Andrew Hinkly, Anglo American global head of supply chain, was brought in from Ford two years ago to make a difference. Speaking to him today, it was clear that, having spent a long time at the US auto giant, he felt that this role at the mining conglomerate, was a chance for procurement to shine and one not to be missed.

The financial meltdown created a degree of urgency, something I’m sure a lot of other organisations will relate to, and laid the path for procurement to change: to become close to the business and develop a base of talent with a balance of hard and soft procurement skills.

Hinkly relates that “it was a case of procurement being asked to show where it could deliver value and how it could work with other parts of the business to achieve something that the whole company could recognise.”

“Capability development has been a strong focus – it was crucial to have people who could manage the engagement, both with our suppliers, but internally also in order to articulate the change that has been happening and coordinate the efforts with other stakeholders,” says Hinkly.

Coming out of the recession, Hinkly’s team has strong arguments to justify their ongoing prominence in the organisation. And, just as importantly, they’ve worked hard to bring in the right people to manage that change.

By giving members the opportunity to execute strategic sourcing activities within major categories, they’ve built the experience and the involvement to encourage the team to be a committed, effective part of the organisation going forward.

It is all about the people, sure. But examples like this highlight just how far you can take those people in a change scenario, if they're given the platform to work closely with the rest of the business.  

Steve Hall is senior staff writer of Procurement Leaders. To find out more about the magazine, click here.