When desire translates into need (or why you need CSR in procurement recruitment)
Let me start with a simple statement, based on considerable experience of working with – and taking the temperature of – the current recruitment market in procurement.
“It seems clear to me that, in today’s world, including CSR in your procurement function in not merely desirable; it is now essential if you wish to attract and retain the best talent.”
This is something we are regularly asked about at Cedar when presenting opportunities to candidates; they want to know that their beliefs on welfare and environment are at the forefront of our clients’ businesses as well as those of their suppliers. Consider the following statements, all gleaned from online studies and literature on this subject:
“If buyers don’t realise that ethical CSR practices are an aid to recruitment then they need to wake up and smell the coffee…”
“Amongst the serious implications of our procurement team’s failure to engage authentically with the key issues of sustainability and CSR is the message that failure sends to potential candidates, all of whom want to know that wellbeing, the environment and ethical sourcing are central to our mission.”
“CSR isn’t an option: it is our only strategy.”
“The social footprint of companies leaves behind a complete picture of how that business is run.”
“Gen Z and millennials want to work for a CEO who reflects their political opinions and has similar views on diversity and inclusion.”
“Real competitive advantage is based on social impact.”
“The key to successful recruitment in procurement is to demonstrate to candidates that you share their views on ESG and CSR and that these are not just at the forefront of your business but also those of your suppliers.”
Not many people are going to argue with any of the above sentiments, but that doesn’t mean that there are not issues that still need to be discussed and overcome. For a start, procurement does not operate in a vacuum. What your procurement team might believe to be right does not necessarily translate across the entire business. Your corporate brand may be well known, but it is almost certainly directed principally at your customers. And if you work in, say, defence, the needs of those customers are obviously at odds with many of the statements above. An artillery shell doesn’t take account of the views on diversity and inclusion of those it lands on…
What do we do in an increasingly dangerous world where, given the increase in wars and armed conflict in places like Sudan, Syria, the Middle East, Ukraine and, potentially, Taiwan, many people will want to see rearmament and a serious attempt by governments to up the ante on defence procurement in order to avoid the appeasement of the 1930s that contributed towards the outbreak of the Second World War? Should we support investment in arms companies?
What about Extinction Rebellion/Just Stop Oil and all those who believe that we need to dramatically reduce our use of fossil fuels? And how does all this square with many people’s desire to see more equality, fairness and CSR/ESG decency in the private and public behaviour of companies and organisations both here in the UK and abroad? Do we simply ignore the difficult questions and continue to shun businesses whose values don’t align with our own? Or do we recognise that the world is imperfect and complex (and always will be), therefore we need to accept that imperfection and complexity are to be embraced rather than shunned. Hiding our heads in the sand, ostrich-like, might provide personal, short-term relief, but does it make the problems go away…
Of course, you could simply choose to eschew firms/organisations whose products/services do not align with your own values. That’s perfectly reasonable, but it does not remove the need for these businesses to seek the very best procurement people they can get. There is undoubtedly a dilemma here that is not easily answered. To make matters worse for companies operating in these ‘difficult’ spaces, the competition for highly skilled procurement professionals, often with a desired industry-specific background, is at the highest level we have seen for some years. I and my colleagues at Cedar are increasingly finding that job descriptions are becoming much more exacting and those candidates who can meet the criteria invariably have interest and/or offers from two or three other businesses. Consequently, Cedar’s consultants are regularly faced with difficult scenarios surrounding offer management, particularly these multiple offers and also buy-backs. The importance of brand awareness in these discussions is fundamental and will often be the deciding factor for top talent, sometimes over-ruling larger package offers from competing businesses.
I’d argue strongly that none of this means that you should be dissuaded from doing what’s right. Here, the concept of a ‘purpose brand’ comes into play. This allows distinct areas of a business to demonstrate that they are fulfilling a social purpose, or what, in the case of procurement, can be referred to as ‘belief-driven buyers.’ However, there is still the difficult (for some) circle to square of how this operates in a business environment which is at odds with many people’s private beliefs, such as defence, nuclear power, fossil fuels, etc. Companies in these spaces still need the very best procurement people around, arguably more so than ever given the fractured and increasingly dangerous state of world politics I referred to above.
In summary, it seems that it is no longer merely a desirable option to include CSR in your procurement function; it is now a crucial factor in attracting the best talent. This is something we are regularly asked about when presenting opportunities to candidates; they want to know that their welfare and environment are at the forefront of your business as well as those of your suppliers. But, and it’s a big but, procurement, so essential to the future success of businesses across the globe (especially as AI begins to deliver on a radically different future for us all), does not deal with the world as we might want it – it deals with the world as it is. And it’s how we square these difficult circles that will be one of the themes at our forthcoming networking event. If you value free and frank exchanges of views, interesting debate and have a willingness to discuss the problems you experience in hiring the very best procurement talent for your business then you’ll want to be there!
Shad Ameen
Director – Procurement & Supply Chain, Cedar Recruitment
Networking Event: Details TBC – October/London
Get in touch if you’d like to join us
