P@40 – La Profesión de Business Partner – al alcance de pocas organizaciones

En semanas anteriores vimos que la gran mayoría de las funciones que, con mucha razón, ambicionan posicionarse como estrategicas en las empresas (por ejemplo Compras, Control de Gestión, IT, Recursos Humanos, Servicios Generales, …) piensan que una de las posibles soluciones consiste en fomentar y desarrollar el Business Partnering. Eso significa transformar a una parte de sus empleados en verdaderos Business Partners o “asesores de confianza” para las demás áreas del negocio.

Es una excelente estrategia. Sin embargo, la experiencia indica que, para una determinada función, implementar el Business Partnering con el resto del negocio resulta ser muy complicado.

Entre los posibles ejes de trabajo que comentamos (1.- crear la Profesión; 2.- implementar el Proceso; 3.- perfeccionar la Pericia), hoy profundizaremos en el primero de los 3: la Profesión de Business Partner.

Las grandes empresas suelen tener departamentos lo suficientemente grandes como para  crear el puesto de Business Partner, también llamado Key Account Manager o Single Point of Contact.

Habitualmente, la descripción del puesto incluye las siguientes responsabilidades:

• Alinearse con sus stakeholders mediante la creación de unas relaciones de trabajo productivas y de confianza.
• Proporcionar a sus compañeros de trabajo la visión, prioridades, retos, necesidades de los stakeholders para que sean incorporados en la estrategia y planes de la propia función u organización.
• Manejar las relaciones con los stakeholders
• Representar a la propia función u organización delante de los stakeholders
• Promover y demostrar a sus stakeholders la plena validez  de la propuesta de valor de su organización o función
• Definir y acordar objetivos claros entre su organización y los stakeholders
• Pactar y seguir la implementación de un plan de acción conjunto
• Coordinar las actividades dentro de su propia organización para lograr satisfacer las necesidades de sus stakeholders, cumplir con las actividades pactadas y lograr los objetivos acordados.
• Identificar, tratar, escalar y solucionar las posibles incidencias tanto internas como las de los  stakeholders a lo largo de la relación
• Identificar, manejar y solucionar los posibles conflictos que pueden ocurrir a lo largo de la relación
• Mejorar los resultados de las encuestas de satisfacción

Este rol de un alto nivel de complejidad tiene sus ventajas y desventajas:

Puntos positivos

Aspectos negativos

-  Al ser un rol definido y dedicado, las probabilidades de éxito del Business Partner son más altas que con la puesta en marcha de un Proceso o la mejora de la Pericia. -  Los stakeholders valoran de forma muy positiva tener a un Business Partner dedicado y no dudan en consultarlo. -  El Business Partner es muy capaz de encontrar las sinergias entre su propia organización y las necesidades o prioridades de sus stakeholders. -  El Business Partner co-lidera con el stakeholder las principales iniciativas planificadas.

-  Es difícil para un Business Partner estar al corriente de todas las actividades en marcha y planificadas (dentro de su propia función y de la organización de sus stakeholders). -  Es un delicado  rol de coordinación dentro de la propia organización. -  El Business Partner a menudo no tiene la suficiente capacidad de decisión o autoridad para pactar con sus stakeholders o para solucionar problemas. -  Es frecuente tener problemas de claridad en los roles y responsabilidades entre el Business Partner y sus compañeros dentro de la propia función. -  Un Business Partner tiene éxito solo si la propia organización posee un fuerte enfoque al cliente. -  A menudo los Business Partners están llevando demasiados stakeholders  llegando a priorizar a los más importantes, y a desatender a los stakeholders de menos peso. -  Al ser pocos dentro de la organización, es complicado asegurar su desarrollo personal o su evolución de carrera. Existe cierto riesgo de desmotivación. -  Al no ser considerados como directamente ‘productivos’, en caso de planes de optimización de la plantilla, pueden fácilmente estar en el punto de mira.

El Business Partner como Profesión o verdadero puesto de trabajo es una excelente solución. No obstante, requiere unas sólidas bases difíciles de conseguir:

• Tener una organización amplia para tener Business Partners dedicados
• Un apoyo y reconocimiento total por parte de la dirección de la propia función
• Reclutar a profesionales de alto nivel

Razón por la cual en muchos casos, las organizaciones se decantan más por el Proceso o bien la Pericia.

Si quieres saber más sobre business partnering, no te pierdas los próximos posts.

¿Has sido Business Partner o tenido Business Partners (dedicados a esta labor) en tu organización? ¿Cuál ha sido el balance? ¿Qué lecciones aprendidas puedes compartir con nosotros?

P@39 - Business Partnering: ¿mito o realidad?

En estos últimos años y de forma creciente, he dedicado parte de mi tiempo a profundizar en el apasionante y peliagudo tema del Business Partnering.

Deliberadamente, plantearé la cuestión desde el punto de vista de todas estas funciones que, con mucha razón, quieren dejar de ser calificadas de “soporte” y convertirse en “estratégicas” (Compras, Recursos Humanos, Finanzas, Sistemas, etc…), o demás organizaciones de servicios compartidos, que trabajan activamente en desarrollar el famoso Business Partnering.

Por todos los medios, intentan transformar a una parte de sus empleados en verdaderos Business Partners o “asesores de confianza” para las demás áreas del negocio.

Se escucha y se lee mucho sobre este asunto; sin embargo ¿tenemos claro lo siguiente?

¿En qué consiste el business partnering?

¿Qué hacen concretamente las funciones u organizaciones para mejorarlo?

¿Cómo es posible perfeccionar y consolidar el Business Partnering?

Empezando con una definición más bien académica, el Business Partnering es un proceso de colaboración, asociación o alianza que permite conseguir que 2 (o más) personas, grupos de individuos, funciones o entidades pongan en común sus esfuerzos, sus competencias con el fin de crear e implementar soluciones sinérgicas para superar sus respectivos retos, lograr sus objetivos o crear valor añadido. Los Business Partners son personas (en teoría) convenientemente designadas cuya misión es facilitar, liderar, lograr este proceso de cooperación.

De forma más pragmática, los Business Partners de cualquier función u organización:

- Entienden el negocio, sus prioridades, sus retos y están dispuestos a ayudar

- Crean una relación productiva y fructífera con sus principales socios internos (o stakeholders)

-Presentan una propuesta de valor atractiva para el negocio

-Pactan con los stakeholders unos objetivos comunes, unos proyectos o iniciativas prioritarias

-Están implicados desde el inicio

-Mejoran los procesos de toma de decisión

-Se ganan un lugar permanente en el equipo directivo de sus socios internos

-Co-lideran de forma más efectiva iniciativas o proyectos cada vez más complejos

-Generan valor y resultados muy tangibles.  

El éxito en cuanto a Business Partnering existe y se debe a unos magnificos profesionales que han logrado establecer relaciones de trabajo altamente productivas con una parte del negocio; la manera de trabajar entre las areas implicadas se vuelve mucho más fluida, profesional, efectiva; los resultados son excelentes y a menudo superan las expectativas. 

La gran mayoría de las funciones que ambicionan ser estrategicas en las empresas desean multiplicar estos casos de éxito y por lo tanto siguen buscando soluciones para fomentar y desarrollar el Business Partnering.  

Podemos agrupar las posibles opciones en 3 ejes de trabajo:

- la Profesión: se crea el rol o puesto de Business Partner, también llamado Key Account Manager o Single Point of Contact

- el Proceso: se implementa un robusto proceso de Business Partnering que a menudo coincide con el proceso de fijación de los presupuestos de la propia empresa

-la Pericia: se perfeccionan las habilidades y afinan las capacidades de los empleados que dedican una gran parte de su trabajo diario a actividades de Business Partnering.  

Si bien poseen muchos puntos en común, estos 3 enfoques tienen sus respectivas ventajas y desventajas. La Pericia suele destacar ya que es de implementación más fácil y eficaz. En mi caso, es la vía que elegimos y es dónde concentramos nuestros esfuerzos. Conseguimos muy buenos resultados.

Si quieres saber más sobre business partnering, no te pierdas los próximos posts.

¿Has tenido que desarrollar el Business Partnering en tu organización o departamento? ¿Cómo lo has logrado?

No dudes en compartir tu experiencia.

P@38 – 10 recommendations to become a great strategic buyer

Recently a colleague asked me what I would suggest to a tactical buyer who would like to become more strategic. It’s not an easy question. I finally answered with 10 recommendations.

Before jumping to the 10-point checklist, it makes sense to align on what great tactical buyers do. Those strong individuals:

- Perfectly understand, manage and optimize the famous Req-To-Pay process

- Look for clear specifications and in parallel also work on defining the real business needs

- Analyze the supplier market and know in detail the capabilities of the current preferred vendors

- Manage complex RFQs

- Regularly use e-auctions

- Negotiate good commercial conditions, basic legal aspects and more complex Service Level Agreements

- Deal with supply and quality improvement action plans

- Have some experience in managing productivity initiatives jointly with their stakeholders.

In front of such strong tactical buyers, here would be my 10 recommendations:

1.- Be Self-aware

- Regularly update their personal SWOT so that they can explain who they are in 5 minutes in a very convincing way. They can also work on their personal brand.

- Able to explain to anyone in 2 minutes their Procurement role, mission and key contribution

- Remarkably present the unique value proposition of Procurement to their stakeholders

2.- Audit the function

- Perfectly understand the different maturity levels of Procurement
- Manage all Procurement levers (Supply, Process, Demand and Value mgmt.)

- Make the difference between transactional, tactical and strategic Procurement activities

- By interviewing their stakeholders, they know their past accomplishments and what their future successes look like.

3.- Build relationships and network

- Have an up-to-date stakeholder map and action plan

- Show strong business acumen

- Ask and listen. They control their “little voice”. They make regular ‘Voice of the Customer’ surveys.

- They are credible and generate positive impact. They know their job. They do prepare all their internal or external meetings.

- Build productive and trustful relationships inside and outside the company. They are assertive. They influence, they challenge others. They are committed to make things happening.

- Become a trusted advisor for their stakeholders

4.- Align Procurement strategy

- Know the company/stakeholder strategic imperatives, priorities, challenges and issues.

- Think like a CFO

- Think like the business in term of value creation – SPIRit (Supply, Productivity, Innovation, Responsibility)

- Know the strategy of their vendors

- They are brilliant at aligning the Procurement/category strategy to company/stakeholder priorities and defining the corresponding action plan

5.- Manage a team

- Build a High Performance Team environment

- Create a sexy and meaningful vision for/with the team

- Reward positive/open attitude of mind and pro-activity

- Share mistakes and lessons learned

- Set ambitious objectives and go for bold ideas

- Constantly celebrate successes

6.- Priorize

- Analyse the spend on a regular basis and share results with their stakeholders

- Analyse category or supplier portfolio matrix

- Work on a list of potential initiatives (jointly with the business)

- Rigorously apply strategic sourcing and category management processes

7.- Mead

- Involve Finance to create strong baselines to calculate savings, productivity or even better value contribution

- Mead the impact in the P&L and communicate any kind of value beyond savings

- Progress from a simple monthly report to a robust Procurement dashboard including more and more Business KPIs

8.- Self-manage

- Manage their time: eliminate, optimize, automate, delegate

- Only do one thing at a time

- Understand and get comfortable with constant change

- Manage their boss

- Pilot their personal development and growth

9.- Advise

- Look for a mentor and learn from him/her

- Look for a mentee and learn from him/her

- Participate to benchmark exercises inside and outside the company

10.- Enjoy

- Before all, they enjoy what they do

- Learn and grow in the face of adversity

Differences between tactical and strategic buyers are clear:

-The first ones master all Procurement technical or “hard” skills whereas, the second ones grow their “soft” skills.

-Tactical buyers are Procurement people who happen to be in Business whereas Strategic buyers are Business people who happen to be in Procurement.

Could you share any other great piece of advice?

P@37 – How did you get married with your strategic partners?

Key Account Management (for vendors with their customers) or Supplier Relationship Management (for buyers with their suppliers) are both sides of the same coin and two well-known topics. It seems obvious that long term and collaborative relationships drive more value for both parties. Unfortunately, most companies still need to improve the way they drive their strategic partnerships.

When thinking about business relationship management, I often have those 3 movie scenes coming immediately to my mind:
- The typical scene of an express marriage at Las Vegas, where, rather spontaneously, we see a couple rushing into a chapel and getting married in just 5 minutes. In many cases, it is quite extravagant. And I am not sure how long have many of those relationships lasted.
- The mythical movie ‘Runaway Bride’ with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
- And finally, all those movies in which after a good bunch of adventures a couple at last got married in front of both families and friends “for better and for worse”.

Business world is not so different from those movies as we all have heard or experienced examples of successful or failed relationships with good or more than surprising stories on how the relationship was built and then managed.

When considering a long term relationship, how serious and consistent both vendor and buyer teams are about:
- Managing the previous steps of analysis and strategy alignment?
- Defining and signing the right relationship terms and conditions?  
- Following and improving performance of daily operations? being transformational in term of outputs?

If we want successful long term business relationships, we need to answer 6 strategic questions:

1.- Do we know why we need a long term relationship? Are the business reasons for such alliance clearly defined? Are scope, goals, benefits, and risks of such strategic partnership clearly identified? On the buyer side, did we undertake or do we need a previous make-or-buy analysis?

2.- Do we have the right partner? To be sure that we are choosing the most capable vendor (buyer side) or performant customer (KAM side) now and for the future, do we have enough information about: 1.- the other party; 2.- the supply market (buyer side) or the customer landscape (KAM side); 3.- all existing alternative solutions or technologies? Are we sure that strategy and culture of both companies are aligned? From both sides, do we have the management teams seating down and talking about strategy?

3.- Will we be able to manage such relationship with the partner?Is a long term relationship the most appropriate option? As buyers will revise their ‘portfolio’ (or Kraljik) matrix and vendors their ‘preferencing’ matrix, are the results of both matrix compatible? Do internal teams of both parties understand the need and the consequences of managing a long term relationship? Are both parties willing and ready for such strategic and open collaboration? Have both teams been trained on long term relationship tools and tactics?

4.- Did we formalize the right business relationship model and contract?Is a service level agreement linked to performance and results an appropriate option or shouldn’t it be better to sign an outcome based contract? Do the parties agree to really share benefits and risks, meaning really splitting the pie in 2 without looking for a biggest portion?

5.- Do we have the right governance in place? Nowadays, in most business relationships, scope of work, expected outcomes, ways of working and commercial conditions are constantly changing. Do partners have the appropriate governance mechanisms in place to be able to negotiate and agree on all those changes? Do parties trust each other enough to be able to reach an agreement by negotiating in a transparent and collaborative way?

6.- Are we going for bold initiatives?Do the parties share the same vision about the relationship and the future in order to be able to go for bold projects and transformational solutions? Are both teams empowered to make the right and tough decisions that will lead to great innovations and benefits for both companies? Are negotiating teams reasonable enough to not tense too much the rope during those good faith negotiations?

Now please consider your more strategic and long term business relationships and answer those 6 questions. If you get a high proportion of positive answers, congratulations! You are or will be successful. If you obtain a majority of negative answers, I wish you the best after your quick marriage in Las Vegas!

As Key Account Managers (vendor side) or Category Managers (buyer side), how can we do better at managing key business relationships?


For more information on Supplier Management, please go to P@36 – Should we start to take care of our suppliers? Aren't they valuable external resources?

P@36 – Should we start to take care of our suppliers? Aren't they valuable external resources?

Supplier relationships are a trending topic. Let’s take the recent example of Volkswagen who was forced to suspend part of the production in several plants after two suppliers took the unprecedented step of refusing to deliver.Is it really an extreme and isolated case? Unfortunately, I am not sure.

Do we really get the maximum value of our wide supplier panel (now also called supplier network for very good reasons)? Once again, I am not sure.

On a daily basis, could we say that supplier relationships, supplier performance and our own company performance are linked? The answer is simple: Yes, they are fully interrelated.

How do we properly manage the relationships with our suppliers?

To get the full benefits from our wide supply base, we need to find the right balance among 4 possible types of “relationships”.

Fireman: our time is quite limited to be able deal with all company’s vendors; in many cases, we just don’t manage them. We call the supplier when there is a problem to fix or when there is something new to ask for or when we want to (re)negotiate prices. Relationship is based on the task to be performed and the price to be paid. A main goal is to have an efficient and automated purchasing/supply process. Limited value is created. For very basic, simple and cheap goods and services (as per the “non-critical” or “routine” quadrant of the Kraljik portfolio matrix), this is a rather appropriate approach.

Follow-up: with our “key” suppliers (often selected based on the annual spend), we sign a Service Level Agreement including operational KPIs. On a quarterly basis, we meet with the vendor to review what went right and more specifically what went wrong. We ask for corrective actions, and from time to time we negotiate penalties. We also ask for the next productivity actions. It is rather a one-direction and medium term relationship based on control. In the best case, the agreed service level is delivered at the best cost. When, as a customer, we face a highly competitive supplier market for standard goods or services (somehow equivalent to the “leverage” quadrant of the Kraljik matrix), this method is suitable.

Supplier Relationship Management (SRM): with our few “strategic” vendors (according to the Kraljik Portfolio matrix), we decide to enter into a long term transparent and collaborative approach. We try to share both risks and benefits (incl. bonus-malus scheme). This is the famous “WIN-WIN” mindset where we aim to really know each other in order to share the pie and work together on continuous improvement and innovation. It is about relational and operational performance management. By focusing on results and outputs, real SRM programs deliver good optimizations of the Total Cost of Ownership and also lead to great innovations.

SRM continues to be a hot topic in Procurement. This is normal as reality shows that a few companies truly deploy robust SRM programs; the vast majority of organizations only control their vendors through SLAs and productivity management. We have a lot to do to improve this 3^rd level of relationship.

Suppliers are becoming more and more integrated; they are highly responsible for the success of their customers. And nowadays, due to the level of complexity, change, globalization and competitiveness in so many sectors, when working with a vendor, we definitely need to be able to constantly adjust the scope of work, the expected outcomes, the ways of working and the commercial conditions. SRM programs do not fully answer such challenge. This is why we see that a 4^th level of relationship is emerging.

Joint Account Management Program (JAMP): with an extremely limited number of “partners” (our top critical vendors categorized according to value, risks and spend; the segmentation criteria of the Kraljik matrix here do not apply anymore), we create a deep and long term relationship based on the “WE” mindset. Jointly the parties build trust, sign a shared vision, and set up strong governance in order to adapt all business variations and changes, expand the pie, achieve great improvements, implement innovations and breakthroughs. Through a robust 3 Dimension (relational, operational and transformational) Performance management and shared investments, those very selective programs aim for co-created sustainable value.

We cannot expect a limited team of buyers to lead and manage hundreds of supplier relationships according to those 4 models. This is just not realistic and it does not make sense.

Procurement departments should have the responsibility to:

- Lead jointly with the business the supplier tiering process (segmentation of the supply base and selection of the corresponding type of relationship)
- Co-lead with the business the partners’ relationships
- Train, support, advise the internal customers regarding efficient SRM programs with the strategic vendors
- Work on supplier panel reduction, product/service portfolio rationalization and process automation for all other vendors.


Today it is obvious that companies are committed to manage their employees to get the most of them; do they do the same with their external resources? How the Procurement function can help?


For more information on strategic relationships, please read P@37 – How did you get married with your strategic partners?

P@35 – Do you have the right SPIRit with your vendors to SEEk sustainable performance? (Part II)

In a previous post, we saw that companies should SEEk (Social, Environmental and Economic) Sustainable Performance by getting the GRIP on it (Growth, Responsibility, Innovation, Productivity). This will only be possible if vendors are fully part of this complex journey.

How could a more scientific Procurement function help? Does your company have the right SPIRit with its vendors?


Supply:

- Globalization and/or internationalization will remain for a long while. And what is good for business generates a lot of complexity and risks for many areas of the organization included for Procurement associates who should pro-actively help the top management in such strategic context (even without immediate savings) by quickly and efficiently adapting and opening the supplier panel. In any new country or region, while the organization is still often under construction, success is even more linked to the performance of those new vendors. Creating open and collaborative relationships with the key new suppliers is critical to success.

- Relocalization / reshoring for economic reasons or pure commercial strategy will persist. Once again, when adjusting the supplier panel, Procurement professionals can decide to be a) pro-active or b) re-active; they can choose to be a) strategic or b) just a support function .

- Resilience of the supply chain (the ability of the supply chain to overcome and/or continue to operate when a significant impact happens) can create a competitive advantage in many sectors. We all have in mind so many examples of serious disruptions linked to one missing purchased product/component, or due to a failure of an external service provision. Improved resilience is linked to deeper industry collaboration, strong quality mgmt., better traceability and robust mitigation of supply chain risks (especially mono sources of supply).

- Transportation, warehousing and distribution (W&D) business is going through a massive transformation.  With the boom of online sales, more attention should be put on the industry of small parcels, and ultra-personalized deliveries. Will Amazon ever use drones? They apparently took it very seriously. If it is not the case for W&D, at least, drones have already become a great source of productivity for many service provisions. Drones can really help to reduce the TCO and will be a game changer in several sectors. We should ask EasyJet that has already tested security checks of the planes with drones.


Productivity:

Vendors can dramatically impact on productivity, margin and cash flow. Beyond ensuring sustainable competitive prices and cost optimizations, Procurement has a key role to play in sourcing and integrating the most capable suppliers within the organization in order to improve the Total Cost of Ownership. Procurement should be involved in all outsourcing business cases. Buyers should improve their Lean Six Sigma skills to focus on process/continuous improvement with the vendors and internal customers.


Innovation:

Procurement has a big responsibility in capturing and integrating the external innovations coming from a wide supply network.

For this reason, Supply Relationship Management programs have a bright future; it implies a big change of mindset in the vast majority of organizations. I am happy to see several gurus revising the SRM approach and referring to Collaborative Business Mgmt., Trading Relationship Mgmt., Vested way, Return On Relationships etc... Setting up the proper relationships with our suppliers is a key success factor for innovation. Aeronautics, automotive sectors know a lot about it. In order to create a new and disruptive service, Amazon and P&G had to set up a complex commercial relationship. We can’t no longer see a clear distinction between vendor and customer as it has evolved to a business alliance.

Breaking the traditional procurement mindset and processes, Crowdsourcing will give a big help.  Many companies are in the process of testing the approach. P&G, Mars have been far beyond in developing their own web page dedicated to external innovation.

Circular economy should emerge soon with massive impacts on our distribution channels, production processes, supply chains and supplier panels.

Will Analytics soon become reality? While big data is strongly growing in marketing and sales, there is still a good step to take in Procurement. On a single click, will we get soon complete analysis of past data and future trends? We could immediately analyze our company spend, a supplier, a supply market, a specific value chain, any raw material and costs. We could have predictive risk analysis, or CSR dashboards related to a specific supply chain, etc...

Responsibility:
In many cases, our company is highly linked to vendors that have a huge responsibility and impact in term of conflicting materials and minerals. Sadly, too many people still die because of their work. Procurement really needs to check how vendors perform in term of working conditions, labor rights, Diversity & Inclusion, environment, corporate governance, corruption. In many firms, as a first step, CSR is linked to risk mgmt. and reputation.  It is much better when CSR is part of the company strategy in order to bring value to final customers.

In order to SEEk sustainable performance and have the GRIP on it, does your company have the right SPIRit when managing and collaborating with its vendors? What are the key priorities of your Procurement function to better support business and company performance?