Procurement Leaders spoke to Kris Timmermans, managing partner of sourcing and procurement at Accenture, about the role procurement has to play in a recession.

In the interview, he highlighted four areas the procurement leaders can differentiate themselves.

“If I see how some of the leaders are really differentiating themselves, I would highlight four elements. First, they are looking at cutting non-working money in a strategic way, refer to it as strategic cost management. I also see that they are preparing for winning the war on talent, so that you can prepare for recession by getting very good talent instead of focusing on cutting procurement headcount like some others would be doing.

“Third, I see a lot of investments in analytics; so a lot of business insights. A struggling economy also means uncertainty, so you wonder ‘how can I get the best insights for my category managers’. Last, and not least, it’s a real opportunity to tighten the relationship with suppliers for innovation, because we see leaders accelerating their innovation agenda and breaking away from the pack during the recession by tapping into innovations through their suppliers.”

Its not surprising to see talent being an area of focus, he goes on to say that adding headcount with superior talent is a great idea. (I agree, but that sounds like turning around a aircraft carrier). He also brings attention to investment in technology, specifically spend visibility, as I interpret it.

I think getting ideas from experts like Kris Timmermans is a very good idea. Companies such as Accenture get visibility into all kinds of strategic ways to conquer challenges. In recessionary environments, it is essential to find quick methods to improve results, and listening to people that have seen many different approaches, will be very prudent.