“If you can't understand how procurement affects the ultimate end users in your organization, whether it's a state prison, or whether it's a manufacturing facility in Germany, then you're abdicating your role, you're just a robot. And that's why procurement has a superpower?” - David Yarkin, CEO, Procurated
Procurement teams pushing for transformation and increased efficiency often face one critical challenge that has nothing to do with process or technology: communication. Without effectively communicating procurement’s vision to leadership and across the organization, even the best strategies fail to gain traction.
In this Art of Procurement podcast episode, I speak with David Yarkin, CEO of Procurated and former Chief Procurement Officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, about how his unique background as a press secretary enabled him to harness the power of communication to transform Pennsylvania's procurement operation and save hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. David shares the powerful communication strategies that helped him overcome organizational resistance, gain executive support, and fundamentally change how procurement was perceived across state government.
Here, in David's own words, are some insightful moments from our conversation:
The Power of Communication in Procurement
"If I had to give one recommendation to the procurement industry in general, it's to put your procurement leaders and your high potential up-and-coming leaders through some kind of a communications class. It's so valuable... It teaches you very quickly how to do sort of that damage control communications, but more importantly, how to use the microphone as a lever to advance your objectives and your organization's objectives."
Creating Visibility for Procurement's Impact
"We had to get out in front of it and talk about the real value of what we were doing to the citizens of the state, so that when there was pushback from some vendors or industry groups, we were already ahead of it, communicating big picture about why what were doing was so important to the taxpayers of the state."
Making Procurement Newsworthy
"Because procurement is not something that most political beat reporters are anxious to cover, they'd rather cover some big splashy press conference with the governor or a conflict, we had to find ways to invent, or to create, make something newsworthy... I knew if we brought Michael Dell to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at a press conference, we would get the entire statewide press corps to cover it."
Understanding End User Needs Firsthand
"The one thing I knew was what I didn't know... I took my leadership team one day a month to spend a day on site with one of our agencies. I let the agencies choose where we would go. So we spent a day in the Camp Hill, Pennsylvania prison. And we really understood what are the things that are really putting pressure on the staff at the prison."
Connecting Procurement to Executive Priorities
"You need to understand the priorities of your CEO. Then you need to help them understand how procurement is a strategic partner to help them accomplish those goals, whatever they are. And then, after you've started to do that, you can't stop. Every single week we would send updates to the governor about how our work in government efficiency was supporting his broader objectives."
Putting All Your Eggs in One Supplier Basket
"Eight months into the contract, I got word that the vendor we had selected, that we put all of our proverbial eggs in their basket, pardon the pun, all of a sudden announced to us they could no longer support the state. And they were going to pull out of the contract, which left us in a horrible position... I like to think that if I had seen all these dots and had visibility into all these dots from the beginning, I would have seen them. I would have connected the dots."
Going Beyond Process
"If you can't understand how procurement affects the ultimate end users in your organization, whether it's a state prison, or whether it's a manufacturing facility in Germany, then you're abdicating your role, you're just a robot. And that's why procurement has a superpower. But it only exists if we can understand how we are true partners and enablers and catalysts for the people who are using our contracts to get their important jobs done."
Making Your Leadership Part of Procurement Success
"Make your CEO a part of your procurement reform initiatives. That way, they're sort of in some ways boxed in to continue to support it... Don’t just tell your leadership things are great. Do great things and give them something to brag about to their leadership... Make them feel like it's their success, not yours."
