Discovering the New X Factor in Procurement Talent

In this exclusive guest blog for ProcureCon Asia – Dr Christina Ooi tackles the topic of resilience in the context of procurement talent. “Procurement leaders must first understand what resilience is before recognising it in our talent” before diving deep into the psychology of resilience, and the qualities to recognise when looking for the new X Factor procurement talent, right for your business.

We tackle the key qualities and questions to ask when seeking to attract, identify and retain procurement’s best - like “Do they have a sense of prioritization?” or “How do they perform in VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) situations?” This 10-minute read will leave you with a framework that makes sure you’ll discover the best people with expert advice from one of the world’s leading enterprises.

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” - Albert Einstein

As leaders in our workplace, what do we actually know about the new X factor in procurement talent called resilience? Perhaps, resilience is an overused buzzword, or has it been taken for granted all this time? Indeed, in today’s raging war for procurement talent amidst multiple external market factors, resilience is one of the most sought after qualities by procurement leaders in their relentless pursuit to attract and retain the best and brightest talent in procurement.

Resilient procurement employees have the ability to cope better with managing stakeholders expectations in their business requirements and finding solutions to overcome pain points when faced with volatile and uncertain market conditions. Highly resilient procurement professionals also are able to grapple with disruptive supply chains and escalating cost of doing business from suppliers. They are more resourceful and innovative in managing supplier negotiations, supplier risk assessment, and supplier performance management.

So, how do we discover resilience in our procurement talent with a view to cultivate and nurture it, and to enhance their resilience skills? Procurement leaders must first understand what resilience is before recognising it in our talent.

The American Psychological Association defines Resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.” In other words, resilience is about one’s inner strength (including mental strength) which provides the required ability, grit, sheer courage and deep conviction to take the bull by its horns when faced with challenges, no matter how difficult it is or the number of failures encountered.

Simply put, it’s about one’s ability to bounce back countless times, and still have the will to stay focused to do it better than the previous failed occasions. How many of us can do that? To pick ourselves up from where we fell, dust ourselves, and continue to pursue our vision with even deeper conviction. Repeat that over and over again.

First of all, we must accept the fact that everyone is built differently. Not everyone has this X factor called resilience nor does everyone have the same level of resilience skills. Based on my professional procurement journey, I have used these eight (8) simple questions in my quest to spot this X factor in procurement talent:

1. Do they have a sense of prioritization?

Procurement talent who have this important sense of prioritization often possess resilience skills. They have the ability to separate the wheat 1 from the chaff. They have the ability to apply first things first, to get their priorities right, and to first work on things which are more important that matter.

2. Are they easily distracted and lack concentration?

This question is closely related to the first question of whether our procurement talents have a sense of prioritization. At the workplace, it is commonplace to have employees pulled into different meetings on a daily basis, and everything seems urgent and important, all at the same time.

Procurement talent who have the ability to apply their concentrated focus on things that matter, and to counter and manage distractions from their undivided focus, often have resilience skills.

3. How do they perform in VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) situations?

When faced with adversity, it is important to assess how our procurement talent’s emotions are triggered in various situations and circumstances of VUCA, and how they react. One simple way to assess such emotions, is to ask them questions about their frustrations or failures they encountered, and how they reacted or responded to them.

4. Do they have a clear sense of purpose and a sense of belonging?

This is where it begins - do our procurement talent know their ‘ikigai’ - the reason why they jump out of bed every morning, eager to make things happen and deliver their contribution in their roles and responsibilities? Do they carpe diem and give their best every day regardless of any challenge or roadblock, even if they seem insurmountable?

As procurement leaders, we must play our part to provide our talents with a clear sense of purpose, and a sense of belonging. They must find their roles meaningful every day. This positive feeling is the cornerstone for employees to build their resilience,

5. Do they have the will to deliver the desired outcome in stretch roles?

Another way to spot resilience in our procurement talent is to give them stretch targets or to assign them special projects which are over and above their scope of responsibilities. Keep a close watch on how they react to these extraordinary yet realistic targets and assignments.

Do they accept the challenge and take them on with a positive attitude and provide innovative ways to deliver them? Or do they portray a sense of reluctance and provide reasons why and how such targets and assignments cannot be accomplished?

The former response from our procurement talent often demonstrates that their resilience skills are well anchored in their DNA.

6. Do they have a positive and can-do attitude?

Procurement talent who are resilient always have a positive mindset and do not give up easily. They believe in doing what is right no matter what it takes than to give up which is easier and tempting.

Rather than moaning about 10 reasons why they are unable to overcome adversity, employees with high resilience only have one reason why they should go for it because it is the right thing to do versus taking the easy way out by giving up.

7. Are they agile (mentally and physically) and adaptable?

One way to enhance agility and adaptability of our procurement talent is to encourage mindfulness - being connected, aware and being in the present moment. This helps our talent to remain confident, focused and present while ensuring long term sustainable goals remain intact.

Procurement talent with high resilience have the ability to strike a good balance on what is at stake at present (challenges, pressure, conflict, stress) and at the same time, ensure long-term goals, targets, objectives and outcomes remain intact and within focus and sight.

8. Do they have the ability to bounce back?

When things continue to go wrong, beyond reasonable control, and they seem impossible to be overcome, can our procurement talent thrive in the face of such adversity? Have our procurement talent demonstrated that they have the grit and tenacity to bounce back despite all odds?

It is during times of conflict and crisis that their true selves will be revealed, and only those who are strong and hardy, demonstrate relentless resilience.

‘My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.” - Mizuta Mazahide, Seventh-century Japanese poet and samurai

At the end of the day, procurement leaders who recognise resilience as the new X factor in our procurement talent must instil a culture of trust and open communication in the workplace.

Such a positive and progressive environment would allow resilience in our talent to be nurtured and cultivated, honed and developed in talent management strategies.

Imagine organizations with highly resilient procurement talent not only have much higher chances of surviving the war for such talent but also winning in this procurement talent combat by a distinct mile.

This is a guest post written by Dr Christina S S Ooi, CPO, APAC for Air Liquide

Dr Christina Ooi will be speaking at ProcureConAsia 2023 on 13th July 2023, 9:40 AM, CPO Interview: What's on the CPO's 2023-2024 to-do list? How are you leveraging the current disruptions to shine and drive your own agenda? Find out more here!