Month: April 2021

COVID-19 wasn’t the only major event shaping the future of government over the past year. During social justice movements like Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, citizens have been demanding change from their governments.

As social, environmental, and economic movements continue to gain momentum, promoting social good is a growing priority for public agencies. Procurement teams have an opportunity to level the playing field for diverse suppliers and communities through social procurement.

In the United States, new policies emerging from the Biden administration will make those efforts more important than ever, with greater emphasis placed on awarding RFPs to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs).

With that in mind, let’s dive into the topic of social procurement – what it means for your organization and how it can drive meaningful change in your community.

Procurement for social good

As every public procurement professional knows, governments have a great deal of purchasing power. The U.S. federal government alone spends over $500 billion per year procuring goods and services, while the Canadian feds spend $18-20 billion annually. When you look at total spending across all levels of government in the United States, the number exceeds $7 trillion.

Historically, procurement’s main goal has been to stretch public dollars as far as possible by sourcing suppliers at the lowest possible prices, while achieving high quality and low risk. The movement toward social procurement, however, focuses on maximizing social, environmental, cultural, and economic value. By using government purchasing power to support local minority-owned businesses, agencies can achieve multiple valuable outcomes for communities.

As Buy Social Canada explains in their Guide to Social Procurement, “Every purchase has an economic, environmental, and social impact, whether intended or not. Social procurement is about capturing those impacts and seeking to make intentional positive contributions to both the local economy and the overall vibrancy of the community.”

By using public dollars to drive overarching goals like social equity and environmental sustainability, the positive impact on communities can be significant.

Social responsibility during the pandemic and beyond

At the same time that social justice movements have pushed governments to prioritize racial and social equity, the pandemic has increased awareness of public procurement’s important role.

For departments that, up until COVID-19, functioned mostly behind the scenes, this visibility created opportunities to rethink traditional purchasing decisions, relationships, and processes. In particular, procurement teams are making the shift toward more equitable and inclusive spending to address the social and economic disparities the pandemic has exacerbated.

Through social procurement, agencies can actively enable greater and more diverse participation in public contracts, for example, by prioritizing minority- and women-owned local and small businesses. 

As director of procurement Joel Neaveill explains, supply chain shortages during the pandemic actually created more opportunities for his organization, the Louisville Metro Government, to diversify their supplier base and bring on new local businesses.

“Our local economy, like everyone’s local economy, is just hurting so much,” Neaveill says. “Through this emergency, we’re turning to [local businesses] to help supply part of the response to the emergency… We also have a list of minority- and women-owned businesses that, as part of the incident management team, we look at through an equity lens—how are we equitably responding to this so we don’t have disparate outcomes?”

Shifting policy toward equity

Beyond the pandemic, public procurement policy has significant power to influence public services, create jobs, and drive healthy competition in the market. Recognizing this, the Biden administration in the United States has outlined intentions to “support small businesses and tackle inequities in the federal contracting system,” including tripling federal contracting goals for small, disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) by 2025.

The proposed policy directives would increase participation of small DBEs in business development programs and subcontracting opportunities, and minimize contract bundling that disadvantages minority-owned businesses in the bidding process.

Similar shifts toward social procurement are happening in governments around the world. Driving the evolution is a growing awareness that effective and equitable procurement systems can increase citizens’ faith in government, stimulate economic growth, and build more supportive and inclusive communities.

Are you ready for the future of public procurement? Download our eBook for more insights – The Rise of Procurement’s Next Normal.

If COVID-19 has proven anything about public procurement teams, it’s their impressive ability to, in the words of Project Runway host Tim Gunn, “make it work.”

 
Of course, the high-stakes pressure of responding to a global health crisis doesn’t quite compare to the fabricated TV drama of a runway-design reality show – but the “make it work” mantra still rings true.

Making it work is how public agencies adapted on the fly when the pandemic turned business upside-down overnight. It’s how paper-based procurement teams ran more projects than ever, even as processes shifted fully online. And it’s how they delivered essential goods and services despite unforeseeable disruption across global supply chains.

But “making it work” was never meant to be anything more than a temporary fix – an agile response to a global emergency. It becomes incredibly risky when that mentality – what we call “patchwork procurement” – becomes your status quo. Let’s explore why.

How the pandemic drove patchwork procurement

Like the Project Runway designers who weave scraps of fabric into gowns worthy of the red carpet, procurement teams at the start of COVID-19 had to cobble together whatever tools and resources were available at the time to create a workable procurement process.

We refer to that approach as “patchwork procurement.” Before the pandemic, teams using a patchwork system may have been relying on manual processes supported by in-person meetings, disparate tools, and one-on-one discussions. 

In quickly adapting to remote work, patchwork agencies didn’t have a strong digital foundation to build on. Instead, they introduced a medley of digital tools and processes, from accepting emailed vendor submissions to evaluating proposals using Excel spreadsheets. 

For the most part, these changes simply replicated or even exacerbated the inefficiencies of paper-based systems.

The risks of patchwork procurement

If you belong to the 43% of agencies that made temporary patchwork changes during COVID-19, it’s time to reevaluate your tools and processes. Here are three major reasons why.

Audit trail gaps

Despite the pandemic, public procurement is still held to the same rigorous compliance standards as always. Unfortunately, the more systems you use, the more opportunities there are for audit trail gaps. And all it takes to start a lawsuit is for one vendor to challenge your process.

If you’ve been using email to receive submissions, it’s especially important that you reconsider your strategy. Not only can technical issues, such as junk mail filters, firewalls, or slow internet connections disqualify vendors unfairly, it’s also impossible to prove when emails were opened, leaving you with an incomplete audit trail. 

Inefficiency and administrative overhead

Working across disparate systems is unavoidably difficult to track, but it’s also inefficient. Patchwork processes and tools introduce overly complex workflows that only create more headaches. 

In the early days of the pandemic, getting staff, stakeholders, and evaluators up to speed on multiple systems and processes created a backlog of work and delayed progress in awarding urgent bids. On top of the unmanageable amount of training required for non-procurement users, teams face other barriers to productivity caused by siloed systems, including time wasted on searching for misplaced files, answering questions, correcting confusion, fixing human errors, and duplicating effort.

Lack of transparency and collaboration

With public sector budgets being slashed and procurement teams being called on to reprioritize projects and save costs, it’s vitally important that all stakeholders and internal clients have visibility into the procurement pipeline and timelines.

Unfortunately, this is something patchwork procurement typically can’t deliver. Without a centralized, accessible hub for tracking projects, it’s more difficult to make strategic business decisions, reprioritize projects, and collaborate with senior leaders and managers.

On the other hand, teams that have transparency into their pipeline will be fully equipped to navigate the razor-thin margins of the next few years and make smart, collaborative decisions.

What now?

For many months, your procurement team has been hustling to get ahead of the disruption caused by the pandemic. So, rethinking your processes and tools—again—is probably the last thing on your mind. The truth is, it’s the only way you can prepare for the inevitable challenges that lie ahead.

The good news? You’ve already taken steps toward digital transformation. To get support on the rest of your journey, check out our new resource, The Rise of Procurement’s Next Normal, designed to help you understand and navigate the new landscape of digital procurement.

Deliver services more efficiently. Pivot responsively. Scale affordably. If your procurement team is embarking on a digital transformation journey, you know these are some of the top reasons you simply can’t avoid digitization any longer.

Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation is the inevitable trajectory of governments everywhere. According to Gartner projections, software and IT services will account for nearly half of the US$452 billion in worldwide government IT investments in 2021.

So where does your procurement team go from here? If you’re just getting started, this video may feel (a bit too) familiar…

Ready to move from Excel spreadsheets and email to fully centralized digital procurement? Here are some questions to guide you and your team as you map your journey to digital transformation.

How do you envision your team’s role in the near future?

As the pandemic tightens public sector pursestrings, resulting in layoffs and budget cuts, agencies are looking to procurement teams for guidance on how best to rethink and reprioritize spending. Over the coming years, procurement will play an even more prominent role in strategic planning and decision-making.

With that in mind, it’s worth considering what role your team will be called on to fill in the near future. What organizational goals will procurement be responsible for achieving? How do you want your team to grow, evolve, and adapt in the years ahead?

What are your procurement objectives?

When it comes to procurement digital transformation, investing in technology for technology’s sake is bound to fail. It’s important to set your sourcing objectives first, then choose digital solutions that support those priorities.

Considering the strategic role you’ve defined for your team, what objectives will support and fulfill that vision? Think about how and where you want to grow your team’s capacity, strengths, and strategic function within the organization.

Perhaps, like many public procurement teams, you need to improve efficiency to save your agency time and money. Or maybe you want to enhance communication and relationship-building with vendors. Defining your objectives will help you determine the best digital solutions to get you there.

How well does your current toolset support your objectives?

Before investing in any new solution, you’ll want to determine if there are opportunities to leverage or scale your existing toolset to support your priorities. Is your technology sufficient? Where are there gaps in your processes and workflows? 

If your current solution isn’t robust enough to achieve your strategic objectives, it’s time to explore new options. After all, it’s more beneficial to invest in technology purpose-built for the rigor of public procurement than to jerry-rig other tools or services to fit your needs (we call this patchwork procurement, and it’s a lot more trouble than it’s worth). You’ll want to consider how you can benefit from the following:

• Using a centralized procurement platform that eliminates information silos, tightens compliance, and improves visibility into your procurement pipeline
• Leveraging artificial intelligence and automation tools that provide faster service and reduce manual effort
• Improving data capture and analysis to optimize your processes and performance
• Harnessing cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for greater scalability and affordability
• Investing in enhanced cybersecurity that keeps citizen, partner, and employee data safe

Do you have the resources to execute a forward-thinking procurement digital transformation?

What comes to mind when you think of the term “digital transformation?” Excruciatingly long timelines, pulling teeth to ensure buy-in, unforeseen complications as you try to migrate legacy systems? Here’s some good news—digitally transforming your procurement process doesn’t have to be that way. We’ve even heard stories of public agencies going from paper and email-based processes to fully online in a matter of weeks! That being said, ensuring you have the resources to ensure a smooth implementation and a sustainable plan for the long-haul are crucial to a successful digital transformation strategy.

First, do you have the budget? Although free bid management solutions may look appealing from a monetary perspective, they are hardly worth the legal risk or challenges for your vendors. Fortunately, public agencies now have a unique opportunity to use their American Rescue Plan funding to invest in procurement software, allowing agencies to invest in digitizing their operations even when resources are tight. 

Consider as well how you will obtain the buy-in of procurement and non-procurement users alike. As you’ve likely realized since the start of the pandemic, introducing new tools and processes often requires training, reskilling, and upskilling. That’s because building a digital infrastructure goes hand-in-hand with building a digitally fluent workforce. Even the most easy-to-use software may instigate pushback from your colleagues who are accustomed to a certain process or workflow. Investing in technical skills training or bringing new talent on board to execute your plan can help advance your digital strategy. 

The takeaway

Since the start of the pandemic, digital transformation has quickly shifted from a “nice-to-have” to an imperative in public procurement. Evolving from makeshift digital tools to sustainable ones, enabling a future of remote work, and continuing to drive value for your agency undoubtedly necessitates digital transformation. Ask the right questions and map out a results-driven plan, and your procurement team will soon reap the rewards of digital.

Ready to learn more about digital procurement in a post-pandemic world? Check out our eBook, The Rise of Procurement’s Next Normal.

What will the future of work look like? It’s the big question public sector agencies across North America are asking right now as mass vaccination – and with it, the prospect of heading back to the office – becomes a reality. 

Rather than returning to pre-pandemic norms, many organizations are planning for continued telework or a hybrid work environment. A recent survey of 300 federal government executives found that 82% of respondents expect to continue working remotely at least three days a week once the pandemic ends. 

For procurement teams, the task of facilitating sustainable remote-ready operations for the whole organization falls squarely on your shoulders. Here’s what you need to consider as remote work becomes a fixture of day-to-day operations.

“You’re on mute!”

While our collective digital literacy around virtual collaboration tools like video conferencing has increased exponentially over the last year, the unavoidable frustrations of communicating and working together online can’t be denied. This video gives a glimpse into those frustrations — can you relate? 

All joking aside, this video highlights that issues like poor connectivity, a lack of training on virtual tools, and the very real phenomena of “Zoom fatigue” will continue to be challenges for work-from-anywhere teams. 

Addressing and easing those frustrations will be central to maintaining productivity and employee satisfaction. Connecting employees to the three T’s – the right technology, relevant training, and new teamwork strategies for hybrid work – will be key to delivering public services securely, productively, and with your sanity intact.

1. The right technology

While many public sector organizations made an impressive pivot to digital operations in a matter of days at the outset of the pandemic, that makeshift approach – what we call patchwork procurement – isn’t sustainable over the long term.

Agencies that will succeed in permanent remote-ready operations are now strategizing about how to leverage their accelerated digital transformation to make real gains in infrastructure, security, connectivity, cloud services, and virtual collaboration platforms. 

Forward-thinking procurement teams are using that momentum and internal buy-in to make long-term sustainable changes to their tech stack and processes to ensure teams have the tools and resources to work efficiently from anywhere.

2. Relevant training

The rapid shift to remote work meant that employees with less technical knowhow were (and still are) facing serious frustrations and barriers to productivity. They had to discover tricks or invent workarounds for making their tools work for them (some of which raise serious compliance issues).

A 2020 study on digital inclusion from the World Economic Forum reports that while 62% of the population of higher-income economies has basic digital skills, that number drops to 44% for standard skills like using formulas in a spreadsheet or creating presentations.

Simply put, having the right technology is only half the battle. Making sure everyone understands how to use it properly is a make-or-break factor. Going forward, consider how you can implement training programs that meet team members where they are and help them learn new software and processes in a safe, accessible, jargon-free environment.

3. Teamwork strategies

Collaboration between home- and office-based employees will be more prevalent in the coming years as employees leverage flexible work arrangements. With that in mind, organizations are developing strategies in two key areas to ensure everyone has the same experience, no matter where they’re working.

The first is the hybrid meeting scenario, in which some employees are working at home and others are in the office. Agencies should consider their strategy for implementing collaboration technologies to foster inclusion and participation.

The second is digital workplace culture. As McKinsey notes, traditional office environments establish workplace culture through ways of working and standards of behavior that build social cohesion and shared trust. That’s harder to achieve in online settings where remote workers can easily become “isolated, disenfranchised, and unhappy.” Agencies should look at creating deliberate strategies and implementing tactics for replicating the positive elements of co-location and in-person collaboration in digital settings.

The takeaway

By investing in the right technology, implementing relevant training programs, and developing a strategy for remote employee engagement, procurement teams can support agencies in making the shift to sustainable remote-ready operations. These efforts will ensure your teams have the right tools and resources to work efficiently and cost-effectively going forward.

It’s safe to say that telecommuting in the public sector is here to stay, and procurement will no doubt be called upon to source the products and solutions needed to build that infrastructure securely. Learn more about how your procurement team can support your agency’s remote work plan by downloading our eBook, The Rise of Procurement’s Next Normal.

Procurement isn’t an easy job—so sometimes we just need to laugh at the pet peeves and mishaps that drive us all crazy.

Do your colleagues believe that a conversation at the water cooler is a totally adequate way to submit a procurement request? Ever get a bid protest because the vendor lost a thumb drive between their car seats? We have a feeling you’ll relate to these “day in the life” videos. 

Procurement Pet Peeve #36: The Bid Protest

Even for those of us who have been in public procurement for years, we still have those “haven’t heard that one before” moments when dealing with a bid protest. What’s the craziest excuse you’ve heard from a vendor who wasn’t able to properly submit their bid or RFP response? 

Procurement Benchmarking: Google Can Solve It!

If you were to look back at your Google search history, how often have you had to search “RFP templates for…”? Don’t worry, you’re not alone (which is why we designed Bonfire so users can access crowd-sourced templates directly within the platform). 

Procurement’s New Normal: Pandemic Life

Ah, early quarantine…so many memories…watching Tiger King, transferring bid openings and consensus meetings to Zoom, scrolling for hours to find PPE and hand sanitizer suppliers that had available stock…unfortunately that’s still the reality for many of us (well, maybe not the Tiger King part). 

Want to watch more videos like these ones? We’re dropping new videos every week on our website, or follow us on LinkedIn to see new ones as they’re released!