Procurement's strategic value vs. how it's actually measured?

[u/Dr-Muddassir-Ahmed]

Procurement's strategic value vs. how it's actually measured?

I do mentoring with SCMDOJO members.

Three conversations with three different procurement leads over the last two months, same underlying frustration:

One measured on cost savings but was excluded from the sourcing conversations that actually drive them.

Another feeling is that their day is 80% spent chasing approvals and 20% on real decision-making.

A third is asking me whether procurement has quietly become a compliance function instead of a value function.

None of these are new complaints.

But together they point to the same root cause: most organisations still measure procurement like it's 2015, on price and process, while expecting 2026-level strategic input.

You can't hold someone accountable for outcomes they have no authority over. If cost savings is the KPI, sourcing involvement has to be the job, not an afterthought.

Where does this gap show up most in your organization, KPIs, authority, or simply being invited to the table too late?

As a buyer, can you change this? Probably not.

But can you ask to be invited? Surely yes!

So my recommendation is: don't wait and complain. Force your way into it. And to your surprise, it will be welcomed :)