Welcome to our latest update on the employment market conditions for Procurement and SRM professionals. Since our last update in January we have observed the following:

The permanent market is much improved for Senior Buyers, Category Managers, Procurement Managers and SRM specialists since Q3 2009. There is certainly more confidence amongst employers and the number of vacancies is up on earlier this year and late 2009.

It appears that the battle for talent that was a key feature of the pre recession market is starting again although there appears to be more restraint on salary increases at present. The busiest area is the £50-£70k bracket.

The interim market has stabilised after a difficult period last year. There remains pressure on both day rates and recruiter’s margins but the number of interim procurement specialists looking for a contract is certainly down from Q3 2009.

In both markets there are encouraging signs that some industries which suffered the most last year are beginning to look forward again and make key appointments. The sectors include banking, retail, leisure and FMCG.

 Back in Q1 2009 and through our research into the impact of the recession on procurement (see link below) we predicted that there would be a significant rise in demand for experienced staff from procurement consultancies. They anticipated a busy year as potential clients looked for quick wins and specialist advice on cost base reduction.  This demand hasn’t materialised as much as we anticipated as some potential clients decided against engaging consultants to the extent that had been hoped. 

The technology sector remains quite cautious with a number of hiring freezes still in place and the demand for IT and Telco category specialists from end users has not recovered to the extent seen in other areas.

As we expected in our recent research into SRM (link below) there appears to be a growing demand for specialists with experience of developing and implementing leading edge supplier management strategies. We anticipate demand outgrowing supply in the next 12 months as numerous organisations have realised the value and potential competitive advantage that lies in more productive relationships with key suppliers, particularly as a result of the impact of the recession,  a trend observed last year in the research mentioned above.

We have been contacted by a lot of jobseekers with SRM experience and are in the process of developing a specialist recruitment practice to focus on this area.  You can join the SRM networking group we  have set up here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2837993&trk=fulpro_grplogo

Would you like to comment on any of the issues addressed here? Join the discussion here: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/2010/03/19/procurement-market-update-–-march-2010/

Links to research reports

The growing importance of SRM: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/EdburyDaley-SRM-jan-2010.pdf

The impact of the recession on procurement: http://edburydaley.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/edbury-daley-the-impact-of-the-current-economic-climate.pdf

We welcome your comments on how useful you find our research here: http://www.edburydaley.com/wp/2010/02/24/the-growing-importance-of-supplier-relationship-management/

We have already received a number of positive comments about the analysis in our SRM research.  Several people have asked if they can use our data in their own work whilst others have included it in presentations.

What is clear is that specialists in Supplier Relationship Management and/or Vendor Management arena are aware of the key issues we have raised.

Some of the positive comments include:

From an interim SRM specialist: I have just finished reading the report and wanted to congratulate you on a very interesting piece of work. Clearly there is a great opportunity in the SRM arena…

From the SRM leader of a major finance business: I really enjoyed reading this report, particularly as I am personally responsible for leading a project within my organisation to address the specific issues you raised. You certainly have given me a useful reference point that I will use to ensure that I continue to progress in the right direction.

 If you are aware of any organizations with what you consider to be a “best in class” to SRM, can you please let me know as I would welcome the opportunity to speak to them? 

What do you think?  Please contribute to the debate here.

Comments from the SRM lead of a major technology organisation: I’m in full agreement with the findings.  Whilst establishing a new SRM function at my current employer over the past 18 months I sought to find best practice at other organisations and have been surprised that very little exists beyond the basics.  

Having now set up and executed SRM basic performance measurement through to relationship management / governance and the pursuit of value through managing relationships we are very pleased with the impact its having within the business and our key suppliers.

 The Procurement profession is fortunate enough to have one of the strongest job markets in the UK, principally because the profession has become even more important in recent months as demonstrated in our research earlier this year.

Demand remains strong although the market has been characterised by delays caused by issues such as seeking approval to go outside of a company recruitment freeze, corporate politics, budget restrictions and the understandable desire to ensure that the right decision is being made before committing to an appointment.

Whilst there are many procurement professionals who are currently looking for new roles, both as interim and permanent members of staff, the strongest candidates remain in short supply, particularly in key areas of indirect spend.  

Due to the work we have recently undertaken with blue chip clients in consulting, banking, FMCG and retail sectors, we have engaged with a number of procurement professionals who belong firmly in the upper quartile of the profession. 

In particular we have several outstanding candidates with the following expertise:

• Procurement Consulting with emphasis on transferable skills, change & programme management etc

• Vendor Management specialists

• Category specialists in Professional Services, Telecom’s & IT, Facilities/Property, HR, Marketing, Travel

If you would like to discuss any of the skills mentioned or candidate availability, please contact Andrew Daley (0161 776 4603) Charlie Bolam (0161 776 4605) or Hannah Jackson (0161 776 4608) or e mail us info@edburydaley.com

Our research continues to attract significant interest and we are well placed to publish the results later this year with a record sample size.  The data and comments already make interesting reading including this one posted earlier this week:

“Real SRM is the one of the most important factors for success in a procurement role. However most SRM being discussed today is in relation to IT systems and not the real soft skills that will bring innovation and improved business performance to bear.”

Do you agree? 

Our experience tells us that there is certainly a lot of investment in Vendor Management in the technology sectors at the moment, and we have been encouraged by the number of SRM specialists who have got in touch with us about their careers since the survey was published.  Again the evidence is that a technology focus accounts for a lot of the biggest SRM roles.

Are you in an SRM or Vendor Management role with a different category focus?  We are keen to hear from you about your experience and your career aspirations. 

Thanks to all those who have completed the Supplier Management survey already – we had more responses yesterday than in the first month of the previous research into the impact of the recession on procurement, so this is clearly a hot topic.Some interesting points have been made already including this from one contributor:

SRM is the best available tool to ‘unlocking hidden profits’ that derive mutual benefit. However it is a two way relationship and both parties have to be committed to the process in order to optimise and gain the real benefits.”

What do you think?  Do you agree or can you offer a different perspective? Please complete the survey and we welcome any additional comments here.

Andrew 

We are pleased to announce that we are launching our new research project into The Importance of Supplier Relationship Management.  The questionnaire will be available for much of the summer to ensure we can attract the greatest number of participants so if you want to comment or prompt a discussion before the results are published, please feel free to contribute to this blog.

Vendor Management & Supplier Relationship Management – A Recruiter’s perspective

There’s no doubt we’ve seen a noticeable increase in the number of specialist roles in this area that we have been asked to recruit for.  This has been a trend for the last three years particularly, and we have experienced this most in services sectors like banking, consultancy and particularly IT services. 

Recruiting managers usually want a specialist in supplier management to fill their jobs rather than someone who has done some work in this area as part of a broader procurement or sourcing remit, whilst job seekers who enjoy the vendor management element of purchasing will seek specialist roles in this area.   

There is of course only a finite pool of vendor management specialists, so if demand grows further, we will have some very interesting market conditions.   This could possibly be reminiscent of the strong demand for high calibre indirect spend specialists in the City which drove up salaries, particularly between 2003 and 2007.