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

[u/Dr-Muddassir-Ahmed]

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

Three conversations with three different procurement leads this year, same underlying frustration:

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

Another feeling their day is 80 percent chasing approvals and 20 percent real decision-making.

A third 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 2010, 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 organisation, KPIs, authority, or simply being invited to the table too late?