How to level-up your procurement maturity

Keen to level up your procurement function?

From our latest annual procurement research, Stronger Together, we know what it takes to level up the maturity of your procurement team or your whole procurement function. And the results may surprise you!

It is not the way you negotiate with suppliers. It is not your ability to cut cost. It is not having the most comprehensive set of guidelines or templates. It all comes down to successful relationships! But read on to find out more …

If you currently have a low maturity level 

A low level of maturity is often characterised by the procurement team being a ‘task taker’ from the rest of the business. Often these teams are stuck in fighting fires rather than being able to get to the important things. If this sounds like your function, this is what is needed to shift to a medium maturity level, according to our research:

1. Transform the procurement function from a reactive role into a proactive advisor to the wider business. Established teams develop a deep understanding of the business areas they support, moving beyond ‘task-taking’ to offer targeted and relevant advice. This approach leverages insights into the organisation’s needs, spend categories, and contract management to achieve optimal commercial outcomes.
2. Develop a comprehensive contract register that includes details of all existing contracts and their expiration dates. Use this data to enable planned and proactive procurement decision-making
3. Define and implement organisation-wide procurement guidance. This includes simplifying procurement manuals into easy-to-understand resources accessible to all stakeholders via an intranet page. High-performing teams tailor processes based on the value and risk profile of each procurement to ensure efficient and appropriately scaled activities and guidance.

If you currently have a medium maturity level

If you have successfully established your procurement function within the wider business, your team would follow clearly defined and consistently applied processes and governance, aligned with the business need. Your team can contribute through early involvement in the sourcing process and through their market expertise.

If you now want to take the next step and further improve your team’s maturity, this is what you need to do, according to our research:

1. Deepen relationships with business stakeholders. The ability to build and leverage a comprehensive understanding of the business is a key differentiator for higher maturity levels. While this is also critical for moving from lower to medium maturity, the impact of these relationships is even more pronounced for the most mature teams.
2. Strengthen staff capabilities. Highly mature teams focus on building robust procurement skills and capabilities, with 76% of respondents reporting that staff development initiatives are delivering clear benefits.
3. Adopt an integrated approach to supplier and category management. The most mature teams focus on comprehensive supplier risk management and category management. Instead of relying solely on strategic sourcing and tendering, they take a holistic view that aligns sourcing, contract management, and supplier relationship management with business needs to optimise commercial outcomes throughout the contract’s lifecycle.

If you want to find out more insights from our research of 60 Australian procurement teams in 2024, download Stronger Together or book a meeting with Dr Stefan Gassner