We caught up with Alison Johnson, Category Team Manager in the Procurement Office, who tells us about her work leading the Internal Change Programme. You've been doing some exciting work leading the internal Strategic Change program for Procurement, can you tell us a bit more about why things need to change, and what some of the key areas of focus are? The Strategic Change Programme involves every member of the Procurement team. It was established to really challenge the way we work and specifically focus on three main objectives: a. What works and doesn’t need to change b. What doesn’t work and does need to change c. What works but will need to be adapted, for example, to compliment P&M. From this we identified 5 Initiatives. 1. Stakeholder Engagement, 2. Structure and Alignment, 3. Contract and Supplier Effectiveness, 4. Cost Savings and Value for Money and 5. Innovation. What benefits are you hoping to see from these changes? We are already seeing benefits and the team have been progressing since October last year. So far the team have been identifying how we ensure early engagement within Procurement throughout the University and have been engaging with schools and colleges. Creating and embedding early and continuous engagement within the Finance research department. Innovation workstream undertook a supplier day this week to establish how we move our relationships to a more Strategic partnership, where both parties benefit from innovative discussions. What recent successes have you and your team been celebrating? Have there been any challenges? We have set up a good working structure to really promote successes within the team. We have undertaken a gap analysis to show areas that need additional focus and are working to resolves these. We are adapting our approach to tenders to get the most out of relationships and drive efficiencies. The team are heavily involved with People and Money. Engagement with senior stakeholders have progressed and the team are actively pursuing these. We have clear direction on those areas which require further focus, for example, reporting and systems, engagement with external bodies. What do you get up to outside of work? I’m a busy mum of two so lots of running about between football, horses, Scouts and Brownies. I love running with my Wirehaired Vizsla, Bonnie. Best of all is family time at the reservoir: all of us, with a BBQ and Kayak. This article was published on 2024-07-01
