Harley Reed Nigeria, a leading advisory, knowledge and assurance professional services firm, has in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) launched a new forum to enhance procurement and supply capability in Nigeria.
Harley Reed created the forum for c-suite level procurement and supply chain professionals to discuss how procurement can be a powerful force for resilience and profitability in these challenging times, when outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the economy.
To kickstart, Harley Reed Nigeria started the CPO Forum for procurement practitioners starting with the financial service institutions including commercial banks and insurance companies, which was attended by chiefs and heads of procurement.
Speaking at the inaugural event, Duncan Brock, group director of CIPS highlighted how CIPS has partnered with Harley Reed in the West Africa region, and provided an overview on their role in supporting the professionalisation of procurement.
William Tagoe, guest speaker/Group CEO of Harley Reed International, provided the keynote on ‘Procurement as a Strategic Value Creator’.
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Tagoe gave insight on what true procurement excellence looks like and how a strong procurement function will go beyond a cost saving mandate to providing organisations with greater resilience and agility in the ever-changing landscape.
On the journey to becoming a strategic value creator, Tagoe referred to the ‘CIPS Diagnostic Review’ which is a targeted analysis of the entire procurement function of a business using a proven CIPS framework.
“This framework assesses leadership and organisation, strategy and policy, people, process and systems, performance management, and provides a roadmap to the organisation,” Tagoe explained.
At the second outing also targeted at the financial services sector, the focus was on ‘The Modern Procurer,’ which highlights how to build the appropriate skillset and achieve return on investment (ROI) through capacity building, and it was also delivered by Willam Tagoe.
Fiona Wood, head of Global Standards in CIPS, led the discussion enlightening participants on best practices as it concerns developing procurement practitioners from being tactical to becoming professional and strategic.
She described the framework as a comprehensive competency framework to enhance organisational and individual performance.
Tagoe, in his presentation focused on the capacity development for procurement professionals and teams.
He listed the skills required as influencing, leadership and communication skills as well as internal stakeholder management and supplier relationship management skills.
He pointed out the need to align procurement activities in transiting from tactical to professional or strategic with global standards and themes such as infrastructure, processes, performance and people development.
He added that as the procurement function matures, it brings increasing levels of impact, involvement, control and influence.
Grace Onosode, Harley Reed (Nigeria) Country Director, said that the next forum will hold in April with a focus on the Oil & Gas industry.
According to her, these meetings will continue to run on a monthly basis and will include other sectors in the future.
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