PEOPLE
PEOPLE
Overview of supplier management skills identified as most important, requiring improvement and addressed by training (all companies)
opinion State of Flux
Skills
Most important
Require improvement
Training delivered in past year
N/A
N/A
40%
None
50%
34%
26%
Commercial and contractual expertise
26%
17%
24%
Negotiation skills
58%
31%
17%
Communication
25%
26%
12%
Market and category knowledge
43%
32%
12%
Influencing skills
45%
37%
11%
Cross-functional working
22%
33%
11%
Change management
Another area where organisations seem to struggle is skills management. Our research has revealed a worrying lack of the softer skills that are needed to manage certain aspects of a supplier relationship. In addition, it has shown that there is a clear gap between the capabilities and competencies that are deemed important for these types of jobs and the training people receive to help them achieve success. State of Flux continues to advocate the importance of understanding the skills and competencies required to be an effective supplier management practitioner. It is only when those capabilities are understood and demonstrated that organisations can achieve the full potential from supplier relationships. Skills gap analyses can help organisations to focus and direct their efforts on what is required and, importantly, it means that they can better invest valuable resources into ensuring their team has the skills it needs. For organisations seeking a complete supplier management training solution, go to www.stateofflux.co.uk/training to review our entire curriculum.
The people and skills process in many organisations is often not targeted to supplier management. When it comes to the best resourcing model for supplier management, the recipe for success is to have dedicated supplier managers responsible for one or more relationships. However, as our research suggests, there are still a few organisations that neglect the importance of supplier management as a standalone job role. Instead, they combine these duties with category management and sourcing. This has long been a problematic amalgamation, with the more traditional and easier-to-measure procurement-focused roles frequently taking precedence. Where this model has been more successful has been when positions and job descriptions are taken apart and rebuilt to achieve a balanced set of objectives and deliverables that recognise not only the ‘what’ but the ‘how'.
20%
21%
11%
Leadership
46%
49%
11%
Strategic-thinking
32%
21%
10%
Problem solving
2%
3%
9%
Other
9%
15%
9%
Project management
48%
20%
9%
Trust building
Identifying non-traditional areas of value (other than cost savings)
21%
40%
7%
23%
16%
7%
Facilitation skills
9%
9%
6%
General product / service knowledge Understanding the sales and key account management process
8%
15%
6%
4%
15%
2%
Deep product / service knowledge
Least responses
Most responses
Another key finding is the proportion of respondents who have not carried out any training in the past 12 months (13% of Leaders; 26% of Fast Followers and 51% of Followers). While working culture, landscape and practices have been dramatically affected as a result of Covid-19, there is significant opportunity to mitigate this through delivering courses online. Improving the provision of training across Followers is a good opportunity to help them bridge the gap with the stronger performers (Leaders/Fast Followers).
appear higher in the ranking of training provided than other areas that are rated by respondents as more important or in need of development. Secondly, some areas such as cross- functional working, trust building, identifying non-traditional areas of value and in particular, strategic thinking ranked highly in either/both importance to supplier management or requiring improvement, but were low on the list of training provided in the past 12 months. This could be the result of a lack of awareness of the skills gaps within supplier management teams, an inability to influence training curriculums, or a lack of providers in the market.
JOBS THAT ARE AN AMALGAMATION OF SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AS WELL AS SOURCING AND CATEGORY MANAGEMENT HAVE LONG BEEN PROBLEMATIC. THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE RECOGNISED AS A STANDALONE ROLE.
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STATE OF FLUX
2021 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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