After talking about a topic usually swept under the Purchasing rug (bad Buyers), we're going to switch gears here and talk about another major challenge of our jobs - resistance to change.
Human nature is to seek stasis, a place of comfort and balance in a given situation. Therefore, we hate to see things change in our lives and that includes procedures at work.
However, achieving savings during a Strategic Sourcing initiative always involves change including new processes and new vendors.
End user often feel, "If it's not broke, don't try to fix it." From their point of view, this makes sense. Office supplies show up weekly in the supply room, the shipping department has plenty of boxes, and the cafeteria floor is clean, so what's the problem? To some extent they have a point. Things are working fine. Our point as Buyers is that we want things to work even better, and at a lower price.
One way to deal with this issue is to have some end users, or key stakeholders as they are called, join the Sourcing teams. They'll handle the change much better if they are part of it than when it is forced upon them.
Another tactic here is to communicate the changes frequently and clearly so the end users don't feel they are out wandering around aimlessly in the cold. We want them to feel as comfortable as possible with the new procedures.
Finally, end users should be informed of the benefits to them and to the company overall that the changes will bring. Savings should never be a secret. People can get behind, or at least tolerate, an idea that they understand. If they think Procurement personnel are making changes solely to justify their own jobs, there will be little support. Let them know how their actions and product consumption contribute to the bottom line and you'll be on your way to overcoming resistance to change.
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