"Business partnering is what sets apart good procurement teams from great procurement teams, especially in indirect procurement... Those who are good at partnering with the business, they actually are able to excel." - Sasha Sergeev, Director of Technical & Corporate Procurement, Nova Chemicals
The most successful teams understand that stakeholder relationships and business partnership capabilities often determine their strategic impact more than any quantitative benchmark.
Sasha Sergeev, Director of Technical and Corporate Procurement at Nova Chemicals, leads a 100-person team managing $600 million in annual spend. Through a comprehensive transformation journey, Sasha has elevated his organization from good to great by focusing on the relationship-building and business partnering skills that separate high-performing procurement teams from the rest.
I had the opportunity to speak with Sasha at the Supply Chain Canada National Conference to discuss this and more. Here, in Sasha's own words, are some stand-out moments from our conversation:
The Feedback Imperative
"No matter how uncomfortable it is to get the feedback and read it, to me, this is the right starting point. Because then you really get to see what the challenges are... your benchmarks and quantitative analysis can say, ‘hey, everything is fine, we're doing well.’ But you may be missing a big elephant in the room, where everyone is talking behind your back, how difficult it is to work with procurement."
Strong quantitative performance can mask fundamental relationship problems that undermine procurement's effectiveness. Leaders must actively seek uncomfortable feedback to identify blind spots that traditional metrics never reveal.
The Procurement Perception Gap
"I've seen this interesting conundrum where the procurement team is beating their drum of how much value they deliver, the amount of savings they deliver, and how great they are. But if you go and talk to those that they support, you get a very different picture of how difficult it is to work with procurement, or how procurement is seen as a corporate ivory tower group."
This disconnect between internal self-perception and stakeholder reality represents one of procurement's most dangerous blind spots. Strong metrics can mask fundamental relationship problems that ultimately undermine long-term success.
Embracing Uncomfortable Feedback
"Don't tell me where we're doing great. Tell me where the problems are. Why? Because I want to know where we're coming short so that we can do something where we can improve."
True transformation requires leaders who actively seek difficult feedback rather than avoiding it. This mindset creates the foundation for meaningful change and demonstrates a genuine commitment to stakeholder service.
True Team Integration
"The success of the business partnering is not just to say, here's your procurement support, it's actually for the business to accept that this person is now part of our team."
Effective business partnering goes beyond assigned roles to achieve genuine integration within stakeholder teams. This acceptance transforms procurement from an external service provider to a trusted internal collaborator.
The Business Partner Mindset
"You are becoming their window or entry point into procurement, no matter what the question is... you take that question or an issue, and you go back to the entire procurement organization behind you and find the person who will help and you make sure that connections made and that issue is resolved."
Business partners must shift from ownership-based thinking to facilitation-focused service. This approach expands procurement's value beyond individual expertise to leverage the entire organization's capabilities for stakeholder benefit.
