Grosvenor's 2024 Annual Procurement study, Stronger Together - The secret to the success of better practice procurement teams - we looked at what makes the difference between a highly mature procurement function and those who are less mature. How mature is your procurement team?
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. So what is it?
The results of our research weren’t a complete surprise to us as we have been seeing more and more evidence that it is the soft skills rather than the technical skills that count in modern day procurement functions.
63% of respondents to our research indicated that their stakeholders are “somewhat happy” or “very happy” with the way that the procurement function works in their organisation. How do you further improve stakeholder satisfaction?
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the State of Procurement and Contract Management in Australia. Over the past six years, we have talked to 640 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. What comes out on top for 2024?
70% of teams we researched in 2024 said that they do not use AI in document creation and 63% say they do not use AI in any other form. It is fair to say that AI has not been adopted widely by Australian procurement teams. But is that about to change?
But for many of us, the art of program evaluation can seem a bit of a mystery. What is it and what is it for? More importantly, how do I do it well?
This kit was produced to give Program Managers an easy to read and understand guide. We explain the principles while walking you through an example program that demonstrates how to apply the techniques in practice
How will decisions get made? Who is ultimately responsible? There’s a lot to think about. Fortunately, there are multiple things you can do to simplify and bring clarity to this process, ensuring that your decision making is both efficient and effective (it’s a win-win!).
Regardless of whether you’ve just inherited a program, established something new or are trying to work out where your program fits in this new environment, we’re here to help you break it down.
An integral part of understanding how well your program has performed is having a monitoring and evaluation framework (M&E framework) and applying it to the specific context of your program.
Program evaluation can be confusing. Not only are there different types of program evaluation, but different people use different terms to mean different things – or the same thing! (As if there wasn’t enough confusion already!)
We need to understand how the technology works, not only to evaluate it, but to be part of the ethical safeguards surrounding its proper use.
By their nature, program evaluations seek to determine if a program is working. Which means that, in reality, the answers are not always going to be positive.
The Grosvenor Monitoring and Evaluation Template document outlines the key factors to take into account when performing M&E activities.
An easy to use, interactive, fill it in as you go, template to help you develop your M&E Framework.
The Evaluation Planning Checklist serves as a practical tool that summarises and organises the various aspects that should be considered when establishing a sound and structured program evaluation.
So, is it time to evaluate your internal audit function? The answer is a resounding yes. In a landscape fraught with complexities and uncertainties, a robust internal audit function isn't a luxury—it's a necessity.
The usual report-writing mantra of keeping the audience in mind applies equally to program evaluation reports. The problem is that the intended audience for program evaluation reports is often very wide.
Building evaluation culture is all about shaping the way an organisation thinks and talks about evaluation as a key component to improvement and innovation. Our evaluation maturity model has 10 segments we believe each organization needs to focus on to uplift overall evaluation capability and maturity. The model can be used as a guide in identifying the priority areas to focus on in building evaluation culture and maturity.
The way evaluators develop, test and present recommendations has a huge impact on how improvements will finally manifest (if at all). Good recommendations and improvement opportunities identified during an evaluation are those that can be put into action. To maximise the impact and value of each evaluation, it is critical that program managers aren’t left asking ‘what next’ once the final report is delivered.
To truly harness the power of evaluations, organisations must shift their perspective from viewing these reports as endpoints to considering them as starting points for transformation and growth. By setting clear objectives and aligning evaluation outcomes with organisational goals, companies can create a seamless transition from insights to action.
Evaluation reports are often not used to their full potential, meaning all the time, effort and cost invested in conducting the evaluation was somewhat wasteful. The Post Evaluation Playbook presents the foundations of good post-evaluation practice providing advice on how to make sure your evaluation turns into a purposeful pathway for growth.
We invite you to join us in person for a relaxed and informative afternoon focused on Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E). These free sessions will equip you with valuable M&E insights, along with practical templates you can implement back at the office.
Tips on getting the right balance between challenge and motivation By Charitee Davies I understand that challenges, when crafted correctly can create huge levels of motivation and engagement. Consulting is hard. There is sometimes a misconception that consultants have it easy. In my experience, really good consultants do an often difficult job. My work consulting to the public sector in Australia and internationally has rarely been easy. At times it has asked a lot of me, and of my family. Long hours, cognitive strain, competing pressures that sometimes lead to stress…you know the deal. So why would anyone sign up…
Grosvenor undertakes an annual study into the state of governance in Australia. We see this as part of our contribution to the governance profession and we share our insights and knowledge through speaking engagements. In this annual study, we look at the maturity levels of governance in Australian organisations and identify governance strengths and opportunities for improvement.
Developing a business plan template is a structured process that involves outlining key components to guide the development of a comprehensive and well-organised document. Here’s a general guide on how to create a business plan template, and how it can benefit any Australian business or government entity. Business Plan Template Development Executive Summary Briefly summarise the key elements of the business plan. Include the business name, mission statement, founders, location, and a snapshot of financial projections. Business Description Provide an overview of the business, its purpose, and the problem it solves. Outline the products or services offered. Market Analysis Define…
Are you ready to evaluate? These are the five questions that you need to ask yourself to assess whether you are ready to evaluate: What – What is the background and context of the program and what will be the use of information and evaluation outcomes? Why – Why are you conducting the evaluation and why this point in time? How – Will this be an internal or external evaluation and what time and resources will you need? When – What are the timeframes for conducting the evaluation activities including milestones and deliverables? You – Do you have the right…
Corporate Services functions are responsible for delivering vital infrastructure and services that enable performance of their organisation’s core business functions. They play a crucial role in ensuring that the organisation’s workforce is trained, retained and supported, financial operations are sound, legal and compliance issues are managed, technology systems are functional and secure, and marketing and communications efforts are effective.
And, from now on, with each instance where you feel bending the rules might be necessary, stop, and think…’Could this decision or action I am about to take lead to other decisions or actions others will take? And, if that same decision or action was taken a number of times, or applied to different situations what might the knock-on effect be?
Building evaluation culture is all about shaping the way an organisation thinks and talks about evaluation as a key component to improvement and innovation. Our evaluation maturity model has 10 segments we believe each organization needs to focus on to uplift overall evaluation capability and maturity. The model can be used as a guide in identifying the priority areas to focus on in building evaluation culture and maturity.
It is very easy to say you need to ‘collect data from a sample’, but what does this really mean? How many people should you be engaging with to collect something meaningful? Question no more! We’ve put together some quick and easy ‘rules of engagement’ to help you understand what your sample size needs to be.
Divisional and Branch level Business Plans are not currently a regulatory requirement within the Commonwealth, but this does not mean that they are not important. Such plans are critical to tell an organisations complete and sound performance story.
What does Married at First Sight teach us about public policy?
The good news is that you don’t need to marry risk. Assessing risk is a valuable and integral tool to delivering effective policy. Don’t let it get carried away with itself (like the contestants on the show).
Organisational redesign is far more than calculating the right number of FTE ‘boxes’ and identifying reporting lines ‘lines’. Whilst that may make it clear who to turn to when you need a remuneration review, it does little to address requirements for workforce and employee wellbeing and sustainability; connection, collaboration and collegiality; talent acquisition and capability development; compliance; and continued improvement and evolution of services and outcomes. Ultimately, these are the factors that will determine your capacity to achieve your mission and strategic priorities.
Is your Corporate Plan compliant with PGPA Rule 16EA (Performance measures for Commonwealth entities) and better practice? To assist you in your assessment, we have provided a selection of Grosvenor’s better practice criteria for Section 16EA in an interactive document.
While we’d argue that there has been a marked improvement in the measurement of program and service impacts, challenges still remain when it comes to policy. How to effectively measure the impacts of policy work is a challenging question being faced by evaluators and performance management experts.
It is no secret that social programs are all about the community – whether designing, delivering or evaluating a program we’re all working to improve the lives of, or outcomes for, populations in a particular area or sector. In recognition of this, it is critical that the views of program stakeholders are captured at all stages of the program lifecycle.
Reviewing your Corporate Plan may not be at the top of your priority list or at least not something welcomed with open arms.
But now is the time to write/overhaul your Corporate Plan and make it fit-for-purpose for 2022/2023. This will not only help you meet regulatory requirements, but also bring it to the next maturity level of your organisation’s performance culture and management capabilities.
There are many different types of crises: natural and human-made disasters, political scandals, terrorism attacks, commercial collapses, global health emergencies. Some crises arrive swiftly, undetected, catching us off-guard. Others we can see coming from a long way off, yet are powerless to avoid them.
The way evaluators develop, test and present recommendations has a huge impact on how improvements will finally manifest (if at all). Good recommendations and improvement opportunities identified during an evaluation are those that can be put into action. To maximise the impact and value of each evaluation, it is critical that program managers aren’t left asking ‘what next’ once the final report is delivered.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the evaluators’ job is over once the final report is submitted. In terms of the adoption of improvement opportunities and application of findings, this is basically akin to an evaluator saying “Over to you now! Good luck!”. The evaluator’s job is not over once the final report is submitted!
It is a reality that businesses are increasingly using predictive analytics to achieve their outcomes – in marketing, pricing strategies and improving operations. Likewise, governments are also turning to data and AI to develop more timely, targeted and relevant policy for citizens. The increase in data-driven decision making and predictive analytics is palpable.
How will decisions get made? Who is ultimately responsible? There’s a lot to think about. Fortunately, there are multiple things you can do to simplify and bring clarity to this process, ensuring that your decision making is both efficient and effective (it’s a win-win!).
Join Associate Director of Grosvenor, Charitee Davies, for a ‘Fireside Chat’ at BiiG 2019, held in Brisbane. Discussing the future of work, and highlighting the importance of address a growing skills gap, as well as our understanding of the current trends in the current workforce, and how this will impact workplaces in the future.
Being asked to manage a new, or existing, program can seem overwhelming. To help you navigate the world of program management, Grosvenor Public Sector Advisory has developed a series of articles to break down the key activities and tasks you can implement to make your life easier.
“Tracking, monitoring and managing the skills and capabilities of the workforce can be problematic, especially with a view to positioning the workforce for the nature and types of future work.”Do any of the five statements below sound familiar in your agency? If so, you are not alone. Most government agencies are grappling with these exact problems when trying to address the future of work.
The public sector exists in an atmosphere dominated by change. Regular changes to policy, rapid development of information and knowledge management capabilities and increasing expectations of the public enforce the notion that change is an inherent characteristic of public sector organisations.
All contracts present financial and operational risks. One of the contract manager’s most important responsibilities is to manage the inherent risks and minimise negative impacts while positioning the organisation to take best advantage of opportunities. Learn why failure to have a Risk Management Plan in place is risky business.
Many organisations are facing this, sometimes controversial, question right now. For example, the Federal Department of Human Services is, very publicly, trying to grapple with this question in testing opportunities for outsourcing some or all of its back-of-house processing and payment functions.
More and more, large private sector organisations are making the successful change to flexible workplaces, providing Public Sector property managers with compelling case studies on how to improve the effectiveness of their own workspaces
There have been a number of governance failings in Australian government organisations recently. These were different cases but both ultimately with the same outcome – the fraud of taxpayers and loss of community faith in those organisations.
Every day, organisations communicate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders in every aspect of their operations. However, when analysing our clients’ stakeholder engagement approaches, it becomes evident that efforts to engage with stakeholders often occur in an ad-hoc and rather visceral manner.
A program logic is simply a graphical portrayal of your theory that is succinct and easy to understand. Your program logic can take the form of words, diagrams, tables, or a combination of all three. Program logics are often (but not always) captured in one page, and are typically divided into inputs, outputs and outcomes.
A persona is a fictional character, designed to represent a user or client type. Personas are used to generate deeper understanding of your users’ or clients’ needs, experiences and motivations. Use the template to generate a list of questions and to capture your personas.
Poorly designed Program Evaluation questionnaires can lead to wasted time and erode stakeholder confidence. Worse, they can result in faulty data, which can lead to flawed decision-making and have serious impacts on the outcome of a program. This guide will help you appraise your evaluation questionnaires and ensure you’re collecting the right data to truly measure the success of your program.
This tool is intended for: ‘unpacking’ program objectives or outcomes and determining the data requirements for monitoring and evaluation of the program against its outcomes. The tool can be used to focus on just one, or both, of the aims described above.
In the ideal evaluation world, an evaluation occurs in the context of a beautifully planned and executed monitoring and evaluation framework. You have time and resources and oodles of beautiful, relevant, high quality data to inform your evaluation…… But who lives in this ideal world? Oftentimes, you are notified late of the requirement, there’s a tight budget and timeframe, and for the final kicker…. you have no data.
Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to articulate to others exactly what your program is for, and how it works? And how hard it can sometimes be to get internal buy-in and support as a result? In this blog, we show you how to develop a watertight program theory and program logic.
Program evaluation can be daunting for program managers approaching it for the first time. Rather than being given clear guidance on the how-to’s of program evaluation, newcomers are often expected to deduce program evaluation techniques from dry academic texts hidden behind a wall of baffling jargon.
If you’re a program manager for a government entity, you may be spending a lot of your time trying to figure out how to assess your program’s performance in accordance with your organisation’s governance, performance and accountability rules or guidelines.
While program evaluation might seem a little scary, it actually presents a raft of exciting opportunities for program managers to showcase the successes of their programs and ensure that their teams are performing to its full potential
The Commercial Real Estate (CRE) sector in Australia stands at the threshold of exciting transformations and advancements. Against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, a slowing economy, technological breakthroughs, and evolving societal preferences, it’s crucial to explore the predictions that are likely to shape the Australian CRE landscape in 2024.
NSW Government Asset Management and Facilities Management The NSW Government released a new asset management policy in October 2020 with full compliance required, at the latest, by June 2024. In our experience, it would be fair to say that most facility/property and asset managers are yet to work out how this translates to the better management of government owned facilities and property assets on the ground. We recently became aware that the NSW Government is developing a new strategy for facilities management (FM) and there are clear overlaps with their thinking and the asset management policy. Given Grosvenor’s experience working…
Achieving the goal of net-zero emissions – and net-negative beyond that – requires concerted efforts from organisations which must be guided by a vision, actioned through a deliberate plan, and monitored through accurate and timely data. Your portfolio and assets are vehicles for change – are you using them? Do you know what your current emissions are, your future targets, and do you have a plan to get you there?
GPT4 has the potential to bridge the gap between existing technology and innovations that the property sector already uses to provide more nuanced insights. It allows for us (humans) to quickly link systems together to build a complete picture of asset and lease performance, customer needs, market trends and other external factors to provide more robust analysis and recommendations.
Let’s face it, you’re currently reviewing your property services thanks to a recent pandemic. A review and reform of services within your corporate property portfolio is either underway, under review or rushed to completion.
The property strategy connects directly to the organisational strategy. It is the key linkage between that the organisation is seeking to achieve and how the physical infrastructure supports the achievement of those objectives.
As contract getting longer, focus on outputs, not inputs, relate to services, not products and have higher numbers of stakeholders to service they require a relationship-based approach. More importantly, if you want the service provider to do more than just the minimum, then you must (as a client) take an active interest in THEIR needs as well as your own.
The delivery of support and back office services under a shared service model is nothing new. However shared services for property and facilities management within the public sector is relatively new and subject to a different set of drivers for value creation.
A while back I posted a short piece on a phenomenon which Grosvenor termed ‘Structural Vacancy’. It’s the situation that occurs when organisations reduce their staff numbers over a short period of time leaving a significant amount of vacant office accommodation.
Flexible working arrangements are an inevitable consequence of a number of global forces reshaping the way we work and how we engage with technology. No organisation is immune, but nor should the inevitable be feared. Here’s my top 3 observations of how early-adopting organisations have successfully made the shift to a new, more flexible workspace.
In the Higher Education Sector, it’s no longer sufficient to simply provide a great faculty and publish the latest research. It’s now equally important for a competent Facilities Management function to consider the experience and wellbeing of its students. To attract undergraduates, you need great facilities, teachers, classes and courses.
Tension and mutual frustration often characterise the relationship between Procurement and Property. But why? You both want to achieve greater value for your organisation, right? Over the last five years there has been significant change in the relationship between the property and procurement functions. In this article, Kent Stuart takes a light-hearted look at the issue and tries to reframe the property function for procurement professionals.
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. So what is it?
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the State of Procurement and Contract Management in Australia. Over the past six years, we have talked to 640 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. What comes out on top for 2024?
Grosvenor’s 2024 Annual Procurement study, Stronger Together – The secret to the success of better practice procurement teams – we looked at what makes the difference between a highly mature procurement function and those who are less mature. How mature is your procurement team?
The integration of AI technologies is revolutionising procurement. By automating manual processes, leveraging predictive analytics, and enhancing decision-making capabilities, AI empowers procurement professionals to drive efficiency, mitigate risks, and achieve strategic objectives.
Procurement category management emerges as a crucial element in achieving sustainable success. By implementing a comprehensive category management framework, organisations can navigate the complexities of the supply chain, optimise costs, and build resilient supplier relationships.
Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the state of procurement and contract management in Australia. Over the past five years we have talked to close to 600 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. So what is top of mind in 2023?
FinOps is a set of cultural practices for proactively managing dynamic spend incurred using cloud infrastructure. It aims to maximise the value of cloud infrastructure by aligning spend with defined business objectives. It requires organisational change to enable cross organisational collaboration and is driven by a central FinOps team but delegates financial decisions and accountability to users of the cloud infrastructure.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
A common issue for procurement teams is to manage the expectations of the rest of the business. This includes communicating just how long it takes to procure goods and services. We provide the following benchmarks in the hope that this allows procurement teams to point to the fact that right across organisations in Australia, the typical procurement projects take a fair bit of time.
Ultimately every organisation is making a decision of where its procurement function should sit on the maturity curve taking into account the cost to implement better practice and the value-add this function will generate. So, where does your organisation sit on this maturity curve, and how does this compare to other organisations?
How do you set up the right organisational structure for your procurement team? An important decision when answering that question is to set the degree of centralisation: which activities will be done by people outside of the immediate procurement team, versus which activities are done by that team themselves?
At Grosvenor we undertake annual research into the state of the procurement profession in Australia. This year we want to understand what ‘better practice’ means and make that measurable through benchmarks that are specific to Australia.
Participate now!
Contract managers right across Australia face difficulties in getting the most from their suppliers. How can we set up our contractual relationships so that the supplier will go the extra mile? Look no further than how we manage our staff and you get an idea of what better practice looks like. Here is a list of seven challenges contract managers often face and how to overcome them.
As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.
At Grosvenor Procurement Advisory, we undertake annual research to better understand procurement and contracting in Australia. This article provides a summary of our research topics with links to download our highly sought after ebooks for free.
Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base
Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.
Public sector procurement teams were tasked with introducing stimulus into the economy rather than reducing cost as was the case in the private sector. How long is this going to last? We surveyed 46 public sector procurement functions in 2020 to understand how the COVID-19 crisis impacted procurement teams in Australia.
Often the answer to why your existing system is not firing from all cylinders can be found in our previous article. It’s likely that your implementation project skipped one of those lessons-learnt and you have consequently ended up in a situation where the uptake of your system is poor, end users complain about the usability, manual workarounds are in place, suppliers are unhappy and most of the benefits from your business case have gone out the window.
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution: 1. Are you paying the same rate for the same type of employee across the whole business?, 2. Do you know what technology solutions the market offers?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system: 1. Do you know the current procurement technology market and capabilities?, 2. Are your procurement processes fit for purpose and ready to be supported by a system?, 3. …
Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system: 1. Are your processes now faster and more efficient? All of them?, 2. Is everyone happy with the system and consistently using it?, 3. …
What a different world this is! Just three months ago we published our research on what the focus of procurement teams should be. Now we need to start from scratch as the COVID-19 pandemic rewrites the rules of business around the world.
Listen to Stefan Gassner, our Director and Head of our Procurement Advisory, speak with Genevieve Malcolm from AcademyGlobal. Discussing the findings and insights from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement’.
Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.
Findings from our industry study, ‘What Finanance can (and should) expect of Procurement’; we found that not a single respondent from the public sector said cost was one of the most important area of focus. It wasn’t just cost that public sector procurement teams did not consider to be an important area of focus; again, not a single respondent said that risk reduction was an important area of focus, too.
It’s as simple as that: Procurement and the rest of the business are not on the same page. If you’re already nodding your head in agreement, you’re not alone. More than half of the respondents to our survey indicated that their procurement function operates in a vacuum.
Grosvenor and Progressive Systems undertake regular research to understand the state of the procurement profession in Australia and New Zealand. This report details our findings from surveying 98 organisations about their efforts to implement sustainable practices in their procurement function.
In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.
Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.
Levers provide you with efficiencies that help move otherwise impossible loads with ease. As a user of these levers, it’s important to be aware of what levers exist and when to use the right lever at the right time. You’d never use a crowbar, for example, to lift the lid on the Milo tin, just like you’d never try to shift that pile of bricks with a pair of tweezers.
We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.
Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.
Grosvenor benchmarked 31 organisations across Australia and internationally to understand what controls were in place to address the risk of modern slavery within their supply chains. Through our research in June 2018, we discovered what was considered best practice and what organisations across the country can be doing now to address modern slavery risks within their supply chains.
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?
Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a toddler will know that for most of us negotiation skills are learnt early. Unlike a toddler, adult negotiators understand that there are two sides to any negotiation and both negotiators want to have their needs met. Here’s how to negotiate the best outcomes for your contract, while keeping your supplier relationships intact.
It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?
With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?
When we think of generating savings, many of us automatically think of simply paying less for goods and services: whether we’re talking about tenders, volume aggregation or minimising contract leakage, this tried and tested method of using spending power to beat down prices has delivered significant savings over the years.
A 2014 Australasian study has found that public sector organisations have at least twice as many procurement staff as private sector organisations. It is probably easy to surmise that this is a consequence of the high accountability, probity and compliance expectations of government. In effect, procurement processes in the public sector are more involved than in the private sector.
Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers.
Organisations successful in managing supply chains understand the value of managing effective relationships with their suppliers. These organisations have a knack of building trust and confidence with their suppliers which leads to knowledge sharing and the identification of improvement opportunities.
In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.
You may have heard the saying, ‘what gets measured gets done’. Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the main way supplier performance is measured and the main mechanism for driving supplier behaviour. Here’s some tips on how to develop and measure best practice KPIs to encourage ongoing performance and exceptional outcomes from your suppliers.
With spend in supply chains representing an average of 60% of an organisation’s budget, procurement strategy and processes have a profound ability to affect the social, environmental and economic sustainability of business at large. The power of procurement to contribute, both positively and negatively, to sustainable objectives has never been so widely recognised.
The ink on the supplier contract is drying. They’re ready to start contract delivery. How do you harness the goodwill, ensure easy and successful implementation and a functional working relationship for years to come? With a Contract Management Plan (CMP) of course!
Issue management can be difficult and confronting for everyone involved. As with any relationship, there will be times when things don’t go to plan and problems crop up. As the contract manager, it falls to you to get things back on course. Here’s how to prevent minor contract issues from becoming major challenges for you and your supplier.
Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence. Last year, the International Standard for Sustainable Procurement ISO 20400 was released as a guide to implementing social responsibility and sustainability through the procurement process.
Many people in modern society might think of slavery and child labour as stories from their history books that no longer exist. However, according to Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Mining Group and the Walk Free Foundation, “We are all going to have slavery in our supply chains no matter how good we think our corporate social responsibility is”.
Do you suspect that your contract is not performing as well as it could? There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Learn how the principles of leading staff also applies to the leadership of suppliers, in Grosvenor’s 3rd Annual Procurement Study.
Any head of procurement who has worked in government will know that effective procurement is a top priority in the public sector. But are you doing all you can to maximise the savings available?This year, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia (including a large number of federal and state government organisations) to identify where the next wave of procurement savings will come from.
Chances are, social responsibility is not the key driver for your organisation! It might be a nice-to-have, but your key driver is more likely to be super-pleasing your customers, maintaining a competitive-advantage or implementing public policies.
When contracting for services, a lot of attention is focused on the initial contract cost. Hours of spreadsheet time is spent analysing and comparing tendered fees. Unfortunately, very little thought goes into how the ongoing service is paid for and how the ‘pricing model’ (not the initial tendered fee) determines value for money and delivers quality outcomes.
Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers. And that is despite the fact that businesses spend over 80% of their revenue on external suppliers depending on industry.
Hand on heart, do you think you’re giving your suppliers a similar level of attention and leadership as to your own team? It’s difficult, we get it. Internal demands can often seem more pressing – not least because you’re so much more easily accessible for the people who work with you onsite. But what if we told you that better leadership in supplier management is directly related to better business outcomes?
A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff, purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts? Over time; price creep, scope pullback, service level failures, lack of innovation and increasing levels of distrust increasingly characterise their customers’ experiences. We have coined the term; the Disappointment Gap, for this phenomenon.
Effective communication is an essential skill for Contract Managers. Communicating well is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. But how do you communicate confidently and consistently with your stakeholders to ensure the successful management of your contract and project performance? Answer the following four questions for a helpful starting point to developing your communications plan.
In Grosvenor’s latest procurement study, we investigated the relationship between supplier performance and leadership style more closely. After surveying 119 organisations in Australia, we found that Transformational Leaders receive up to 27% higher performance from their suppliers than leaders who prefer a different leadership style.
Supplier management is often something that gets thrown at you with little explanation of what is required, little to no training in how you monitor supplier performance or avoid the biggest traps. Spend less time worrying about poor performance and more time on making strategic decisions that truly deliver value for money for your organisation.
Indemnities and insurance both guard against financial losses and aim to restore a party to the financial status they held before the event occurred. However, it’s important that Contract Managers understand the significant difference between the two to help protect their business.
The culture of your contract will have been established early in the sourcing process. During the tender period, documentation and interactions with suppliers will have set the tone for the ongoing relationship during the contract management phase.
You could be forgiven for thinking that suppliers provide better performance to their larger clients. Or those that are more profitable. Or those that represent growth opportunities. After all, it would make sense that a supplier does everything they could, go the extra mile for their bigger clients. Well actually the data gathered in our 2017 Procurement Study tells us that the contract value or the size of the supplier has little impact on the level of performance the buyer receives.
A contract can be defined as: “A legally binding agreement between two or more parties”. Contract law, which forms the legal basis for contract management, is an interesting and complex topic. But there are three terms of contract law that are particularly important for a Contract Manager to understand to ensure contract delivery and best practice supplier management. They are privity, estoppel and document precedence.
Governments across Australia contract more and more essential services from not-for-profit and non-government organisations (NGOs). Prime examples are the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NSW Smart, Skilled and Hired program. But how should government agencies go about incentivising these service providers to achieve or better exceed performance expectations?
Long before your contract expires, you should be planning your approach to the contract close out phase. Of course it’s easier to just extend an existing contract. But is it best value for money? Does it effectively address your organisation’s risk exposure? A Contract Extension Checklist can help you make the best contract decision for your business.
Chances are that you suspect your contract isn’t performing as well as it could. There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Did you know that improving your leadership skills could improve supplier relationships and contract performance?
Sometimes a 20 minutes chat is all you need to clarify your questions:
Use the button below to schedule a meeting now
We are all about sharing our expertise to help you and your organisation be the best it can be.
Thanks for signing up for our free resources. We are all about sharing our expertise to help you and your organisation be the best it can be.
You can find all our free resources
(ebooks, guides, blogs here)
You can see how we have solved problems for others here
