How the public sector shapes up. Why Procurement could not be further away from what is expected of them!

Public sector procurement teams could not be further away from what is expected of them!

We spoke to 42 procurement professionals and 38 finance people. 28% of our respondents were from the public/not-for-profit sectors – compared to private companies, these procurement teams focus less on cost reduction (29% vs 53%).

We wanted to explore their relationships and understand what expectations of procurement are in 2020.

Here is what we found public sector teams focus on:

• Risk reduction (regulatory, compliance, reputational and supply risk) was by far the most important focus for public sector teams (42% of where the focus is today)
• Compared to the private sector, public procurement teams focus less on cost reduction (29% vs 53%). There was not a single respondent from the public sector who said cost was one of the most important areas of focus.

Here is what we found public sector teams SHOULD focus on:

• Public sector procurement teams could not be further away from what they should actually be focussing on
• Not a single respondent said that public sector procurement teams should focus on cost reduction at all!
• Instead, their main goals should be to improve the way the business operates (29%), to deliver against social and sustainability commitments (21%) and to enhance the value delivered to external customers (21%).

What are these public sector procurement teams focusing on?

If you’re part of a public sector procurement team, evaluate and have a look at the areas of focus that your department has. If these are just as far away from what the rest of the department requires of them, as indicated by our survey, download our ebook (below) and see how you can look to shift this focus, to better align with the rest of the organisation.