August 20188 PROCUREMENT: ENABLER OR INHIBITOR? BUILDING A CULTURE OF ENABLEMENTSHAE HOWARD, DIRECTOR, IDG GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS, NSW DEPARTMENT OF FINANCELet's face it, sometimes procurement functions don't always have the best reputations. They can be perceived as unhelpfully bureaucratic and focused more on following process than on getting the right outcome--but it doesn't have to be that way. It is important for procurement leaders to build a customer-oriented, outcome- focused team culture to enable the delivery of efficient procurement. This may seem like a rather obvious statement to make but it can be difficult to put into practice. Developing an effective team culture is hard work but as leaders it is something we cannot shy away from. In the 3 years, I was Director of ICT Category Management for the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation in the NSW Government, I used the following focus areas to help me build a strong and robust customer-oriented team. Hire People Who Build Long Term RelationshipsWhile some procurement exercises can be relatively short in the public sector, most aren't. My team were responsible for complex whole of government procurement strategies that took many months to plan, negotiate and implement. It was critical to have people on my team who could build long lasting sustainable relationships with customers, stakeholders and suppliers. When hiring, I specifically looked for people who were articulate, patient, had a genuine passion for collaboration, were outcomes-focused and, most importantly, could demonstrate how they build productive working relationships. Create Team Values that Put the Customer at the CentreIf the ability to establish long lasting relationships is a cornerstone to building a customer-oriented culture, then a common set of values the team hold themselves accountable to is the glue that holds it together. Values help shape how a team behaves and how they work with others to deliver results. Our team started by defining our customers broadly--that is, a customer was anyone who relied on our output to do their job. Then, we placed the customer at the centre of everything we did and decided we would treat our customers the way we wanted to be treated. Our core values IN MY V EW
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