It is never easy to request additional headcount, so making sure the timing is right and having a solid business case are critical to protecting your internal reputation and hopefully getting an affirmative response.

There are plenty of ways procurement can stack the deck in their favor, and most of them have to do with demonstrating alignment with enterprise objectives and a vision that explains the value associated with that position in the longer term.

Alexis Ryan has been in procurement for 2 decades, the last 5 years of which have been spent in leadership positions. After starting her career in Legal, she ended up in procurement with no preconceived notions about the function's value proposition or focus. In this interview, Alexis provides her advice about how and when to request additional procurement headcount and how to increase the chances of the request being approved:

• Which procurement metrics can be most effective at supporting requests for additional headcount
• The objections to growing procurement's headcount that leaders should expect to face in the enterprise-wide competition for resources
• What a documented headcount business case should look like, and the type of information it should include