Sarah shares her insights on the following matters and more:   

• The level of disruption in supply chain recently means there is a heightened focus on risk, including geopolitical, financial, and capacity risk. The key to managing this is having a standardised framework and understanding the leading indicators to be able to prioritise and mitigate potential risks before they arise. 

• Digital tools make transformation programmes a continuous process, constantly creating efficiencies to allow people to focus on the truly value-adding work. Whether you are concerned with data & analytics, risk management, spend management, quality, or costs, digital can do a lot for procurement.  

• Businesses should be asking themselves about how they should use the data they’ve got, who uses what, and what they need going forward. Sarah recommends building a control tower of data that can be used at all levels of the organisation and can be looked at through different lenses for different purposes.  

• To drive change and innovation, organisations should be benchmarking themselves against industry standards. But they should also be looking at other sectors to see what good looks like elsewhere and seeing how it can be applied in a new environment.  

• An internal focus on diversity doesn’t just bring psychological safety for those in the workforce, but also brings new perspectives, drives innovation, and boosts profitability. Sarah touches on how frequently people in the workplace experience imposter syndrome, and the importance of raising awareness.  

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Future of the Firm. In a recent episode, we talked to Michael McMahon, Professor of Economics at University of Oxford, about the impact of Trump’s policies on professional services. 

Transcript here