CASE STUDY / INTUIT
CASE STUDY
"That’s one tangible area that’s come together.” Ultimately she hopes this partnering approach will deliver better value to the business and that success in one area will lead to the opportunity to partner with stakeholders in other departments. “You’ll always have some parts of the business who are happy to work with you and others who aren’t. I want my internal business partner to celebrate the impact and the value they achieved and then tell others we helped. You want the business to give you the credit, not to claim it for yourself.” She says CPOs who still talk about ‘getting a seat at the table’ haven’t yet found the connection between what they do and how to best support their business. “I want procurement at Intuit to be easier to work in and easier to work with, and a partner that introduces technology and processes that enables the business to move with speed. If you bring value, you’re already at the top table. The nirvana is when you start to be part of the planning process and impact growth, instead of being behind a wall, and that’s about trust, transparency and at times being friction busters.” Strategic procurement at Intuit is having a material impact on underserved communities. Intuit is growing its network of remote experts and support teams, employed both by Intuit and its trusted partners. Chontos partners with the company’s customer success team to support economic prosperity through job creation in underserved communities. The team has identified key communities to build Prosperity Hubs and recently expanded the programme to offer remote roles where talent could live and work from their homes or a location that best suits their unique needs and circumstances. “It’s rewarding to see the impact firsthand in areas where industries and jobs have gone. In many cases it had meant families had had to leave an area to find work, and the Prosperity Hubs have provided new jobs, resulting in an economic flywheel effect across communities. For Intuit, the results of this investment have been amazing – retention is higher and customer experience is better. Not only are we doing the right thing, it makes business sense for us.” DRIVING SOCIAL IMPACT AND JOB CREATION IN DISTRESSED COMMUNITIES THROUGH SRM
The point of the latter posts are people who can “wake up and go to bed thinking about partner management.” These individuals would not be preoccupied with day-to-day sourcing and contracting activities but free to ensure the business is forging strong connections with key suppliers, enabling Intuit to better manage performance, risk and resilience. These managers will report to Chontos but have a dotted line to the relevant stakeholder and will ensure all the company's work with that supplier is brought together, rather than fragmented across the business. “Different groups could be talking to one supplier who didn't see the connections across the company, and to a procurement team. You can’t look at strategic sourcing deal by deal, contract by contact – you need to look at it holistically. At a partner level, you can focus on impact.” A key development has been ensuring Intuit approaches deals as one large customer. This consolidation and simplification will bring economies of scale, ensure mature SLAs and KPIs are contained in one agreement, regulatory requirements are covered and that there are clear success metrics, as well as consistency over cost and pricing. This formalised, structured approach means Chontos’ team can also draw on data to manage the performance of suppliers. “Typically the finger only points one way – towards the supplier – my team’s job is to point it back at ourselves. We don’t always have it right. We need to ask, ‘are we the customer of choice?’ That’s important because I want our supplier’s A team and their innovation. I want it to be easy to work with us and for fairness to prevail. If you never have to look back at the contract, that's a beautiful thing.” While this broader transformation is still in the early stages, work is underway. She is leading by example and recently partnered up with the company’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Marianna Tessel. Together they have defined their critical third party suppliers and have examined not only growth but how they can ensure they are more resilient in this crucial category. “The value we’re seeing right now is prioritising where we spend time and resources on these larger strategic partners. Once you start to prioritise, you can pivot in areas that perhaps weren’t gaining any traction. Having governance and a framework in place means you can see where you are and are not accelerating and you can reach out to suppliers for their help.
IMAGE CREDIT: INTUIT
"We’ve also doubled down on our third-party risk management operations, with a robust on-boarding and off-boarding process. We’ve also modernised our technology by implementing Coupa as our procure- to-pay platform and Aravo as our third-party risk management software.” Chontos laid these foundations within her first couple of years and is now progressing to the next phase. “What we haven’t done – which we’re doing now – is building our true partner performance management programme for critical partners and suppliers. We’re also in the process of building out DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), this is another key area for us and something we want a dedicated focus on. These are the key goals on our roadmap for FY22.”
WE NEED TO ASK, ‘ARE WE THE CUSTOMER OF CHOICE?’ IF YOU NEVER HAVE TO LOOK BACK AT THE CONTRACT, THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING.
Partner management
IF YOU BRING VALUE, YOU’RE ALREADY AT THE TOP TABLE. YOU WANT THE BUSINESS TO GIVE YOU THE CREDIT, NOT TO CLAIM IT FOR YOURSELF.
Chontos already has a chief of staff focused on employee engagement and change management and a director of continuous improvement who is driving the data and automation strategy. She is looking for a head for supplier diversity, equity and inclusion; and partner management to work with key stakeholders departments, beginning with Technology and rolling out to other departments as the function matures.
IMAGE CREDIT: INTUIT
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STATE OF FLUX
2021 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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