Online Networking Tools Gain Acceptance in Procurement
“Procurement professionals are networkers by nature” stated Dave Hannon in his recent Purchasing.com article Online networking tools help procurement execs recruit new talent. It’s a theme that comes up a lot lately both in procurement and business in general, the idea of networking in different formats.
One of the most significant facts about American business, Frederick Lewis Allen wrote in The Big Change is its willingness to swap ideas. And the most characteristic of all American institutions for carrying on that cross-fertilization, is the business or trade association. “Specialists…go to meetings to swap notes on progress in their particular fields, and to pick up ideas,” he wrote. “They find common ground in devotion to the broadening of their particular area of learning.”
In procurement, that kind of networking dates back to 1915 when the National Association of Purchasing Agents, now The Institute for Supply Management, was orignally formed. But today, attendance continues to drop at many industry group meetings. Attendance of 5% of membership seems pretty good. Members came to meetings to network, to seek employment and to exchange ideas within the profession.
In his story, Hannon states that in addition to the usual professional networking done at conferences and meetings, purchasing and supply chain executives are making the most of online networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Ziggs, and Spoke to network and find new employees as well as to use it to seek employment.
A friend of mine that is seeking employment tells me she links in to anyone she connects with at a company she is seeking a job interview. Many times the linked to person will hand carry her resume to Human Resources, getting it on top of the pile and also with a personal contact.
Do you think this is hurting attendance at professional meetings? Members can connect with people on the web and not have to attend a meeting or pay a dinner fee. Can you open more doors on the web than attending a meeting?
Read Dave’s article to pick up on all the benefits of a LinkedIn Service. You may be missing out on a great way to connect.
Ryan commented:
I found this great procurement networking website that you might
find interesting www.iProcurement.org The site allows people like
us to communicate, build relationships, share knowledge and simply
stay in touch with other colleagues in the procurement industry.
Enjoy
Mary commented:
Very interesting website. We, as buyers, like to draw from same
category buyer. It is always good to know what is going on in your
arena.
Yannick Bohrer commented:
Very good article Mary. I like to add that professional buyers also
have less time for networking unless it brings some "payback". The
online networking tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook... enable indeed
to seek jobs indeed but also to exchange "light" purchasing
information. However, what interests procurement specialist in
networking, is above all "Who buys the same as I do, and how can we
exchange and learn from each other?" Globuyteam.com answers this
need by enabling buyers to find each others worldwide and based on
: - what they buy - the industry they work for - their
country/region Buyers can then easily find each other, exchange
their contact details and benchmark offline for confidential
information exchange. Globuyteam.com aims for becoming the global
purchasing network for direct benchmark between professional buyers
and procurement experts. I invite you to open a free account on
globuyteam.com during our beta version. Regards, Yannick Bohrer
Vice-President Purchasing Globuyteam.com
