SOCIAL CONTRACTING: How Millennials Helped Shape Procurement Technology for the Future
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How Millennials Helped Shape Procurement Technology for the Future Written by Melissa Webb
I was reminded while reading this post by Spend Matters that user adoption continues to be identified as a top challenge in implementing electronic procurement technologies, and is in fact often noted as the reason for a program's failure. The benefits of putting a best-in-class procurement application in place are relatively obvious, and yet end user adoption continues to meet resistance. We have been working on ways to tackle procurement job functions while keeping this key challenge in mind. I spent some time last week with a partner of ours to review these developments, and his strongest observation was the polished interface and general user experience. As we were wrapping up the conversation, he said: "I want to quit my current job and go back into procurement so I can use this tool." This is exactly what we're going for, and I know we have Millennials to thank for a lot of the pressure to move in that direction. As Procurement Leaders notes, Millennials already represent a large portion of the workforce and will make up 75% of it over the next 5-10 years. One of the 2015 Spend Matters predictions was devoted to Millennials, noting that a happy Millennial workforce in procurement is becoming essential as their presence increases. Our own Constantine Limberakis last month wrote about Millennials and how this shift affects
SOCIAL CONTRACTING: How Millennials Helped Shape Procurement Technology for the Future
Page 2 procurement. Everyone is talking about this group of individuals, whose needs are certainly bringing new challenges to procurement technologies. The need for a collaborative environment with a consumer-type user interface may initially be viewed as a hindrance, but this shift brings benefits that have already been recognized in other industries and are long overdue in the procurement world. Millennials are known for blending work and home life, and therefore require mobile, quick access to keep things moving forward. The "9–5" mentality has shifted into something more fluid, where things like notifications and alerts keep tasks and projects moving forward at an efficient pace. The focus on quick, mobile access to the processes needed to get the job done has shortened project cycle times significantly, allowing procurement teams to get more done with less. Millennials communicate through technology with peers via chat apps and email more than face-to-face. Their chosen technology must provide an outlet for free and open communication and collaboration. This requirement has improved auditing of communication trails between suppliers and buyers, as well as boosted equal dissemination of information to everyone through forums and announcement boards. Millennials enjoy a challenge and want to explore, analyze, and learn how to improve for next time. They need quick access to data to analyze and apply. Gone are the days of cumbersome technology; technology is an enabler to the end user for efficiency and ultimate success rather than a hindrance. Prompted by the Millennial's embrace of technology, procurement technology has adopted an end user focus, turning massive quantities of raw data into logical bites of information, where that data is displayed in a context that drives better decision making and planning. Above all else, Millennials have no patience for the absence of technology required in order to be successful at their job. This more than anything has helped to guide the future of procurement technologies. As a technologist and product owner, I personally want to thank Millennials for their needs and insistent nature to push us into a new era of procurement technologies, where people can actually get excited about the tools they use every day. * If you liked this post, check out Enterprise Technology – A Future Written by Millennials by Constantine Limberakis.
SOCIAL CONTRACTING: How Millennials Helped Shape Procurement Technology for the Future
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