Archive: April, 2017

Do you consider only the least-bad option?

Earlier this month I attended an event where the Procurement Salary Guide and Insights 2017 Report was presented. There were some great presentation from Dr John Glen, Andrew Coulcher FCIPS and Scott Dance which highlighted the current economic and political uncertainty but also demonstrated that salaries are increasing and there are more jobs being registered. Good news for anyone looking for a pay rise or a new job!

As is often the case, the most thought provoking comment came from the audience.

Best practise is created not by single individuals but by groups of people coming up with lots of ideas, testing and refining them. This means that certain organisations take the lead in specialist areas.

Why, therefore, do some organisations demand experience of their sector even when none of the organisations in that sector lead in the specialist area? For example, why does an exploration company demand experience of the oil and gas sector when recruiting for a supplier relationship manager; why does a bank require financial services experience when recruiting for an IT category manager; why does the NHS require experience of, well, the NHS when recruiting for a commercial manager?

The inevitable consequence is that these sectors continue to underperform in the areas where they are recruiting.

It’s time to acknowledge that sector experience is both a good and bad thing. Rather than limiting choice to only the least-bad option, it’s time for organisations to consider for the best-best option.