Are you speaking my language?

I love Procurement, I really do. It connects, engages and influences externally as well as within an organisation, at all hierarchical levels. It is a driver of value creation, diversity, of positive change and of new ideas. I could go on, but I’ll save that for another post.

Now, I have commented (read “banged-on” ad nauseum) about this issue on various LinkedIn posts in recent months, but through this article, I’d like to get it all off my chest, and finally lay this topic to rest.

There’s one thing that Procurement does that makes me “jolly cross” (another British euphemism, roughly equivalent to “really pushes my buttons”) where I think Procurement sabotages itself time and time again. That’s in the tendency for the function to use Procurement-specific jargon with non-Procurement people. Aaaaaaarrrggghhh! Why would you do that??

You see, Procurement does have its own lexicon and it is not widely known or understood outside of the murky corridors of its custodians: those who fear transparency in case it somehow diminishes their power.

Some Procurement folks tend to sprinkle their communication with acronyms, initialisms, and other opaque jargon at any opportunity, trying to convey some kind of superiority, wisdom and mystique over the “dark arts” over which they preside, met with sighs of bewilderment from would-be business allies.

The trouble with this approach is that it is totally self-defeating!! If the ambition of Procurement is to create value for the company by being involved, consulted and given freedom to operate, bringing the full Procurement toolkit to bear across direct and indirect spend, creating the right relationship and rapport with stakeholders is essential.

And guess what? Those stakeholders aren’t going to give you the time of day if you’re bulldozing your way in, trotting-out Procurement-speak and droning-on about RFP’s, sourcing tools and savings targets.

In the best case, it creates a resistance that might delay Procurement’s involvement (you know, the times when Procurement is asked to use all its “leverage” to negotiate with a supplier after the deal has been agreed) but in the worst case it creates alienation and a barrier that may result in the stakeholder actively avoiding working with Procurement completely, to the detriment of the company.

Building a strong relationship, one that exhibits mutual respect, trust, and offers the safety to constructively challenge ideas, starts with a common thread that runs through the discourse: speaking the language of the business.

Simply put, this means ditching the Procurement lingo and talking in a way that can be understood. It really isn’t rocket science.

In using a common language, Procurement can go about really understanding the needs of the business by asking great diagnostic questions, probing, challenging the thinking, sharing market insights and listening. By truly understanding the needs of the business, the frustrations, pain points, the challenges that stand in the way, the potential opportunities, that’s when Procurement can bring their problem-solving and creativity to the fore.

Ultimately, the stakeholder really doesn’t need to know the ins and outs of the Procurement process that will ultimately deliver the value for them.

If the relationship can operate at this level of maturity, budget holders and gatekeepers are far more likely to admit Procurement into their inner sanctum, welcome Procurement’s contribution with open arms, involve them in the early scoping stages of a project and consider them an ally on problem-solving initiatives.

This could then lead to all manner of value-creation options being on the table, innovative new solutions pursued, and the functions operating as one amorphous entity rather than in silos pursuing parochial objectives. This is Procurement nirvana.

I once worked for a truly inspirational manager who we called “The Gaffer” as he happened to be from the east end of London (Pearly King territory - Google it if you’re not familiar with these icons of London).

Despite the fact that his spoken communication style was under-the-breath muttering that tailed-off as he walked around the office (a trait that would make Clint Eastwood look like a champion of enunciation by contrast) his head fizzing with ideas on how his Procurement function could add more value, he was the first manager to bring home to me the importance of using the language of the business when engaging with stakeholders / internal clients.

Like a government minister trying to get a point home (remember the UK Prime Minister Teresa May’s “strong and stable government”?) he would repeat the mantra at every opportunity until it was embedded in how we did things. It became his trademark, and I thought it was genius.

In following this approach, the performance of the Procurement function was transformed, especially for Indirect spend. No longer was Procurement considered the bureaucrats and “back-office” function that it was on the slippery slope to becoming prior to my boss’s tenure, but instead, Procurement’s influence pervaded more widely and deeply than ever before.

Tangible value was delivered and recognised across categories that had previously been “untouchable”, with former agnostics becoming allies, and allies becoming champions.

From that moment on, having witnessed the transformational power of this principle, I have become a jargon-free zone when it comes to stakeholder engagement.

I encourage you to do likewise, leaving those TLA’s* and explanations of complex Procurement procedures to the clandestine technocrats who are busily working on their Procurement strategy (in isolation from the rest of the business, of course) in some outdated Procurement hinterland.

The best days lie ahead

Martin

*Three Letter Acronyms