The workforce in procurement is changing but not at a fast pace. In the past couple of years, companies have witnessed a demand for flexible and talented procurement teams starting to exceed supply by a significant margin. A CPO survey even indicates that only 46% of the procurement leaders feel confident that their teams will deliver. This is the reason behind the considerable increase in procurement freelancer in UK. As the procurement industry stepped into a new decade, it is crucial that procurement experts strategically and quickly bridge the gaps that limit them and evolve into a full-fledged, mainstream industry.
Blended Teams
The method of taking advantage of various types of resources has been known as a blended workforce since its inception. ‘Blended’ because the workforce is usually a mix of part-time and full-time employees. However, in this new age, the term stands for a newer, complex and much broader meaning. Although many companies continue to leverage a combo of full-time employees, short-term resources and procurement agent in UK, they have also started considering the idea of leveraging a workforce that is a combination of both machines and humans. Leaders are starting to discover that the appropriate blend of conventional effort and automation is important to advance the efficiency of procurement and prepare it to enter 2020.
The talks about artificial intelligence and automation may sound extreme, but research shows that approximately 67% of professionals are interested in letting automation assist them in performing better and change into fresh, more critical roles. This isn’t simple, as the same percentage of people also know that they will require new skills and techniques to make it work in the future. 80% of them think that the means to hone such skills should be offered by the employer.
New Roles and New Talents
Even if companies are considering spending their training money this year on the usual category management capabilities and strategic sourcing, it can be assumed their priorities are developing. A total of 40% CPO Survey respondents will emphasize on managing projects, while over 20% of them are likely to teach ethical sourcing to their teams. Many of them will also weigh the benefits of procurement freelancer in UK.
More importantly, procurement leaders have begun to focus on soft skills. What are they? Think about empathy, leadership, emotional intelligence and such others that cannot be easily taught or learned. These are also those skills that can turn the resources of procurement indispensable. Also, these are skills that a computer will never be able to duplicate. With procurement being influenced by automation, both individuals and businesses must think of how soft skills can bring out roles that cannot be handled by machines.
Irrespective of the strategies and skills considered by the organizations in this new decade, it is clear that their area should be expanded when it is about talent. For example, you cannot get a computer to be your procurement agent in UK. Although the digital tools will make a great difference, companies must also search for new talents, create and evolve their existing job roles.