Today, I’m joined by Tim Meester. Tim is the Senior Director of Procurement and Sustainability for Best Buy, an almost forty billion dollar revenue provider of technology products, services, and solutions.
As I got to know Tim in our pre-interview, I was very impressed by his and his team’s efforts to deliver value beyond savings at Best Buy. We connected to discuss CSR and sustainability, but that is only the start for his team.
In today’s discussion, Tim shares the actions that Best Buy procurement is taking to expand the procurement value proposition and importantly, how Best Buy actually incentivizes their teams to enable them to focus on more than just cost savings alone.
“CSR is built into our goals in procurement. Many of our team members are already passionate about these topics but we do currently have twenty percent of our goals tied to corporate social responsibility efforts, and specifically, to tangible results that come out of those efforts. People are learning that it’s an essential aspect of what we do in procurement. And, you know, I don’t think we’d have it any other way”
In this episode, you will learn:
- Tim’s key to hiring – look for people passionate about what they do.
- What Tim recommends procurement professionals do to stand out from the crowd.
- Why it is important to expand procurement’s value proposition.
- The value of staying current on disruptions and innovations within your supply markets.
- The importance of sustainability to Best Buy.
- Examples of specific indirect categories that provide great opportunities to implement sustainability while also reducing cost.
Links and Resources:
- Subscribe to the Art of Procurement podcast.
- Tim Meester on LinkedIn
- SPLC Summit
