What's at the top of the procurement and sourcing priority stack for 2015?

The consultants at The Hackett Group have a view on that, after conducting a recent survey of procurement managers and executives for its annual report on Procurement’s Key Priorities for 2015.

The results from the report for a survey question asking about top procurement priorities is published below.

Source: The Hackett Group

As can be seen, "elevate the role of procurement to trusted adviser" came in at the top spot, with 72% of respondents indicating that was either a critical or major priority.

Ok, but what does that really mean?

Well, thankfully Hackett provides some definition, arguing that the following skills sets are related to the procurement function becoming a trusted advisor to the business:

• Having an executive presence at the table during planning and budgeting.

• Enabling business execution through forward-looking market insights/intelligence addressing business concerns.

• Being perceived as having a sincere interest in helping stakeholders achieve their business objectives (e.g., alignment with business objectives, supportive of top-line growth and cash management).

• Understanding each stakeholder’s business and organization and tailoring procurement’s message/approach accordingly.

• Being perceived as a change agent and facilitator

•  Having the right set of skills (e.g., program management, communication

Does your company's procurement function meet many or most of these criteria? Time for a self-assessment.

We'll summarize the full report in the next couple of weeks.