Win the Talent War white paper

Win the Talent War to Build a High Performing Purchasing Team

What Purchasing Professionals Want In Their Next Job - and In Their Current Position

For over 10 years, Advanced Purchasing Dynamics has been helping manufacturing companies make their Purchasing function a competitive advantage. Our staff has decades of experience in this field, and as a result our Placement division is very unique. APD Placement is concentrated solely on connecting leading manufactur-ing firms with the best, and most appropriate, Purchasing and Supply Chain talent in the market place.

Our style is consultative, and we always balance the best interests of both client and candidate. It sounds cliché, but we would rather advise you against making a hire – or a candidate in accepting an offer – if we felt it was not right for either party. APD Placement is located in Plymouth, MI

[email protected]+1 734 927 0836 ext. 104

CPOs of top performing purchasing teams are

twice as likely to invest in recruiting and retaining

talent

3Building a High Performing Purchasing Team

2X

Are you building a top performing purchasing team . . . or just scrambling to fill openings?

A 2013 IBM1 study found that companies who have built high

performing purchasing teams view recruiting and retention as key

strengths. Relative to low performing teams, they are twice as likely

to cite recruiting and retaining talent as an investment priority.

As recruiters, we need to know what candidates want in order to advise

our hiring managers and help them successfully fill open positions. We

talk to hundreds of purchasing professionals each month, but we wanted

to formalize our understanding of the current market conditions. So

we conducted a survey of Detroit-area purchasing professionals to

learn what is on their minds as they consider their career options.

A total of 185 participated in the online survey between

April and June 2016. We supplemented the information with

interview questions with purchasing professionals who were

candidates for positions we were actively recruiting for.

The insights we gained are invaluable:

Some of the key findings from our conversations with purchasing professionals:

• The local talent market is very hot – on average, purchasing professionals are being contacted by recruiters more than once a week – and one out of ten are contacted daily

• Candidates know what they want in their next job, but it could be one or more of a dozen different things – so you have to ask

• Compensation is a big factor when it comes to making a move – hiring managers need to be realistic given the market conditions

• Opportunity for career advancement is another important factor – you have to be proactive in identifying what their opportunities will likely be

Hundreds of purchasing positions are available today in the Detroit area


Nearly every person working in purchasing has multiple job opportunities – You must compete vigorously for top talent!

The local talent market is very hot. You can confirm this yourself by searching the job board of your choice. We did this in on July 7th, 2016, selecting the area within 35 miles of Plymouth, MI (our office location). Using four common purchasing job title key-words, we confirmed there are easily hundreds of jobs available in the local market.

Just using the title “buyer”, there are 219 jobs currently available in the Detroit market on Indeed, and 119 currently available on LinkedIn. While these postings are likely redundant, it’s fair to say there are more than 100 job openings for someone looking for a buyer position. Examining more specific job titles (using Indeed), it’s clear that buyers have many options:

• Program Buyer – 13 positions posted • Project Buyer – 9 positions posted • Indirect Buyer – 8 positions posted • Capital Equipment Buyer – 5 positions posted

Reinforcing this, our survey showed that purchasing professionals are routinely contacted by recruiters. Top purchasing professionals are contacted by recruiters between 8 and 20 times per month. One out of ten Detroit-area purchasing professionals are contacted by recruiters daily, and nearly all (90%) are contacted at least monthly.

Our interviews with purchasing professionals who have applied for positions we are filling confirm the situation. 100% of those who apply through online job postings on LinkedIn or other job boards tell us that they have applied for other positions in the area. This further reinforces that you must compete vigorously to fill open purchasing positions.

Most Detroit-area purchasing professionals are contacted by recruiters

at least 7 times per month

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Move fast and act decisively

On the next few pages, we’ll be diving into the lessons learned from our survey of 185 Detroit-area purchasing professionals, and the actions you can take to win the recruiting battle. Another dimension that needs to be addressed is optimizing your hiring process – making sure the standard corporate hiring protocol doesn’t hinder your success. Here are some steps hiring managers should take.

1. Understand the Hiring Process Engage with Human Resources to understand the process they go through when filling open positions. Most HR teams are busy filling customer-facing positions, therefore, purchasing can take a back seat. Only when you understand HR’s pain points can you suggest improvements that will benefit your search.

2. Improve the Process to Compress the Timeline Collaborate with Human Resources to figure out ways to compress their timeline. You can offer to take on more responsibility for screening resumes; if you are seeing resumes for the first time, 5 days, or in extreme cases, 10 days after they are received, you’ve likely lost any chance to land a top performer.

3. Create an Ideal Candidate Profile Figure out the competencies that make up a purchasing superhero in your company, and be explicit that that is what you are looking for. Specify the education, experience, and technical skills you expect your ideal candidate to bring – as well as the soft skills and attitude you know are the difference makers.

4. Gather Market Intelligence Know what the market rates are and candidates’ expectation for compensation. Also, know where your company stacks up against the competition in terms of benefits (paid time off, retirement benefits, health plans). Be aggressive with your offer, don’t try lowballing high performers and risk losing out to another offer or even a counteroffer. Recognize that signing bonuses are becoming the norm.

5. Be Flexible The best candidates are usually already employed, and you can’t expect them to take a vacation day to do a screening interview with you. You are going to have to make yourself available for after-hours and weekend phone interviews if you want to land the top performers that other companies are competing for.

6. Leverage Technology Sometimes a face-to-face interview can’t be scheduled quickly. That doesn’t mean you have to push the hiring process back weeks – use video conferencing to schedule the interview ASAP. Also, don’t make candidates wait for feedback – use text to keep them updated on their progression through the process.

7. Use a Sunset Clause When making an offer, give candidates a short response window – 24 hours can be sufficient. You have to prepare them by asking if they can commit without first seeking a counteroffer from their current employer. If they really want to work for you, they’ll respond in time.

8. Leverage Your Team Let candidates meet with the superheroes on your team. Remember, high performers aspire to work with other high performers. Be sure to educate your team members about their role in the process – they need to help you sell the company and the role, but nothing good comes from being less than honest.

Building a High Performing Purchasing Team

6

What purchasing professionals want in a new positionWe asked Detroit-area purchasing professionals to rate the importance of 13 different factors. These factors were developed from an earlier survey, where we asked the same question in an open-ended format.

Their answers:

Based on our interviews, Buyers, Sr. Buyers, and Commodity Managers

require increased annual compensation of $6,000 – $9,000 to accept a new

position

$6-9K


Insights• The vast majority of candidates are open to lateral moves, so long as they get a bump in pay and there is opportunity for advancement

• Candidates appear to know what they want, but it could be one of more than a dozen different things – you have to be able to figure out what each candidate’s unique wants and needs are

• The vast majority of candidates are seeking more responsibility/challenge and a more strategic role

• Most candidates want a more desirable commute – be sure to find out what that means to them, commute time is a very individualized factor in our experience

• Think about what factors you can influence as the purchasing leader, and what you cannot – and be up-front with candidates about the corporate expectations that are out of your control

Based on our interviews, Purchasing Manager and Directors require up to 25% increased annual

compensation to accept a new position

25%

7

Presenting your position as the perfect fitThere are some critical actions you can take to present your position to candidates. Competitive compensation is a must – three-fourths of the candidates we surveyed told us they wouldn’t make a move without a significant salary increase. Do your homework to find out the industry norms for the skill set and experience level you are seeking, and be prepared to pay a little more to attract top performers.

Opportunity for advancement is a factor that came up in many of our interviews with candidates we contacted about making a job change. If you have a large team, develop a career ladder that shows candidates how they can expect their role to change and grow over the next 3-5 years. If you don’t have a large team, share with candidates how others have


Their unique wants and needs

Here are five question sets you should be prepared to ask every candidate so you can understand their unique wants and needs, and present your position as a great fit for them.

1. In a single word or phrase, how would you describe your feelings about purchasing? Tell me more . . .

2. Tell me what you enjoy the most in your current role. Anything you’d prefer different in your next role?

3. What do you think are the most important skills for succeeding in the purchasing arena? Why those skills?

4. What are your long-term professional goals? How do you know that you are making headway towards those goals?

5. A lot of people tell me they are seeking more challenge and responsibility – what sorts of challenges or new responsibilities would interest you?

A powerful interviewing technique is to use active listening so the candidate knows you are engaged, but withhold your responses until you’ve finished asking your questions. Demonstrate you hear what they are saying by frequently acknowledging that you heard them, and occasionally stopping to summarize what you heard.

The benefit of waiting to present the advantages of your position until you have completed your questions is that you will have a more complete picture of their wants and needs, and what they consider to be a high personal priority. You’ll know what that specific candidate wants, and can position your company’s opportunity for the maximum appeal.

joined your team in the past and progressed to new positions in other departments.


Why purchasing professionals leave their jobsWe also asked Detroit-area purchasing professionals to rate the top 10 reasons why people consider leaving their job, from an article2 by Susan Heathfield published on About.com. Retaining top performers is just as important, if not more important, than recruiting new top performers.

Their answers:

Portion of purchasing professionals who feel their current compensation is

competitive

61%

Insights• The majority of purchasing professionals feel under-appreciated and are concerned they aren’t recognized for their job performance – so take time to recognize your staff’s contributions

• Overall company culture is a concern for many – you can’t fix that, but keep in mind that you can create a team culture that is distinct from the company culture

• Too many purchasing professionals are bored with their work – with so many transactional and tactical tasks to complete, there’s usually little time left for more strategic duties

• Surprisingly, relationships with bosses and coworkers are not as high of a concern for purchasing professionals as they are generally - a recent study from Gallup3 found that 50% of people leave their job because of bad bosses

Portion of purchasing professionals who

feel they are under-compensated

39%This list did not include salary, so we asked a separate question to address pay. When asked “Do you believe your current compensation is competitive in your industry, given your skills and experience?”, 61% said yes and 39% responded no.

9

Retaining your top performers

You can bet that your best performers are being contacted by recruiters at least once a week – and maybe as often as daily. Here are four things you can – and should – do to keep your top performers from leaving.

1. Systematically recognize employee job performance

In addition to the company performance management systems that you are obligated to implement, find additional ways to recognize job performance and systemize them. Carve out time for 1-on-1’s, Management-By-Walking-Around, and give a little extra attention when delegating to “set them up for success.”

2. Create a positive team culture

Even if your corporate culture leaves something to be desired, you have the ability as a leader to create a team atmosphere that is both high-performing and highly rewarding. The number one source of job stress is unclear expectations, so start by ensuring everyone knows what is expected of them. Recognize that your behavior sets the tone for your group, so make the effort to engage with your staff and bring the positive attitude you want them to exhibit.

3. Make work more meaningful for your team

Every job has wasteful tasks that take time away from more fulfilling work. Become a champion for workplace improvement by identifying those non-value added tasks and eliminating as many as possible. Investigate using interns or procurement-as-a-service to unload transactional tasks from your team.

4. Customize assignments for your team

Interview your staff to find out what they get excited about, and things they dread. You need to develop an inventory for each person – some people get a charge out of delivering a report to the CEO, others would rather quit.

“Everyone is Stroke Deprived”

Transactional Analysis (TA) is a system of psychology that focuses on behavior and communication. Within TA, a “stroke” is defined as a form of recognition (verbal or non-verbal), and as the headline alludes, we could all benefit from more strokes.

Many purchasing leaders clearly don’t provide their teams with enough strokes. Here’s are some recommendations for giving more strokes:

• DO frequently thank people for their efforts and accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem

• DON’T justify your lack of thanking people because “that’s what they get paid for”

• DO praise others for sharing their thoughts, even if you disagree

• DON’T praise everyone in the same way – some prefer private compliments, others relish public recognition

• DO accept recognition from others, and share the wealth by acknowledging the contribution of others

• DON’T focus on getting your emotional needs met at work – your job as a leader is to ensure your staff get their needs met

• DO pass along positive comments you hear about your staff from others

• DON’T forget your top performers – they needs recognition as much as anyone

• DO invest time in “Managing By Walking Around”, and use that time to surface opportunities to give strokes.


10

APD Placement knows purchasing talentThe competition for experienced purchasing talent is at an all-time high. Generalist placement firms simply can’t get the job done.

At APD, we’ve been helping companies find their next purchasing superhero for over 10 years. Our firm specializes in consulting with manufacturing purchasing organizations. Our placement team focuses solely on purchasing and supply chain positions, talking with 30 to 40 potential candidates each week.

We spend time to go beyond the resume to identify candidates who have the balance of technical and soft skills to succeed in your organization. Our activities include:

• TAIS assessments to provide insights into each candidate’s working style

• Behavioral interviews to probe each candidate’s potential for success

• Candid discussions about compensation and other expectations


1. Chief Procurement Officer Study, IBM Institute for Business Value, May 2013 2. Top 10 Reasons Why Employees Quit Their Job, About.com, 8/22/2015 3. What Do Workers Want from the Boss?, Wall Street Journal, 4/2/2105

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Patience Hitchcock is the Director of APD Placement, where she works directly with customers to provide highly professional, knowledgeable, and motivated

candidates. In addition, she manages APD’s team of recruiters and account managers to ensure excellent customer service and timely delivery.

Hitchcock has 10 years’ experience in the staffing industry, including two years as the on-site staffing manager for a Tier 1 automotive supplier, as well

as staffing consultant and recruiter positions. She has received recognition from the American Staffing Association as a Certified Staffing Consultant.

About the Author

ADVANCED PURCHASING DYNAMICS484 Deer Street, Plymouth, MI, 48170

+1 734 - 927 - 0836 www.apurchasingd.com

Copyright (C) Advanced Purchasing Dynamics, Inc.

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