Talent Talks Podcast

“It isn't about the price of the consultancy, it’s the impact of the outcome they're delivering, so cheap can become very expensive.”

The difference in spend between contingent labour and consultancies globally is incredibly small, yet the technology and systems to work with them lags far behind.

As CEO of Constellia, Rob Levene keeps close contact with their Consultancy Procurement Council to maintain a finger on the pulse of what issues need solving in the consultancy space.

In this jam-packed episode of Talent Talks we look at the 6 biggest concerns with consultancy services, which tools are needed to alleviate those pain points, and how to reassess the value that firms place on consultancy services.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• The combined public and private sector experiences that led to Constellia’s inception
• Transitioning the MSP model across sectors
• A lack of established technology solutions for consultancy, despite a similar level of spend to contingent labour
• The 6 top risks that category managers are facing right now
• Reframing the financial impact of consultancy to consider value over cost

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“From my perspective, data is the foundational resource that we now need to use in terms of how we think about our procurement transformation.”

As apps like TikTok innovate the tools that curate content for us, it’s clear that the future of procurement is one in which we won’t settle for inadequate tools.

We’ve been seeing gradual digitisation for decades, and as the need to process data and implement automation grows, we speak to Kantar’s CPO Stephen Day about how digital tools will help us tackle industry challenges.

In this rich conversation touching on so many of the profession’s most pertinent issues, Stephen shares how to implement digitisation in a way that justifies its continued use, the skill sets sought from new procurement professionals, how data can help drive a more diverse and inclusive industry, and much more.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• How Stephen build up his varied series of prior roles and experiences
• What digitisation means and how it should be implemented with consideration for stakeholders
• The benefits of an empowering, empathetic leadership style
• How data can be used to improve diversity, inclusion and representation in the industry
• The skills sought in the next generation of procurement professionals

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“With our size and scale, we can deliver value for money through social value, but also leave a lasting legacy in communities.”

The scrutiny that comes with multi-billion pound projects in the public sector gives National Highways a strong impetus to put social value first in its operations. So how do we achieve the same in the rest of the industry?

In a Talent Talks first, we feature a panel of 3 guests from the same procurement department - Malcolm Dare, Sanyalax Morrison, and Andrew Stephenson - to share the reasons behind National Highways’ increasing focus on social value.

Join us as we discuss the methods of spreading the issue across the sector, the sometimes-overlooked aspects of engaging with SMEs, the proactivity necessary to hit carbon neutrality targets, and much more.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• How to define social value and the 4 huge reasons to prioritise it
• The process of elevating social value to be achieved on a sector-wide level
• Why we need to act now in order to hit 2030 goals for carbon neutrality
• Increasing engagement with SMEs

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“Sustainability needs to be a priority, and that starts at the top.”

Digital procurement transformation is a perpetual journey, and with the growing importance of ESG initiatives it’s key now to ensure these initiatives come from the very top level to maximise your organisation’s value.

This week’s guest on Talent Talks is Coupa’s Vice President in Northern Europe, Eric Brown, who shares how increasing visibility within e-procurement processes allows more stakeholders to put sustainability first, when exactly the right time is to invest in digital procurement, and how we can continue elevating the profession.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Choosing the right time to invest in digital procurement for growth
• The increasing focus on compliance and risk management
• Achieving ESG goals by ensuring it’s embedded at the top
• Refining outdated digital processes on procurement’s tech journey
• How we can continue to elevate the profession & its impact at board level
• Cutting wastage in processes to help both shareholders and ESG goals

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Eric Brown, Vice President Northern Europe Mid-Market & Corporate
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericscottbrown/

Coupa Software
https://www.linkedin.com/company/coupa-software/

Martin Smith, Founder & Director of Talent Drive https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsmith2009/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

Recent years have brought new challenges to the healthcare sector, so for HealthTrust Europe it’s been key to engage stakeholders to guarantee social value in every process they implement.

Advocating the renewed need for social value and sustainability in procurement within the sector is COO Dale Robinson, who considers the holistic, end-to-end view of a process to be essential in unlocking that value.

Dale joins us to share how eProcurement strategies can leverage the power of data, getting familiar with health policies at ICS level, and how the NHS will need to adapt in order to achieve its Net-Zero goals.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Working with a greater range of stakeholders to get ahead of key processes
• Achieving social value in health solutions by working processes in at ICS level
• Keeping teams engaged and connected through a time of hybrid working and additional scrutiny
• The NHS’ Net-Zero target, and the hurdles it needs to overcome in order to achieve it
• How eProcurement strategies could help to hit sustainability targets & social value metrics

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

Committing to procurement transformation that earns buy-in from the board is a hurdle made far easier to vault with the help of one key asset - the right people structure.

It’s a foundational part of Patrick Dunne’s ‘Three P’s’ for progressing any procurement function, an approach that’s evidently effective. Patrick’s experience spans industries, and boasts the 2019 CIPS Leader of the Year award.

Patrick, Director of Group Property, Procurement and Cost Transformation at Sainsbury’s for 4 years now, joins us this week to discuss how he’s earned autonomy as a function, creating the right structure of procurement professionals, and the steps that Sainsbury’s are taking to achieve their Net-Zero plan.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Earning autonomy as a procurement function
• How to become a broader leader
• Learning from those in day-to-day operations as well as those above you
• Getting started on the sustainability agenda, and Sainsbury’s Net Zero pledge
• Keeping engaged teams through remote working restrictions
• Where we need to improve bringing people into the professions

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“Good people, regardless of function, generally have a choice. We've worked hard to get our hiring managers in a mindset that, when they go into the interview, it is a two-way thing.”

The market for new, ambitious procurement professionals might seem relatively thin right now, but could our industry set our sights further afield to create a wider talent pool with more varied skill sets?

Balfour Beatty’s Evan Sutherland has witnessed the benefits of being open-minded, and the missed opportunities that come from being too picky. After all, since procurement is a function that touches so many parts of the business, are candidates from commercial, marketing, finance, or anywhere in between not equipped with transferable skills?

On this episode of Talent Talks, Evan discusses the ever-growing focus on soft skills and attitude, his desire for a more centralised approach to procurement across the board, and how an openness to technology can transform the role that our function plays in generating bottom line revenue.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Nurturing and developing a prolific talent pool
• How businesses can adapt to the job-rich, candidate-light market
• Centralising your procurement function to create a more cohesive unit
• The essential need for soft skills and personability
• Ways in which we can encourage more promising young professionals into the industry

The Talent Talks Podcast is proudly sponsored by Barkers Commercial Consultancy. Barkers are a multi-award-winning ethical, procurement consultancy offering specialist services including cost and procurement transformation, contract lifecycle management, procurement managed services, bid writing services and digital procurement https://barkersprocurement.com/

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“From a recruitment perspective, it's one of the first questions candidates ask us now: What is that business's sustainability agenda?”

With the well-publicised COP26 bringing sustainability ever closer to the front of consumers’ minds, there’s a renewed focus on supply chains to become greener at every stage.

For such a current and pressing topic, it was a delight to host a panel discussion at Talent Talks Live in December with Jo Ennion, Tim Snow, and Allison Ford-Langstaff. 

Our guests on this week’s live episode of the podcast share their open, honest experiences with the sustainability journey each of them is currently on, and answer audience questions on the impact of AI & automation, ways to upskill your team in sustainably practices, and how to incite sustainable change from the board.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Recent research indicating how well procurement is fulfilling the sustainability agenda
• How to upskill your teams in environmentally conscious practices
• The role of diversity & inclusion in developing innovative, sustainable impact
• Ways to bring sustainability issues to the board’s attention and ensure they’re acted upon

This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by 4C Associates - a leading European procurement and supply chain consultancy, who work collaboratively with forward-thinking clients to deliver real business value across a wide range of transformation and cost optimisation service offerings. Visit https://www.4cassociates.com/ for more information.

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“We're trying to get value for money, but we still use the word savings. We've got to change our language accordingly to sell procurement.”

Welcome to a very special episode of Talent Talks, recorded live at last month’s Talent Talks event in central London! We were lucky enough to bring together a panel of wonderful procurement professionals to discuss some of the burning issues facing the industry today, with questions from a live audience.

Visa’s Sarah-Jayne Aldridge, DS Smith’s Alex Jennings, and 4C Associates’ Jeremy Smith shared their collective wealth of experiences as we touched on where hybrid working promises to evolve how we collaborate, creating opportunities that satisfy the demands of procurement’s upcoming candidates, and how we can promote supply chain stories so that they’re heard by the wider business world.

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• The types of skillset needed in modern procurement professionals
• Guiding a move towards return on investment over pure cost-saving
• Satisfying the demands of procurement’s next generation
• How hybrid work promises to change how our industry operates
• Unapologetically keeping our seat at the C-suite table

This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by 4C Associates - a leading European procurement and supply chain consultancy, who work collaboratively with forward-thinking clients to deliver real business value across a wide range of transformation and cost optimisation service offerings. Visit https://www.4cassociates.com/ for more information.

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/

“We need to be hot on our game to ensure that suppliers are meeting ethical standards, and that we're operating in an ethical and compliant way ourselves.”

Procurement is bestowed with a power to join supply chains in a way that nobody else can, so we need to be hot on our game when it comes to sustainable procurement.

Sustainability is not just about carbon emissions - former CPO EMEA JLL and current SPP Ambassador Rob Alexander also holds a much-needed focus on key issues around child labour and modern slavery, all activities which procurement possesses a power to prevent.

Rob joins Martin Smith this week to consider the importance of aligning corporate goals with the common goal of sustainability, and how to educate senior directors that a move towards sustainable supply chains is as much about commercial value as it is about ethical practice...

This episode of Talent Talks covers:

• Why sustainability is more present in today’s agenda than ever before
• Aligning supply chains with the common goal of sustainable procurement
• The far-reaching impact of sustainability both for businesses and for teams
• What can be done to improve supply chains that are behind the times
• How the sustainable agenda is affecting value-based business decisions

This episode of Talent Talks is sponsored by 4C Associates - a leading European procurement and supply chain consultancy, who work collaboratively with forward-thinking clients to deliver real business value across a wide range of transformation and cost optimisation service offerings. Visit https://www.4cassociates.com/ for more information.

Links and references at: https://talentdrive.co.uk/