Even before covid-19 times, remote work was already a trend in the world, although in a feeble way. With the arrival of this pandemic, the home office trend skyrocketed and many businesses had to adapt to such new reality in a rush.

For many people, home became office overnight. And among so many challenges of working remotely, one of the toughest has been keeping employees engaged and committed.

In this post, we’ll give you some tips to engage procurement teams in this new model and keep successful operations, even without that daily physical contact to which we were all used to.

Keep on reading!

Home Office: a chance to increase productivity

Home office is being perceived by many as a chance to increase productivity and work quality. This is evident in a survey conducted by University of São Paulo (USP), on the perception of managers during the pandemic: 64% of respondents were satisfied with teleworking and 94% stated that they are committed to their companies.

This helps to see how positive the path that we are taking is. Physical distance is a mere detail when there is synergy. Today, several tools offer an interactive environment and help keep employees closer to each other – such as corporate social networks (Workplace and Slack) or chat groups (on Teams and Skype).

 

On-line platforms help to manage procurement processes remotely

In the procurement universe, technology has been a strong support for some time. With restrictions imposed by the pandemic, however, it’s now even more vital. In addition to issues related to collaboration, compliance, savings and productivity, it helps to connect buyers with suppliers and keep operations up and running on both sides of the chain.

Through a Marketplace solution, for instance, buyers can find a myriad of products, using only an Internet connection.

As to e-Procurement, it can automate procurement processes, and allows buyers to manage anywhere, anytime and from any device.

CLM helps to manage the whole life cycle of contracts and to promote digital signature – which allows users to sign documents in a web environment, and monitor signature status in real time.

And Supplier Management helps to manage and inspect business partners even remotely, which is crucial in a world full of threats and unpredictability.

 

But in addition to technology, which is truly vital in these new times, we have selected 3 tips that are possible ways to preserve the engagement of procurement professionals during remote work:

 

 

1. Communicate to engage

Making clear where the organization wants to go and stating its priorities are the first steps to direct employee performance. This is where communication comes in, with an extremely important role in the strategy of businesses.

Information alignment not only directs teams in the execution of tasks, but also strengthens organizational culture. But how to adopt effective communication with home offices? Objective task alignment meetings, both individual and collective, on a weekly basis, can contribute to employee engagement.

 

2. Routine focused on results

In a home office, the workday has gained a little more flexibility, allowing people to start their tasks and take breaks at the times they prefer – within what is reasonably allowed, of course.

Therefore, businesses that have adopted a work model focused on results, and allow routine to be adapted to the reality of each employee, are more likely to preserve or improve both productivity and quality.

 

3. Ongoing feedbacks

The culture and practice of feedbacks are already considered essential for employees to develop and grow within their companies. In fact, an assertive and empathetic feedback stimulates and drives results.

As they can no longer meet in the alleys or during coffee breaks in the office, daily conversations between managers, employees and team colleagues decreased. Therefore, an ongoing chat, even if on-line, is essential to bring employees closer to the goals to be achieved.

 

We have seen above some of the alternatives to keep – or even increase – the engagement of procurement teams in remote work. Home office learnings will be forever, and all tips are welcome to improve operation success.

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