Building better governance - a DIY Toolkit

Building better governance - a DIY Toolkit

Download Governance DIY Toolkit
How to get the best out of your suppliers

How to get the best out of your suppliers

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How to develop an asset management plan (AMP)

How to develop an asset management plan (AMP)

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Geared to High Performance – How to get the best out of your suppliers

Grosvenor's procurement research reveals how to get the most out of your suppliers, service providers and vendors in the future. Find out in the Geared to High Performance Report.

The Art of Successful Contract Management – A Webinar Series

Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.

How long does a procurement take?

A common issue for procurement teams is to manage the expectations of the rest of the business. This includes communicating just how long it takes to procure goods and services. We provide the following benchmarks in the hope that this allows procurement teams to point to the fact that right across organisations in Australia, the typical procurement projects take a fair bit of time.

Checklist for Evaluation Planning

The Evaluation Planning Checklist serves as a practical tool that summarises and organises the various aspects that should be considered when establishing a sound and structured program evaluation.

Template for Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

An easy to use, interactive, fill it in as you go, template to help you develop your M&E Framework.

Evaluating AI-enabled programs

We need to understand how the technology works, not only to evaluate it, but to be part of the ethical safeguards surrounding its proper use.

The Grosvenor Better Practice Governance Model

Traditionally, governance is described and measured only in terms of structural elements. Our model contains structural elements and enabling elements that must work together for optimal governance to be achieved and sustainable.

Achieving Net Zero with your property portfolio and assets

Achieving the goal of net-zero emissions - and net-negative beyond that – requires concerted efforts from organisations which must be guided by a vision, actioned through a deliberate plan, and monitored through accurate and timely data. Your portfolio and assets are vehicles for change – are you using them? Do you know what your current emissions are, your future targets, and do you have a plan to get you there?

The must have content for your strategic asset management plan (SAMP)

Cover your butt by including the must-haves in your strategic asset management plan (SAMP)

7 ways of clarifying the future when developing an asset management strategy

Here are our best 7 ways to reduce uncertainty and improve your plan for future asset needs.

AI in the public sector – 5 benefits and 5 limitations

While there are significant potential benefits of AI for the public sector, there is also a need to proceed with caution where human judgement cannot be replicated (at this point in time) and where there is a lack of quality data.

What should my sample size be?

It is very easy to say you need to ‘collect data from a sample’, but what does this really mean? How many people should you be engaging with to collect something meaningful? Question no more! We’ve put together some quick and easy ‘rules of engagement’ to help you understand what your sample size needs to be.

More Insights

The ABCDs of Public Sector trends and priorities in 2024

Join us on this insightful journey as we delve into each facet of the ABCDs, exploring how these trends intersect and synergise to create a blueprint for a responsive, efficient, and inclusive public sector.

So how mature is Australia’s governance?

Grosvenor undertakes an annual study into the state of governance in Australia. We see this as part of our contribution to the governance profession and we share our insights and knowledge through speaking engagements. In this annual study, we look at the maturity levels of governance in Australian organisations and identify governance strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Building Better Governance – a DIY Toolkit

The Grosvenor Better Governance DIY Toolkit is an easy to use, logical toolkit of guidance and practical checklists to ensure conformance and compliance while driving performance.

How a business plan template will help your Australian business or government entity

Developing a business plan template is a structured process that involves outlining key components to guide the development of a comprehensive and well-organised document. Here’s a general guide on how to create a business plan template, and how it can benefit any Australian business or government entity. Business Plan Template Development Executive Summary Briefly summarise the key elements of the business plan. Include the business name, mission statement, founders, location, and a snapshot of financial projections. Business Description Provide an overview of the business, its purpose, and the problem it solves. Outline the products or services offered. Market Analysis Define…

Evaluating AI-enabled programs

We need to understand how the technology works, not only to evaluate it, but to be part of the ethical safeguards surrounding its proper use.

5 signs you are ready to evaluate

Are you ready to evaluate? These are the five questions that you need to ask yourself to assess whether you are ready to evaluate: What – What is the background and context of the program and what will be the use of information and evaluation outcomes? Why – Why are you conducting the evaluation and why this point in time? How – Will this be an internal or external evaluation and what time and resources will you need? When – What are the timeframes for conducting the evaluation activities including milestones and deliverables? You – Do you have the right…

Designing rigorous M&E Frameworks in less than a week

How to design a M&E Framework in a few days

Template for Monitoring and Evaluation Framework

An easy to use, interactive, fill it in as you go, template to help you develop your M&E Framework.

Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Template

The Grosvenor Monitoring and Evaluation Template document outlines the key factors to take into account when performing M&E activities.

What is the best operating model for your Corporate Services function?

Corporate Services functions are responsible for delivering vital infrastructure and services that enable performance of their organisation’s core business functions. They play a crucial role in ensuring that the organisation’s workforce is trained, retained and supported, financial operations are sound, legal and compliance issues are managed, technology systems are functional and secure, and marketing and communications efforts are effective.

What is an Operating Model?

An Operating Model is the blueprint of how an organisation runs its business operations to achieve its strategic objectives and priorities. But why is it important to articulate your Operating Model?

Do the ends justify the means?

And, from now on, with each instance where you feel bending the rules might be necessary, stop, and think…’Could this decision or action I am about to take lead to other decisions or actions others will take? And, if that same decision or action was taken a number of times, or applied to different situations what might the knock-on effect be?

Evaluation Capacity and Culture

Building evaluation culture is all about shaping the way an organisation thinks and talks about evaluation as a key component to improvement and innovation. Our evaluation maturity model has 10 segments we believe each organization needs to focus on to uplift overall evaluation capability and maturity.  The model can be used as a guide in identifying the priority areas to focus on in building evaluation culture and maturity.

Top 10 Public Sector Consulting firms

Grosvenor is super proud and humbled to have been recognised in the Top 10 Public Sector solutions provider in APAC for 2023 by CIO Review.

What should my sample size be?

It is very easy to say you need to ‘collect data from a sample’, but what does this really mean? How many people should you be engaging with to collect something meaningful? Question no more! We’ve put together some quick and easy ‘rules of engagement’ to help you understand what your sample size needs to be.

AI in the public sector – 5 benefits and 5 limitations

While there are significant potential benefits of AI for the public sector, there is also a need to proceed with caution where human judgement cannot be replicated (at this point in time) and where there is a lack of quality data.

Are you trying to solve a problem but feel like you are just going around in circles?

Are you trying to solve a problem but feel like you are just going around in circles? Have you ever thought you solved a problem, but nothing really changed? Chances are you aren’t solving the right problem.

The Grosvenor Better Practice Governance Model

Traditionally, governance is described and measured only in terms of structural elements. Our model contains structural elements and enabling elements that must work together for optimal governance to be achieved and sustainable.

Business Plans

Your Corporate Plan is important, but so are your Business Plans!

Divisional and Branch level Business Plans are not currently a regulatory requirement within the Commonwealth, but this does not mean that they are not important. Such plans are critical to tell an organisations complete and sound performance story. While Corporate Plans are supposed to cover performance measurement from the strategic outcome level, this is often miles away from the work of each branch and team. Ascertaining how an individual or team’s work and performance links to the Corporate Plan requires some serious mental gymnastics. Business Plans are designed to bridge this divide, helping teams and individual staff members to establish and understand ‘where do I fit (with my work) into the picture’.

What does Married At First Sight tell us about public policy?

What does Married at First Sight teach us about public policy?

The good news is that you don’t need to marry risk. Assessing risk is a valuable and integral tool to delivering effective policy. Don’t let it get carried away with itself (like the contestants on the show).

organisation redesign

Wondering why your latest restructure or organisational redesign wasn’t successful?

Organisational redesign is far more than calculating the right number of FTE ‘boxes’ and identifying reporting lines ‘lines’. Whilst that may make it clear who to turn to when you need a remuneration review, it does little to address requirements for workforce and employee wellbeing and sustainability; connection, collaboration and collegiality; talent acquisition and capability development; compliance; and continued improvement and evolution of services and outcomes. Ultimately, these are the factors that will determine your capacity to achieve your mission and strategic priorities.

Is your Corporate Plan compliant with PGPA Rule 16EA? Use this Corporate Plan Compliance Checklist

Is your Corporate Plan compliant with PGPA Rule 16EA (Performance measures for Commonwealth entities) and better practice? To assist you in your assessment, we have provided a selection of Grosvenor’s better practice criteria for Section 16EA in an interactive document.

Planning in the new program management environment

Six tips to help you adapt to the new program management environment

Regardless of whether you’ve just inherited a program, established something new or are trying to work out where your program fits in this new environment, we’re here to help you break it down.

Six tips to understanding and measuring policy impact

While we’d argue that there has been a marked improvement in the measurement of program and service impacts, challenges still remain when it comes to policy. How to effectively measure the impacts of policy work is a challenging question being faced by evaluators and performance management experts.

Making the most of your community voice

It is no secret that social programs are all about the community – whether designing, delivering or evaluating a program we’re all working to improve the lives of, or outcomes for, populations in a particular area or sector. In recognition of this, it is critical that the views of program stakeholders are captured at all stages of the program lifecycle.

Corporate Plan

The Corporate Plan writing season has arrived!

Reviewing your Corporate Plan may not be at the top of your priority list or at least not something welcomed with open arms.

But now is the time to write/overhaul your Corporate Plan and make it fit-for-purpose for 2022/2023. This will not only help you meet regulatory requirements, but also bring it to the next maturity level of your organisation’s performance culture and management capabilities.

Reflecting on the lessons from crisis management and rapid recovery

There are many different types of crises: natural and human-made disasters, political scandals, terrorism attacks, commercial collapses, global health emergencies. Some crises arrive swiftly, undetected, catching us off-guard. Others we can see coming from a long way off, yet are powerless to avoid them.

How to put evaluation results into action: Prioritise for maximum impact 

The way evaluators develop, test and present recommendations has a huge impact on how improvements will finally manifest (if at all). Good recommendations and improvement opportunities identified during an evaluation are those that can be put into action. To maximise the impact and value of each evaluation, it is critical that program managers aren’t left asking ‘what next’ once the final report is delivered.

How to put evaluation results into action: Plan and communicate for maximum impact

Improvement opportunities are only useful if you know what to do with them – both evaluators and program managers must have clarity around how each recommendation and improvement can, or should, be implemented.

How to put evaluation results into action: Encourage the use of findings beyond the final report

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking the evaluators’ job is over once the final report is submitted. In terms of the adoption of improvement opportunities and application of findings, this is basically akin to an evaluator saying “Over to you now! Good luck!”.  The evaluator’s job is not over once the final report is submitted!

Advanced Spend Analytics to Drive Procurement Reform – A Webinar

Watch our Procurement lead, Dr. Stefan Gassner talks through our work with a past client of ours, City of Sydney, around ‘advanced spend analytics to drive procurement reform’.

Driving evaluative culture: ​Grosvenor’s evaluation capability model​

Grosvenor has developed a capability framework that can be used to review and assess the evaluative culture of any organisation, learn how you can benefit using our capability model by downloading our guide.

What is negative program theory and why should you use it?

Most people developing their program logics and program theory focus almost exclusively on how the targeted outcomes can be achieved.

Public Sector Corporate Plan Podcast

PODCAST: Making your public sector Corporate Plan a more engaging, practical and inspiring document.

We’ve just launched our first podcast all about making your public sector Corporate Plan a more engaging, practical and inspiring document. 

Preparation is key to communicating in a crisis

As the world faces a crisis the likes of which we’ve never had to encounter on this scale, we are reminded yet again of the importance of good communication at times like these.

Predictive policy: the new frontier in government

It is a reality that businesses are increasingly using predictive analytics to achieve their outcomes – in marketing, pricing strategies and improving operations. Likewise, governments are also turning to data and AI to develop more timely, targeted and relevant policy for citizens. The increase in data-driven decision making and predictive analytics is palpable.

Making the tough decisions about your program – nobody likes a dilemma!

How will decisions get made? Who is ultimately responsible? There’s a lot to think about. Fortunately, there are multiple things you can do to simplify and bring clarity to this process, ensuring that your decision making is both efficient and effective (it’s a win-win!).

Four building blocks for a people-centric government

Program managers know that focussing on customers and effective stakeholder engagement are key to great policy and program delivery. But there are often organisational barriers to implementing effective participatory processes.

Future of Work – Fireside Chat

Join Associate Director of Grosvenor, Charitee Davies, for a ‘Fireside Chat’ at BiiG 2019, held in Brisbane. Discussing the future of work, and highlighting the importance of address a growing skills gap, as well as our understanding of the current trends in the current workforce, and how this will impact workplaces in the future. 

The highs and lows of program management – it’s a rollercoaster!

Unless you’re exceptionally lucky, you’ve probably realised that life sometimes doesn’t go to plan. The same is true of Program Management – no matter how well you plan you’re likely to experience both highs and lows along the way.

Where are you in the program lifecycle?

Being asked to manage a new, or existing, program can seem overwhelming. To help you navigate the world of program management, Grosvenor Public Sector Advisory has developed a series of articles to break down the key activities and tasks you can implement to make your life easier.

Are you prepared for the workforce of the future?

“Tracking, monitoring and managing the skills and capabilities of the workforce can be problematic, especially with a view to positioning the workforce for the nature and types of future work.”Do any of the five statements below sound familiar in your agency? If so, you are not alone. Most government agencies are grappling with these exact problems when trying to address the future of work.

Breaking bad news

By their nature, program evaluations seek to determine if a program is working. Which means that, in reality, the answers are not always going to be positive.

What is program evaluation?

But for many of us, the art of program evaluation can seem a bit of a mystery. What is it and what is it for? More importantly, how do I do it well?

DIY M&E: A step-by-step monitoring and evaluation framework guide

An integral part of understanding how well your program has performed is having a monitoring and evaluation framework (M&E framework) and applying it to the specific context of your program.

The Change Journey

The public sector exists in an atmosphere dominated by change. Regular changes to policy, rapid development of information and knowledge management capabilities and increasing expectations of the public enforce the notion that change is an inherent characteristic of public sector organisations.

Risky business: Why you need a risk management plan

All contracts present financial and operational risks. One of the contract manager’s most important responsibilities is to manage the inherent risks and minimise negative impacts while positioning the organisation to take best advantage of opportunities. Learn why failure to have a Risk Management Plan in place is risky business.

Why your benchmarking project will fail

Benchmarking can offer meaningful insights into relative performance and help identify learnings for improvement. So why do so many organisations fail at this important activity?

Could my organisation benefit from outsourcing?

Many organisations are facing this, sometimes controversial, question right now. For example, the Federal Department of Human Services is, very publicly, trying to grapple with this question in testing opportunities for outsourcing some or all of its back-of-house processing and payment functions.

Observations of Private Sector Success for Public Sector Property Managers

More and more, large private sector organisations are making the successful change to flexible workplaces, providing Public Sector property managers with compelling case studies on how to improve the effectiveness of their own workspaces

Good governance and strong risk management: Needed more than ever

There have been a number of governance failings in Australian government organisations recently. These were different cases but both ultimately with the same outcome – the fraud of taxpayers and loss of community faith in those organisations.

What it takes to successfully establish your primary health care workforce profile

A comprehensive profile of the primary health care workforce in your region is an essential input for effective workforce planning. But compiling the necessary data and keeping it up to date is easier said than done!

DIY Program Evaluation Kit

This kit was produced to give Program Managers an easy to read and understand guide. We explain the principles while walking you through an example program that demonstrates how to apply the techniques in practice

The key to effective stakeholder engagement

Every day, organisations communicate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders in every aspect of their operations. However, when analysing our clients’ stakeholder engagement approaches, it becomes evident that efforts to engage with stakeholders often occur in an ad-hoc and rather visceral manner.

Types of program evaluation

Program evaluation can be confusing. Not only are there different types of program evaluation, but different people use different terms to mean different things – or the same thing! (As if there wasn’t enough confusion already!)

Tools for planning program evaluation: Evaluation Framework

One of the most important tools you will come across in program evaluation is an evaluation plan. Put simply, an evaluation plan is the step-by-step project plan for a specific evaluation project.

How to craft KPIs that boost Service Provider Performance

I’m not sure if my service contractor is really doing what they say they’re doing.”, “How do I prove the success of my service contract?”, “What options do I have to enhance my service provider’s performance?” Sound familiar?

Program logic templates

A program logic is simply a graphical portrayal of your theory that is succinct and easy to understand. Your program logic can take the form of words, diagrams, tables, or a combination of all three. Program logics are often (but not always) captured in one page, and are typically divided into inputs, outputs and outcomes.

Persona template for program design

A persona is a fictional character, designed to represent a user or client type. Personas are used to generate deeper understanding of your users’ or clients’ needs, experiences and motivations. Use the template to generate a list of questions and to capture your personas.

Organisational evaluation plan template

This template is intended to capture the evaluation requirements across an organisation each year or over a period of years.

Monitoring and evaluation: Step by Step Guide

Use this guide to kick start the development of your M&E framework.

How to design evaluation questionnaires to gather meaningful data

Poorly designed Program Evaluation questionnaires can lead to wasted time and erode stakeholder confidence. Worse, they can result in faulty data, which can lead to flawed decision-making and have serious impacts on the outcome of a program. This guide will help you appraise your evaluation questionnaires and ensure you’re collecting the right data to truly measure the success of your program.

Tool for clarifying outcomes and determining data requirements

This tool is intended for: ‘unpacking’ program objectives or outcomes and determining the data requirements for monitoring and evaluation of the program against its outcomes. The tool can be used to focus on just one, or both, of the aims described above.

Planning a program evaluation: A practical checklist

The checklist contained in this paper serves as a practical tool that summarises and organises the various aspects that should be considered when establishing a sound and structured program evaluation.

No data, no problem

In the ideal evaluation world, an evaluation occurs in the context of a beautifully planned and executed monitoring and evaluation framework. You have time and resources and oodles of beautiful, relevant, high quality data to inform your evaluation…… But who lives in this ideal world?  Oftentimes, you are notified late of the requirement, there’s a tight budget and timeframe, and for the final kicker…. you have no data.

Evaluation data collection matrix

Use this data collection matrix to capture your data collection requirements for your next evaluation. You can use this template as a stand-alone tool or as part of an evaluation plan.

Program Theory and Program Logic: Articulating how your program works

Have you ever noticed how hard it can be to articulate to others exactly what your program is for, and how it works? And how hard it can sometimes be to get internal buy-in and support as a result? In this blog, we show you how to develop a watertight program theory and program logic.

How is your program going… really? Performance monitoring

Monitoring and managing the performance of a program is an integral part of program management. This blog helps you identify the factors you need to consider when developing a performance management framework.

Program evaluation: How to bridge the gap between theory and practice

Program evaluation can be daunting for program managers approaching it for the first time. Rather than being given clear guidance on the how-to’s of program evaluation, newcomers are often expected to deduce program evaluation techniques from dry academic texts hidden behind a wall of baffling jargon.

9 ways to assess your program’s performance

If you’re a program manager for a government entity, you may be spending a lot of your time trying to figure out how to assess your program’s performance in accordance with your organisation’s governance, performance and accountability rules or guidelines.

6 reasons why evaluation is a great opportunity for program managers

While program evaluation might seem a little scary, it actually presents a raft of exciting opportunities for program managers to showcase the successes of their programs and ensure that their teams are performing to its full potential

Managing performance of intangible policy objectives

Many policy interventions are difficult to measure in terms of their impact on for example, the health of society, social cohesion, industry growth or change in community behaviour to name just a few.

10 excuses not to evaluate your program

Announcing an evaluation requirement generates two kinds of responses: enthusiastic, embracing the opportunity to recognise achievements or resistant and full of excuses

How to avoid a negative performance audit

You can easily avoid a negative performance audit finding through a little bit of preparation and effort. Not only will this save you from a negative audit finding, but there are other spin offs too.

What you need to know when designing a new program

If you have been tasked with designing a new program, there are probably a million thoughts and details running through your head. You’re also likely to have competing priorities… it could be that:

Just taken over an existing program? Five quick wins you need right now.

Ready to get started with your new program? Use this simple checklist to identify quick wins you can implement right away.

New to program management? Things you need to know

This is an exciting step in your career, and one where you will have great influence over your program. With that influence comes a need to get up to speed quickly, so you can use your time effectively, and make your mark on the program.

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) predictions for 2024

As we embark on a new year, the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) sector in Australia stands at the threshold of exciting transformations and advancements. Against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis, a slowing economy, technological breakthroughs, and evolving societal preferences, it’s crucial to explore the predictions that are likely to shape the Australian CRE landscape in 2024.

Property Asset Planning Part 2

Asset planning is often not a well-developed capability in many organisations. For organisations with existing asset plans, it is time to review them; for those without a plan, it’s time get started.

The must have content for your strategic asset management plan (SAMP)

Cover your butt by including the must-haves in your strategic asset management plan (SAMP)

7 ways of clarifying the future when developing an asset management strategy

Here are our best 7 ways to reduce uncertainty and improve your plan for future asset needs.

7 most common mistakes made when developing a strategic asset management plan (SAMP)

Here is a list of the most common mistakes, and recommendations, made when developing an asset management plan.

Property Asset Planning Part 1

The Asset Planning Guide Part 1 is designed to assist a broad cross section of managers to understand the basics of asset planning, the key considerations and approaches that can be used.

Start planning for the Whole of Government Asset and Facilities Management policies

NSW Government Asset Management and Facilities Management The NSW Government released a new asset management policy in October 2020 with full compliance required, at the latest, by June 2024. In our experience, it would be fair to say that most facility/property and asset managers are yet to work out how this translates to the better management of government owned facilities and property assets on the ground. We recently became aware that the NSW Government is developing a new strategy for facilities management (FM) and there are clear overlaps with their thinking and the asset management policy. Given Grosvenor’s experience working…

Achieving Net Zero with your property portfolio and assets

Achieving the goal of net-zero emissions – and net-negative beyond that – requires concerted efforts from organisations which must be guided by a vision, actioned through a deliberate plan, and monitored through accurate and timely data. Your portfolio and assets are vehicles for change – are you using them? Do you know what your current emissions are, your future targets, and do you have a plan to get you there?

How will Chat-GPT4 impact the property sector?

GPT4 has the potential to bridge the gap between existing technology and innovations that the property sector already uses to provide more nuanced insights. It allows for us (humans) to quickly link systems together to build a complete picture of asset and lease performance, customer needs, market trends and other external factors to provide more robust analysis and recommendations.

Time to review your property services with Grosvenor’s Property Assessment Framework

Let’s face it, you’re currently reviewing your property services thanks to a recent pandemic. A review and reform of services within your corporate property portfolio is either underway, under review or rushed to completion.

3 reasons why property portfolios underperform… and why you can’t blame bad luck

Property costs are easy to excuse as just an expense, most managers believing that property offers little return on investment…

Your Strategy and Execution. The final strategic capability in your property function.

The property strategy connects directly to the organisational strategy. It is the key linkage between that the organisation is seeking to achieve and how the physical infrastructure supports the achievement of those objectives.

Client Engagement underpins your property function

Client engagement is the link between what the organisation needs and what the property function does. It is also about what priorities and focuses the team has and how they define what their goals and objectives look like.

Service Delivery Model – The technical design pillar for your property function

The SDM is a key design element of any property function. It will impact all aspects of delivery including how data is managed and what internal resources are required.

People, capabilities, and structure – pillars in your property function

With all good organisation designs, the core requirement is alignment to strategy. For all supporting functions, it is key to ensure that the structure of the core business is reflected in the structure of the property team.

How Data and Systems Management can accelerate your property function.

Finance underpins the entire operations of a business. And of course, the property is fuelled by finance being the second largest overhead after staff costs and usually the largest fixed asset class.

Financial Management is key to a high performing property function

Finance underpins the entire operations of a business. And of course, the property is fuelled by finance being the second largest overhead after staff costs and usually the largest fixed asset class.

Grosvenor’s Property Assessment Framework

Let’s face it, you’re currently reviewing your property services thanks to a recent pandemic. A review and reform of services within your corporate property portfolio is either underway, under review or rushed to completion.

The Post-COVID Workplace – Who Knows?

When working with uncertainty it’s important to consider what you know and what you don’t know.

Tips for designing and managing contract performance

As contract getting longer, focus on outputs, not inputs, relate to services, not products and have higher numbers of stakeholders to service they require a relationship-based approach. More importantly, if you want the service provider to do more than just the minimum, then you must (as a client) take an active interest in THEIR needs as well as your own.

Shard services for property and FM

How shared services for property and facilities management creates value

The delivery of support and back office services under a shared service model is nothing new. However shared services for property and facilities management within the public sector is relatively new and subject to a different set of drivers for value creation.

City high rise building skyward

Necessary evil or strategic asset?

Like maximising the performance of your staff, maximising the performance of your property portfolio is far more complicated than simple cost management. A guide to building high performance corporate property portfolios.

Want to outsource your corporate real estate

Want to outsource your corporate real estate?

It’s common practice to outsource your corporate real estate, but you do need to know what you’re doing.

Vacant Office Space in the Public Sector – Why it occurs and how to fix it

A while back I posted a short piece on a phenomenon which Grosvenor termed ‘Structural Vacancy’. It’s the situation that occurs when organisations reduce their staff numbers over a short period of time leaving a significant amount of vacant office accommodation.

The next generation of property outsourcing – creating value

The traditional model for outsourcing property services is under pressure. Having harvested the initial benefits, many clients are questioning the value that they receive from large, single-sourced relationships.

Flexible working: An inevitability; not a possibility – 3 global forces reshaping our workplaces

The development and ongoing adoption of flexible working arrangements, by organisations big and small, is an inevitable consequence of the impact of three global forces reshaping the way we work.

4 fundamentals to prevent failure of outsourced property contracts

While the number of failed outsourced relationships is getting fewer, failures are getting far more attention in the market than the many successes. Everyone loves a disaster story, right?

Top 3 Success Factors to becoming a Flexible Workplace

Flexible working arrangements are an inevitable consequence of a number of global forces reshaping the way we work and how we engage with technology. No organisation is immune, but nor should the inevitable be feared. Here’s my top 3 observations of how early-adopting organisations have successfully made the shift to a new, more flexible workspace.

Is it time to put government property under the microscope?

Have government property functions, often the second highest operating cost after staff, ever been properly put under the microscope?

Public Sector Property Outsourcing: Why your contract isn’t adding value

Outsourcing operational activities allows the internal team to focus on strategy and the needs of their clients. It is this focus on strategy where the most value is created.

Why less is sometimes more for optimum service delivery

Performance issues are too often associated with a lack of resources when it can actually be that there are too many. In these instances business performance is compromised by excessive management capacity.

The main causes of facilities management outsourcing failure and how to fix it

If properly thought through and executed, outsourcing can add substantial value. If done poorly, it is usually due to problems with the way it was done or in other words, the client.

Why Facilities Management must evolve with the University education revolution

In the Higher Education Sector, it’s no longer sufficient to simply provide a great faculty and publish the latest research. It’s now equally important for a competent Facilities Management function to consider the experience and wellbeing of its students. To attract undergraduates, you need great facilities, teachers, classes and courses.

4 essential steps to ensure compliance with the Asset Management Accountability Framework (AMAF)

It is essential that your asset management strategy be developed to the point where it complies with the requirements of the AMAF framework. These four steps will help you achieve that goal.

5 reasons you need a property strategy

A property strategy will enable you to get the best of your expenditure and leverage the regular ups and downs of market cycles.

Workplace density: Is the size of your office impacting profitability?

Technology is enabling businesses to optimise workplaces in ways that were unimaginable even five years ago, and changes the way we think about the modern workplace.

Optimising workplace density – what governments can learn from the private sector

The public sector is a major occupier of office space in Australia. State and federal government inhabit up to 30% of all office premises nationally.

When and what to outsource and how it can save you money

One of the biggest, almost-hidden benefit of outsourcing for any company is freedom. Freedom for your staff to work strategically to grow your company, rather than getting caught up in the small stuff.

The most important aspect of property management and how data can help save you money

If you’re serious about managing your property more wisely and increasing your business’s success, ask yourself these two questions:

Assessing your property investment strategy…hold, invest, review or release?

Your property investment strategy will assess how well your current portfolio meets the business’ needs and where to optimise your capital investment.

A diagnostic tool to prioritise change and improvements

In our experience the Corporate Real Estate (CRE) function is often caught in departmental no-man’s land. It’s usually treated as ‘just something we do’, not something that is a strategic part of the long-term success of the organisation.

Why procurement and property should stop butting heads

Tension and mutual frustration often characterise the relationship between Procurement and Property. But why? You both want to achieve greater value for your organisation, right? Over the last five years there has been significant change in the relationship between the property and procurement functions. In this article, Kent Stuart takes a light-hearted look at the issue and tries to reframe the property function for procurement professionals. 

Crafting an Effective Procurement Category Management Plan

One of the most powerful tools in procurement is an effective Category Management Plan which enables organisations to optimise their purchasing processes, drive cost savings, and enhance supplier relationships.

A guide to Procurement Category Management

Procurement category management emerges as a crucial element in achieving sustainable success. By implementing a comprehensive category management framework, organisations can navigate the complexities of the supply chain, optimise costs, and build resilient supplier relationships.

The Future of Procurement: A Look Ahead to 2024 and Beyond

We investigate the key trends that are shaping the future of procurement, what Grosvenor’s research found to be the key priorities for 2024 and give you strategies that you can adopt to stay ahead of the curve.

Revolutionising Procurement: Unleashing the Power of Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma can transform procurement practices with a structured and systematic approach to procurement.

Four tips for maximising the value you get from your Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contracts

The top four tips of how to achieve best value from your relationships with vendors of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products.

Approaching power imbalance in a supplier relationship

The power imbalance in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is high to very high. The other party is often a large multinational company who is not willing to negotiate on product specifications, on pricing nor on contract terms & conditions.

When client and supplier see each other as irreplaceable – that’s where the magic happens!

Strategic Partner Management is all about friction-free sharing of information and includes the senior leadership of clients and suppliers to improve the ease of doing business.

Getting the most out of your contracts

Our latest research report, Geared to High Performance, reveals that more than 70% of organisations deploy operational contract management, vendor management and strategic partner management to improve supply chain performance.

Top procurement priorities for 2023

Grosvenor undertakes annual research into the state of procurement and contract management in Australia. Over the past five years we have talked to close to 600 organisations to track what is top of mind for their procurement teams. So what is top of mind in 2023?

How to achieve high supplier performance

Grosvenor’s latest State of Procurement in Australia research titled Geared to High Performance, reveals five interventions that make the biggest difference on supplier performance.

Geared to High Performance – How to get the best out of your suppliers

Grosvenor’s procurement research reveals how to get the most out of your suppliers, service providers and vendors in the future. Find out in the Geared to High Performance Report.

What the heck is FinOps?

FinOps is a set of cultural practices for proactively managing dynamic spend incurred using cloud infrastructure. It aims to maximise the value of cloud infrastructure by aligning spend with defined business objectives. It requires organisational change to enable cross organisational collaboration and is driven by a central FinOps team but delegates financial decisions and accountability to users of the cloud infrastructure.

The Art of Successful Contract Management – A Webinar Series

Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.

How long does a procurement take?

A common issue for procurement teams is to manage the expectations of the rest of the business. This includes communicating just how long it takes to procure goods and services. We provide the following benchmarks in the hope that this allows procurement teams to point to the fact that right across organisations in Australia, the typical procurement projects take a fair bit of time.

Where are you on the procurement maturity curve?

Ultimately every organisation is making a decision of where its procurement function should sit on the maturity curve taking into account the cost to implement better practice and the value-add this function will generate. So, where does your organisation sit on this maturity curve, and how does this compare to other organisations?

What is the right organisational structure for your procurement team?

How do you set up the right organisational structure for your procurement team? An important decision when answering that question is to set the degree of centralisation: which activities will be done by people outside of the immediate procurement team, versus which activities are done by that team themselves?

So, what is keeping CPOs up at night?

We spoke to 74 procurement organisations in Australia and their number one concern is… none of the above. Resourcing takes out the top spot. Specifically, the inability to find, recruit and train talent to keep up with the workload.

What does procurement best practice mean to you? Grosvenor Procurement Research 2022

At Grosvenor we undertake annual research into the state of the procurement profession in Australia. This year we want to understand what ‘better practice’ means and make that measurable through benchmarks that are specific to Australia.

Participate now!

Dealing with supply risk: becoming a customer of choice

Assuring the supply base and its viability is currently an important procurement goal. So how exactly are organisations dealing with mitigation of supply risk? What can you learn and adopt?

The Four Spend Levers – Webinar

Which of the Four Spend Levers should procurement teams utilise for the rest of 2021?

Contract management: seven challenges to better practice

Contract managers right across Australia face difficulties in getting the most from their suppliers. How can we set up our contractual relationships so that the supplier will go the extra mile? Look no further than how we manage our staff and you get an idea of what better practice looks like. Here is a list of seven challenges contract managers often face and how to overcome them.

Where are the procurement “quick wins” for an incoming CPO?

As a new CPO you need to make an impact. Fast. Ideally within 100 days. This is important to win trust. Trust from the wider business that procurement will be better this time round. Better, in the sense of being able to help the organisation deliver the strategic goals. An enabler, rather than a roadblock. A coach, not a police offer.

What our research says about the state of procurement in Australia

At Grosvenor Procurement Advisory, we undertake annual research to better understand procurement and contracting in Australia. This article provides a summary of our research topics with links to download our highly sought after ebooks for free.

Five challenges we must address when ‘hiring’ our suppliers

What do we get wrong when we ‘hire’ our suppliers? What can procurement learn from the hiring processes we have in place for our staff and how can those lessons be adopted in better practice procurement functions?

Light years behind: Supplier leadership vs people leadership

Let’s face it, we’re light years behind in how we source and manage suppliers. At least in comparison to how we select and lead our staff. In fact we’d argue that the same strategies work across managing people and managing suppliers. And that those organisations that do receive much better performance from their supply base

Webinar – Procurement Systems that Fire on all Cylinders

A pre-recorded webinar on how to get the most of your upcoming or current investment into procurement technology

How do organisations go about creating savings post COVID?

Procurement professionals have four spend levers in their toolbox. But which ones were mainly used to combat the impact of the COVID-19 recession? Read on to find that it was the more traditional negotiations that procurement turned to in 2020 and how to generate further savings in 2021.

Government organisations and private sector businesses experienced the pandemic very differently

Public sector procurement teams were tasked with introducing stimulus into the economy rather than reducing cost as was the case in the private sector. How long is this going to last? We surveyed 46 public sector procurement functions in 2020 to understand how the COVID-19 crisis impacted procurement teams in Australia.

COVID – When procurement became critical

COVID brought many struggles. It was also the time for procurement to shine. Read on to see how procurement functions across Australia quickly adapted and shifted their focus from cost reduction to supply risk mitigation and back to cost reduction.

Advanced Spend Analytics to Drive Procurement Reform – A Webinar

Watch our Procurement lead, Dr. Stefan Gassner talks through our work with a past client of ours, City of Sydney, around ‘advanced spend analytics to drive procurement reform’.

Why you are not happy with your eProcurement system

Often the answer to why your existing system is not firing from all cylinders can be found in our previous article. It’s likely that your implementation project skipped one of those lessons-learnt and you have consequently ended up in a situation where the uptake of your system is poor, end users complain about the usability, manual workarounds are in place, suppliers are unhappy and most of the benefits from your business case have gone out the window.

Choosing a suitable eProcurement system: What others had to learn the hard way

Unfortunately, not all procurement teams get to enjoy full benefits from their technology solutions. Why is that? Learn how to avoid missing out these crucial benefits.

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a Contingent Workforce Management solution: 1. Are you paying the same rate for the same type of employee across the whole business?, 2. Do you know what technology solutions the market offers?, 3. …

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you’re thinking about getting a procurement system: 1.  Do you know the current procurement technology market and capabilities?, 2. Are your procurement processes fit for purpose and ready to be supported by a system?, 3. …

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a Contingent Workforce Management system: 1. Are your processes now faster and more efficient? All of them?, 2.  Is everyone happy with the system and consistently using it?, 3. …

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a procurement system

Ask yourself these 5 questions if you have a procurement system: 1. Are you realising all the expected benefits?, 2. Are your processes now faster and more efficient?, 3. ….

How to be a Procurement Savings Champion

Ever wondered where your next wave of procurement savings will come from? This video will tell you how to save an additional 122% using advanced spend levers such as Buy Cheaper, Buy Less and Buy Smarter.

Stop Paying Too Much: How to Generate Greater Procurement Savings

Grosvenor’s procurement expert, Dr Stefan Gassner, outlines his findings from his latest procurement research project, the 2015 CPO Study.

Turn Your Focus to Advanced Spend Levers for Additional Savings

The times when running a tender process yielded 20% of savings are over. Charlie and Tom explain how you should now turn your focus internally to leverage advanced spend levers such as Buy Cheaper, Buy Smarter and Buy Less.

What’s on the chopping block? – The Impact of COVID on Procurement

Procurement teams across the country are chasing savings again to lead the recession recovery. So where will all these savings come from?

What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement – A Webinar

Join Grosvenor’s head of procurement, Dr Stefan Gassner, in discussing the findings from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement, and how a recent pandemic has shaped these results in 2020.

We asked 49 procurement teams how their focus has changed during COVID. Here is what they said.

What a different world this is! Just three months ago we published our research on what the focus of procurement teams should be. Now we need to start from scratch as the COVID-19 pandemic rewrites the rules of business around the world.

PODCAST: AcademyGlobal Podcast Interview: What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement

Listen to Stefan Gassner, our Director and Head of our Procurement Advisory, speak with Genevieve Malcolm from AcademyGlobal. Discussing the findings and insights from our latest study, ‘What Finance can (and should) expect of Procurement’.

The Art of Successful Contract Management – A Webinar Series

Often, contract management is something that gets thrown at you. Without much explanation of what is required. That changes today! Purchase the seven-part contract management webinar series now. Each 45-minute webinar lesson covers everything you need to know about the art of successful contract management and improving supplier performance.

How can your Procurement function deliver more value?

Procurement should align its vision, strategy and policies with the overall company objectives. When procurement does not align these with company objectives, we found that this led to friction between stakeholders and unrealised opportunities.

What separates immature and mature organisations?

After learning about procurement’s maturity levels and how these correlate to strategic alignment, we can firmly say, that they go hand in hand. What separates immature and mature organisations?

Big business, small Procurement functions.

Your organisation might turnover a large revenue, with many employees, however, your procurement function might be experiencing the same maturity as a far smaller organisation. What gives?

How the public sector shapes up. Why Procurement could not be further away from what is expected of them!

Findings from our industry study, ‘What Finanance can (and should) expect of Procurement’; we found that not a single respondent from the public sector said cost was one of the most important area of focus. It wasn’t just cost that public sector procurement teams did not consider to be an important area of focus; again, not a single respondent said that risk reduction was an important area of focus, too.

Not on the same page: Procurement and the rest of the business are misaligned.

It’s as simple as that: Procurement and the rest of the business are not on the same page. If you’re already nodding your head in agreement, you’re not alone. More than half of the respondents to our survey indicated that their procurement function operates in a vacuum.

What can Finance expect of Procurement?

Well, it’s often been suggested that Finance and Procurement are at loggerheads about what is good for the organisation. Is it savings? Is it risk reduction? Is it ensuring that sustainability a core focus, or even commercial outcomes? All of the above?

Findings from our Sustainable Procurement Research

Grosvenor and Progressive Systems undertake regular research to understand the state of the procurement profession in Australia and New Zealand. This report details our findings from surveying 98 organisations about their efforts to implement sustainable practices in their procurement function.

Carrot or stick? 2017 Supplier Performance Study

On average, procurement teams can gain an extra 29% performance from their suppliers with some simple changes. Our 2017 research study uncovered what suppliers would like to (but often can’t) say to buyers to help them turn this around.

Business man with crystal ball

Predicting cost savings in Property, ICT and Operations Sectors

In my last article, Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend? I mentioned that one of the goals of our 2018 Procurement Study was to unlock a set of indicators that could be used to identify which categories, supplier and contracts are likely to yield the greatest opportunities to reduce spend.

Is there a pot of gold hidden in your procurement spend?

Prioritising your procurement initiatives would be a lot easier if indicators existed that helped you determine where your most likely source of savings is going to come from.

Surprising facts

Some surprising facts from our 2018 Procurement Study

Our 2018 procurement study “Eight savings myths debunked” was expected to stir the pot. It’s easy to allow assumptions and preconceived ideas about finding cost savings to influence where to look and what to expect.

Eight savings myths debunked

Every year Grosvenor conducts a research study focusing on a specific area of procurement practice. These insights are used to inform our industry by aggregating real world experiences from Australian organisations and turn them into strategies that allow us to share knowledge and drive change within our own organisations.

Fantastic On Four Fronts

Levers provide you with efficiencies that help move otherwise impossible loads with ease. As a user of these levers, it’s important to be aware of what levers exist and when to use the right lever at the right time. You’d never use a crowbar, for example, to lift the lid on the Milo tin, just like you’d never try to shift that pile of bricks with a pair of tweezers.

Building a relationship with your suppliers

You’re a great team leader, right? Your staff respect you, and you them. Let’s look at the way you work with your staff and see how we can transfer your success there to success in the procurement field.

Gut feelings and hard data

We have gut feeling about plenty of things and maybe we think we know what works when it comes to incentivising behaviour. That’s because we know how we respond to sticks and carrots. But maybe not everyone responds as we do. Maybe different situations call for different approaches.

Love me Tender? Not Likely!

Problems with suppliers create problems for your business. Consider those suppliers who can’t meet deadlines, are financially unstable, have staffing issues, can’t deliver the required quality of work or have weak compliance standards – the list of potential problems can run on and on.

Modern Slavery Act – What have others implemented and what should I be doing now?

Grosvenor benchmarked 31 organisations across Australia and internationally to understand what controls were in place to address the risk of modern slavery within their supply chains. Through our research in June 2018, we discovered what was considered best practice and what organisations across the country can be doing now to address modern slavery risks within their supply chains.

Eight steps to drive more savings

Do you maximise your savings across your suppliers? How do you know which contract to tackle next? How do you prioritise your supply base and identify where the biggest savings potentials are?

How design impacts procurement contract performance

Most performance management systems that fail, don’t fail because they can’t do the job. They fail because they are too hard to use, take too much effort and as a result, don’t get used as much as they should.

Don’t ask a lawyer to scope a contract

Don’t ask a lawyer to scope a contract. By that I mean don’t ask them to define the scope of services, the pricing model or the performance management structure for a contract.

Procurement Manager holding a trophy

What is the right size for your procurement team?

Chief Procurement Officers are asked to deliver more and more. They don’t always have the resources to match expectations. What do CPOs need to deliver results and become procurement champions?

Why contract performance always disappoints the buyer

A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual
performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of
robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff,
purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts?

Category management: Why bother?

Does category management deliver benefits beyond just doing good procurement practice? Does it involve new techniques or practices? Or worse, is it just a fad word to make procurement practitioners or management consultants sound cutting edge?

Be SMART: How to define KPIs that drive better results

Well thought out key performance indicators (KPIs) are a fundamental ingredient of performance management frameworks. But for many, developing a good KPI – one that actually drives behaviour to achieve results – is harder than it looks.

3 steps to negotiate win-win outcomes for your contract

Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a toddler will know that for most of us negotiation skills are learnt early. Unlike a toddler, adult negotiators understand that there are two sides to any negotiation and both negotiators want to have their needs met. Here’s how to negotiate the best outcomes for your contract, while keeping your supplier relationships intact.

“Please return our calls!!!” – Candid comments from your suppliers…

It never ceases to amaze me how important the simple things like returning a phone call or responding to email are to successful buyer / seller relationships. Funny how we expect a supplier to respond and even fall over themselves when we need them. But do we always show the same respect back? Is it ok not to just because we are the ones handing over the cash?

How changing buyer behaviour can double procurement savings

With their focus on keeping supplier costs down, Australasian Chief Procurement Officers are used to having their attention trained on the external market: but did you know you can almost double your savings by turning your attention inside the organisation too?

5 ways to ensure procurement stays relevant

Are you struggling to extract further savings through the application of spending consolidation and market testing? Are most of your spend categories now mature and behave predictably?

Pay Less, Buy Cheaper, Buy Less and Buy Smarter: The 4 Spend Levers

When we think of generating savings, many of us automatically think of simply paying less for goods and services: whether we’re talking about tenders, volume aggregation or minimising contract leakage, this tried and tested method of using spending power to beat down prices has delivered significant savings over the years.

The next wave of procurement savings

A 2014 Australasian study has found that public sector organisations have at least twice as many procurement staff as private sector organisations. It is probably easy to surmise that this is a consequence of the high accountability, probity and compliance expectations of government. In effect, procurement processes in the public sector are more involved than in the private sector.

How is service sourcing different from product sourcing?

Services have become a significant part of Australia’s economy. However, businesses are not always sure how to align their purchasing function with this trend. This whitepaper explores differences between physical goods and services and how these influence the procurement function.

What suppliers think about your leadership

We know that your leadership style impacts supplier performance by 27%. Yet most organisations fly blind and don’t seek the feedback of suppliers on how to improve the way they lead.

Are your suppliers punishing you?

Ever wished you were a fly on the wall when your suppliers meet to discuss your contract and the relationship they have with you? Trust me good or bad they have the conversations on many levels just as employees have conversations about their management.

3 steps to take your organisation to supplier leadership excellence

Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers.

10 tips to improving supplier relationship management

Organisations successful in managing supply chains understand the value of managing effective relationships with their suppliers. These organisations have a knack of building trust and confidence with their suppliers which leads to knowledge sharing and the identification of improvement opportunities.

What Category Management tells us about the future of procurement

It’s been called a lot of things: strategic procurement, Category Management, strategic commissioning and customer centric procurement. What it really should be called is “good procurement practice”.

Are you a savings champion?

In 2015, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia. Why? Because we wanted to identify the most effective savings tactics in use, and understand who was using them to the best effect. What we discovered might surprise you.

Best practice KPI development and reporting for stellar supplier outcomes

You may have heard the saying, ‘what gets measured gets done’. Use of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is the main way supplier performance is measured and the main mechanism for driving supplier behaviour. Here’s some tips on how to develop and measure best practice KPIs to encourage ongoing performance and exceptional outcomes from your suppliers.

How to get started with sustainable procurement?

With spend in supply chains representing an average of 60% of an organisation’s budget, procurement strategy and processes have a profound ability to affect the social, environmental and economic sustainability of business at large. The power of procurement to contribute, both positively and negatively, to sustainable objectives has never been so widely recognised.

What works best to motivate suppliers?

In 2017, we surveyed 163 buyer and 89 supplier organisations across Australasia managing a combined spend of over $5.6bn designed to bring you the latest key insights for helping you boost your supplier performance.

Why a Contract Management Plan makes your work day easy like Sunday morning

The ink on the supplier contract is drying. They’re ready to start contract delivery. How do you harness the goodwill, ensure easy and successful implementation and a functional working relationship for years to come? With a Contract Management Plan (CMP) of course!

Trouble in contract paradise? How to get your project back on course

Issue management can be difficult and confronting for everyone involved. As with any relationship, there will be times when things don’t go to plan and problems crop up. As the contract manager, it falls to you to get things back on course. Here’s how to prevent minor contract issues from becoming major challenges for you and your supplier. 

Sustainability through procurement – Spotlight on Fair Operating Practice

Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence. Last year, the International Standard for Sustainable Procurement ISO 20400 was released as a guide to implementing social responsibility and sustainability through the procurement process.

Sustainability through procurement – Spotlight on Human Rights

Many people in modern society might think of slavery and child labour as stories from their history books that no longer exist. However, according to Andrew Forrest, Chairman of Fortescue Mining Group and the Walk Free Foundation, “We are all going to have slavery in our supply chains no matter how good we think our corporate social responsibility is”.

Supplier Performance Study: How leadership impacts supplier value

Do you suspect that your contract is not performing as well as it could? There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Learn how the principles of leading staff also applies to the leadership of suppliers, in Grosvenor’s 3rd Annual Procurement Study.

Sustainability through procurement – Spotlight on Community

Responsible procurement contributes to a sustainable world. It can also help your organisation build a stronger reputation, grow brand recognition, increase revenue and improve consumer confidence.

Public sector procurement: the next wave of savings

Any head of procurement who has worked in government will know that effective procurement is a top priority in the public sector. But are you doing all you can to maximise the savings available?This year, Grosvenor collaborated with PASA to survey hundreds of top procurement professionals in Australasia (including a large number of federal and state government organisations) to identify where the next wave of procurement savings will come from.

Making the World a better place…Through sustainable procurement

Chances are, social responsibility is not the key driver for your organisation! It might be a nice-to-have, but your key driver is more likely to be super-pleasing your customers, maintaining a competitive-advantage or implementing public policies.

Four common mistakes of overlooking contract pricing

When contracting for services, a lot of attention is focused on the initial contract cost. Hours of spreadsheet time is spent analysing and comparing tendered fees. Unfortunately, very little thought goes into how the ongoing service is paid for and how the ‘pricing model’ (not the initial tendered fee) determines value for money and delivers quality outcomes.

3 steps to take your organisation to supplier leadership excellence

Much has been written about the relationship between leadership and staff performance. There’s no doubt that better leaders also produce better business outcomes. Yet, this kind of thinking is usually limited to staff management. It does not extend to the positive impact leadership might have on the performance of suppliers. And that is despite the fact that businesses spend over 80% of their revenue on external suppliers depending on industry.

PODCAST: The Procurement Corner with Steve Moore and Kris Wozniak

For many organisations, a supplier relationship can seem more like a liability always demanding attention, than a valuable asset worthy of investment. So, what makes the difference between these two perceptions? Leadership.

5 habits of highly effective supplier managers

Hand on heart, do you think you’re giving your suppliers a similar level of attention and leadership as to your own team? It’s difficult, we get it. Internal demands can often seem more pressing – not least because you’re so much more easily accessible for the people who work with you onsite. But what if we told you that better leadership in supplier management is directly related to better business outcomes?

The Disappointment Gap

A recurring theme for many procurement staff is the erosion over time of the actual performance of their service contracts. Why is it that, despite the increasing use of robust tools and templates and the increasing proficiency of procurement staff, purchasers continue to feel dissatisfied with their contracts? Over time; price creep, scope pullback, service level failures, lack of innovation and increasing levels of distrust increasingly characterise their customers’ experiences. We have coined the term; the Disappointment Gap, for this phenomenon.

What’s the difference between suppliers and employees when it comes to motivating for high performance?

As it turns out – nothing! When you think about it, why would or should it be any different: in both situations we are talking about the motivation of human beings.

How to communicate with confidence to manage your contract

Effective communication is an essential skill for Contract Managers. Communicating well is all about making sure the right people have the right information at the right time. But how do you communicate confidently and consistently with your stakeholders to ensure the successful management of your contract and project performance? Answer the following four questions for a helpful starting point to developing your communications plan.

2016 Supplier Performance Benchmarks: How do you compare to Australia’s champions?

In Grosvenor’s latest procurement study, we investigated the relationship between supplier performance and leadership style more closely. After surveying 119 organisations in Australia, we found that Transformational Leaders receive up to 27% higher performance from their suppliers than leaders who prefer a different leadership style.

10 Questions To Assess Contract Management Capability

Procurement is finally getting the opportunity to become more involved in contract management. Here are 10 questions contract managers should ask themselves to baseline the current skill set and prioritise areas of improvement.

Want to spend less time worrying about poor supplier performance?

Supplier management is often something that gets thrown at you with little explanation of what is required, little to no training in how you monitor supplier performance or avoid the biggest traps. Spend less time worrying about poor performance and more time on making strategic decisions that truly deliver value for money for your organisation.

Indemnities versus Insurances: Do you understand the difference?

Indemnities and insurance both guard against financial losses and aim to restore a party to the financial status they held before the event occurred. However, it’s important that Contract Managers understand the significant difference between the two to help protect their business.

Winners are grinners: 3 ingredients for win-win supplier relationships

The culture of your contract will have been established early in the sourcing process. During the tender period, documentation and interactions with suppliers will have set the tone for the ongoing relationship during the contract management phase.

Does size matter? – the truth revealed

You could be forgiven for thinking that suppliers provide better performance to their larger clients. Or those that are more profitable. Or those that represent growth opportunities. After all, it would make sense that a supplier does everything they could, go the extra mile for their bigger clients. Well actually the data gathered in our 2017 Procurement Study tells us that the contract value or the size of the supplier has little impact on the level of performance the buyer receives.

Contract Law & Order: 3 terms every Contract Manager needs to know

A contract can be defined as: “A legally binding agreement between two or more parties”. Contract law, which forms the legal basis for contract management, is an interesting and complex topic. But there are three terms of contract law that are particularly important for a Contract Manager to understand to ensure contract delivery and best practice supplier management. They are privity, estoppel and document precedence.

What carrots work for NGO suppliers?

Governments across Australia contract more and more essential services from not-for-profit and non-government organisations (NGOs). Prime examples are the rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and the NSW Smart, Skilled and Hired program. But how should government agencies go about incentivising these service providers to achieve or better exceed performance expectations?

Procurement Champions – Benchmark Study 2014

Chief Procurement Officers are asked to deliver more and more. They don’t always have the resources to match expectations. What do CPOs need to deliver results and become procurement champions?

Contract Extension Checklist: To extend or not to extend?

Long before your contract expires, you should be planning your approach to the contract close out phase. Of course it’s easier to just extend an existing contract. But is it best value for money? Does it effectively address your organisation’s risk exposure? A Contract Extension Checklist can help you make the best contract decision for your business.

4 ‘carrots’ to incentivise Service Provider performance

“Our Service Provider is useless,” is a quote we often hear when we get called in to fix a dysfunctional contract. To be honest, our clients often use more colourful language than that when they describe The Disapointment Gap!

3 Steps to Procurement Utopia

Procurement and contracting is more complex than many people realise. It’s not simply buying goods and services to the cost, quality and time you need them.

15 essential attributes successful contracts share

While every contract is unique, there are 15 attributes that all successful contracts share – regardless of their size, complexity or challenges.

Contract management in procurement and why Contract Managers are so important

Contract management is often something that gets thrown at you with little explanation of what is required, little to no training in how you monitor supplier performance or understanding on how to avoid the biggest traps.

What skills make a good Contract Manager great?

As the linchpin to achieving your contract’s objectives, contract managers have a wide range of responsibilities. A good contract manager needs to be a Jack of all trades, who is a master of none all.

Is your leadership style impacting supplier performance?

Chances are that you suspect your contract isn’t performing as well as it could. There must be something you can do to get more out of your suppliers, right? Did you know that improving your leadership skills could improve supplier relationships and contract performance?

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Public Sector Advisory

The ABCDs of Public Sector trends and priorities in 2024

So how mature is Australia’s governance?

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Property Advisory

Commercial Real Estate (CRE) predictions for 2024

Property Asset Planning Part 2

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Procurement Advisory

Crafting an Effective Procurement Category Management Plan

A guide to Procurement Category Management

MORE PROCUREMENT ADVISORY INSIGHTS
Stefan Gassner

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Sometimes a 20 minutes chat is all you need to clarify your questions:

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