PROCUREMENT STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATION
BUSINESS ADVICE
DON’ T MISS THE OPPORTUNITIES
Businesses recruiting staff often create Preferred Supplier Lists – working only with selected recruitment companies. Dan Barfoot, Operation’ s Manager at CMD Recruitment in Wiltshire, is mystified why you would limit opportunities by never looking outside a PSL, as you could miss out on good candidates.
To put this in context, I’ m all for having a PSL in place as it means working with preferred organisations who get to know your recruiting habits and process. This ensures team dynamics and skills needed are understood, which in turn can lead to a better interview-to-offer ratio.
It also gives the recruiters time to source and deliver suitable candidates, knowing that their process is respected, in contrast to the time pressure which comes with last minute recruitment. However – cutting out other recruitment resources as a policy can be a short-sighted approach.
I will often send in a CV to a company speculatively but only with the candidate’ s permission and I’ d happily
quantify the work I have done to qualify and brief a candidate, to a hiring manager.
If a recruiter understands you have a PSL but still decides to make that call to you so you are aware they have a suitable candidate, that’ s more targeted than speculative. I often think hiring managers should feel flattered you had them in mind.
This is not about holding a business to ransom if they are interested either, as T’ s & C’ s can always be negotiated.
In this candidate driven market, a candidate may be attracted to a certain agency by factors such as geographical location, marketing or recommendation, so a great candidate may not be in full view to the agencies on your PSL, especially as these agencies may rely on job board exposure, which is limited in scope.
My advice is, use PSLs but don’ t miss out on good opportunities when they present themselves and be open to discussion.
As a local, independent recruitment company, CMD Recruitment is flexible, connected and is about providing a professional service.
Contact us if you have any recruitment needs.
For more info: www. cmdrecruitment. com
01225 805080
Getting your procurement right
Effective procurement is directly linked to sustainable business says Doug Fellows, director of PAMS and trusted partner to Inspire.
When I look around the local business media( publications, websites, networking clubs, etc.), there is a huge focus on sales and all things related to‘ selling’, which is entirely understandable, but very little of the support, help and advice aimed at SMEs addresses the‘ buying’ bit.
Doug Fellows
OK, as a small to medium sized business, you may not be spending the tens of millions that corporate procurement departments in large organisations do, but better buying, in order to get more for your money or to reduce cost, can be as valid a route to improving profitability as increasing your sales – in fact, for nearly all businesses, reducing their costs will have a proportionately greater positive impact on profit than increasing their sales revenue. The relationship between effective procurement and sustainable business |
growth is both direct and powerful. Contemporarily, this is very well understood in large corporate organisations and most have responded by setting up sophisticated and mature procurement departments – some with representation at Board level. However, many small and medium sized organisations have not yet realised the power of developing a professional procurement capability and some still consider it a zero value adding administrative necessity – a‘ sausage machine’.
Is it time to throw out the sausage
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machine and rethink what and, more importantly, how you buy?
Indeed, an effective procurement capability should:
• Have a direct, positive and immediate impact on profitability.
• Increase your competitiveness and market share.
• Reduce the overall amount spent on goods and services.
• Create a greater awareness of relevant supply markets.
• Reduce purchasing transaction time and
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associated costs.
• Release funds for capital investment, recruitment and training.
• Help you to manage contracts and contractual risks.
• Identify and evaluate new and better suppliers and partners.
• Reduce inventory levels and improve cash flow.
So, you can then use the benefits of better procurement to suit the type of business you’ re in and support your unique strategy for growth.
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PROCUREMENT STRATEGY AND TRANSFORMATION
Contact Doug Fellows on 01793 781514 or email doug @ pams. support
Discover more at www. pams. support
12 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017