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The relationship between a manager and an employee can have a significant effect on the productivity of any procurement department. When a procurement employee is performing at their best, it aligns positively against business goals and department targets. Generally speaking, employee management can be split into three different areas: 1. Acquisition 2. Employee engagement and retention 3. Performance feedback and development For you to deliver the most elevated level of management a...

If you’re regularly replacing drivers, it’s time to assess your driver turnover rate. There are several ways to do this, including gathering annual turnover figures and comparing them to the industry average to get an idea of how your company is doing. Separate the data into voluntary and involuntary turnover to get a clearer picture of the extent to which the problem lies with the employee or you, as the employer. Fleet turnover is high, especially in the haulage industry, and m...

When you’re a busy fleet manager, and your drivers are distributed far and wide, it isn't always easy to build team rapport. On the surface, this may appear to be an unavoidable situation that doesn’t affect the team too much. But, when you look a little deeper, lack of rapport in your team could be costing your staff job satisfaction, resulting in poorer performance, and costing the company too. According to Forbes, 96% of employees believe showing empathy can improve staff t...

Procurement expenses can soon pile up over the year, from petrol costs to client lunches, so it’s important to look at your purchasing expenses and reduce them where needed, to remain within your budget. However, some procurement team expenses are essential for supplier relationship management and for ensuring an employee’s job can be executed correctly. We’ve put together five ways you can look at your current procurement expenses to help reduce costs, which won’t get in...

Why is Procurement Planning Important? The first stage of the procurement cycle is a procurement plan, which determines a timeline of what items will be procured and when based on the department's budget. It acts as a guiding pillar for any procurement team, keeping them on track to meet deadlines and from overspending in any way. If done effectively, there can be many benefits of procurement planning. Below, we have explained the top 5 advantages of procurement planning to help you appr...

Managing a fleet well is essential to running a successful fleet, but can be easier said than done. However, when you master managing a fleet, it has myriad benefits for your expenditure, fleet morale, productivity and efficiency. We break down the fleet management best practices in our Comprehensive Guide to Fleet Management, and in this blog post, we will focus in more detail on 10 fleet management tips. 1. Set Clear Processes and Policies Having clear and organised processes and po...

Procurement cost reduction is one of the best ways to make your procurement plan more efficient and ensures your business expenses remain within budget. There are many different purchasing cost reduction ideas that you can use to try and reduce the procurement costs within your department; however, you need to make sure you adopt methods that best suit your business and industry. Below, we have listed our top five procurement cost reduction ideas which we feel can help reduce costs regardless of...

Managing a fleet is difficult when the team you’re leading is dispersed geographically. While every fleet is different, it is likely to be rare that you’re all in the same place at once. Even though your drivers work independently, a sense of group cohesion is a crucial part of a successful team. So, what can you do to create a healthy team rapport when the drivers are passing ships? Unorthodox as it may sound, introducing team building activities days can be a gamechanger. Team b...

Establishing and maintaining a good relationship with suppliers can improve the financial health of your business and help you build a network of connections that underpin the business and its success. To develop a good relationship with a supplier, you need to invest time into the relationship, nurturing it from the very first conversation. Sometimes, procurement supplier relationship management can feel tiring as an immediate reward isn’t guaranteed. However, the benefits that can come f...

As a fleet safety manager, the mitigation of fleet risk is a top priority. Statistics show that in the year ending June 2019, 1,870 road fatalities were reported in the UK. With your employees on the road, you want to rest assured that you’re doing what you can to keep them safe. While this is a collective effort, there are some things you can do to mitigate fleet risk: Create a Thorough Fleet Policy When is the last time you reviewed and updated your fleet policy? Your fleet pol...