-limited/
https://communityfibre.co.uk/
- Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive
