“A good procurement person has two qualities: One is they're curious. They want to know how things are made. How did we get it here? Why is the supplier doing that? What is the price? What is the cost? So, curiosity is the number one thing and the number two thing is emotional intelligence. Do they have the capability to build relationships inside and outside the business?”

In this week’s podcast, Philip Ideson is joined by Bill Michels, Vice President of Operations Americas at CIPS. They discuss the global nature of today’s supply chains and the impact that shift has had on the professional procurement community: specifically, they discuss the ongoing impact of trade tariffs around the world, and the proactive actions that can be taken to prepare for economic recession.

In this conversation, Bill talks about:

• Why procurement needs to start focusing on influencing buyer behavior, not their spend • The destabilizing impact of tariffs, and whether it is possible for them to represent an opportunity as well as a challenge • How procurement leaders can begin to proactively plan for an economic recession. • How procurement skills development is being impacted by the very different interests and needs of the four different generations making up the current workforce