Yesterday’s post discussed the recent article in the Supply Chain Management Review on The Drivers of Procurement Excellence that discussed seven megatrends that are currently exerting their impact on the global procurement function which the authors claimed to be driving procurement excellence by way of the pressures they are exerting on procurement departments across the board. While I agree that all of the megatrends are driving the need for a greater procurement function, and while I believe that each of the five elements that they listed as being core to a procurement transformation are necessary, I do not think that megatrends drive procurement excellence.

As far as I’m concerned, procurement excellence is driven by one thing — and one thing alone. Talent. People drive excellence — and although this excellence generally needs to be supported by kick-ass processes and kick-ass technology, excellence is driven by people first, process and technology second, and external influences third.

Face it, as the SCMR article deftly notes, the skills and capabilities required in today’s procurement function are vastly evolved and nearly unrecognizable from those of 10 to 15 years ago and no technology or process is going to come close to meeting a fraction of the requirements, or deliver the results today’s procurement functions need, without a very talented individual at the helm. An individual that is an experienced, collaborative, customer-focused market zen master team player who is driven to succeed. An individual that is adept at analysis, skilled at strategy, and focussed on sustainability and who will seek out the knowledge she needs, consult with experience, and innovate all the while. A new breed of professional who is a jack-of-all-trades and master of one — spend and supply management!

Of course, given that there’s a talent crunch, and maybe even a talent war, for A-level procurement professionals that has already progressed to the point that only 11% of executives are confident that they will be able to recruit and retain the needed talent they need, attracting the talent you need might be easier said than done. That’s why true leaders will take their intelligent, hard-working, driven B-level players and provide them with the training (possibly through industry-leading certifications such as the SPSM offered by Next Level Purchasing) and job experience they need to become A-level players and kick ass. (And when you consider that, as pointed out in this Supply Excellence piece, A players, who only cost 40% more, often deliver an overall return of 100% or more in a given year, the payback on talent acquisition and development is almost exponential!)

So hire the best, train the best, and retain the best … and you will achieve procurement excellence, because the best will accept nothing less.