Archives 2021

It is International Fraud Awareness Week, and as experts in the procurement industry, we play a pivotal role in reducing fraud by taking a strong stance against fraudulent activity and educating our service providers, stakeholders, and colleagues on the importance of fraud awareness.

Fraudulent activity can rob big and small businesses from progressing in their specific industries. Therefore, governance and compliance are very important, especially for procurement and supply chain managements.

Why is procurement so important to mitigate fraud?

Procurement processes impact every aspect of a business. This includes how products and services are acquired to operate successfully.

We need to position procurement as a helpful and robust function that can help companies run a well-oiled, process driven value driver for business. It is our role to educate others on the rules and regulations that we need to follow so that we can minimise the impact of theft and unscrupulous practices.

I am a firm believer in fostering a business environment where ethics, accountability and good governance becomes the norm in our industry. This means you need to interrogate processes and identify any gaps that you can fill in the supply chain. I just love the fact that we can get involved in negotiating the best terms for businesses and suppliers and create mutually beneficial relationships and principled business practices.

This will not always be easy, and you may encounter push back whilst trying to promote an ethical culture in an environment that is resistant to change. However, our responsibility in supply chain and procurement, is to make sure that we inform others around the impact of fraud and the significant risks it poses to businesses.

Collaboration is vitally important. This means understanding the business value drivers, strategy, and goals. Work with executives to demonstrate how procurement can add value in achieving these goals through effective risk management, cost savings and effective processes.

To become a positive influence, in the business, you need to interrogate your supplier data and spend analysis. This will help you to identify any overspending and plug any leaks that could potentially be costing the business money. This also puts you in a better negotiating position, because you will be armed with information that will help you know when to push suppliers, reduce costs and achieve the best outcomes possible.

There are so many tools to help you with this, including artificial intelligence, procurement analytics and automated reporting. As a procurement professional, use these tools to make your life easier and shift towards improving transformation into a digitally savvy world.

Let’s work together to fight fraud

I am putting out a call to all procurement experts in Africa to stand against fraud.. Please Follow me on, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/procurement_with_lerato/ or LinkedIn- Lerato Sebata and let us work together to create a professional, mutually respectful atmosphere in business that encourages and improves healthy communication. 

#FraudAwareness #BestPractice #Procurement 

As a procurement professional in the financial services industry, I interact with businesses, suppliers, and professionals across a wide range of industries. I am inspired by these people because often, I can sense their passion when they speak about their business and the solutions they provide.

It is clear to me that everyone has an inherent gift. Unfortunately, some business owners, entrepreneurs and young professionals don’t recognise their true value and underestimate themselves. This can stand in their way of progress.

I was able to identify my core strengths quite early in my career and would love to help others do the same. Sharing my knowledge and experience, to help others achieve their goals motivates me. Not only is this significantly rewarding to me personally, it helps me to leave a positive legacy of empowerment for young women in the industry, youth aspiring to establish a career in procurement and build strong professional relationships.

So, today, I’d like to share with you three simple techniques to help you know your worth, value your skills and accept your phenomenal destiny.

1.Nurture your belief in yourself

To start believing in yourself, you need to speak positivity into your life. You can already have achievements to look back on with pride, even if they seem small to you, they are significant to others. Be your best cheer leader as a sign you believe in you.

Try not to beat yourself up when things don’t go your way. The ultimate power of success emanates from the setbacks you experience. , Focus your energy on positive activity and know that you are a valuable member of your family, your community, and your country.

2.Be persistent

There is only one thing that can stop you from achieving your goals, that is when you stop working towards it. Persistency is not doing things that don’t work until you deplete yourself, but push beyond boundaries until something works.

So, when times are tough, push aside the temptation to stop trying and push yourself to keep working on tasks that will bring you closer to your goal. Persistence is one of the keys to success, so embrace it. This means that try to do a little better every day, don’t repeat your mistakes, correct them. Always make sure that you are consistently driving progress in your life.

3.Add value wherever possible

Right now, you might not be doing a job you enjoy. You might feel demotivated and uninspired. So, look around you to identify opportunities where you can add value beyond your day-to-day work.

Be bold and courageous in your actions. Find broken processes and improve on them. it might be as simple as developing a new report to improve the speed of delivery. This is a great way to start elevating your personal value within your space.

Remember, positive action will result in a positive reaction. You’ve come too far to stop now. This is your moment, embrace it and don’t allow anyone to derail you from achieving your dreams.