Friday digest: Pay and Acquisitions

The results of two research surveys were released by Procurement Leaders this week, the findings of which CPOs will find of particular interest, while there is also news of an acquisition by KPMG.

News – Women in procurement paid 30% less than men

Research by the Procurement Intelligence Unit (PIU) found that women working in procurement earn an average of €83,000, compared to €118,000 earned by men.

The results were taken from a study of over 1,000 procurement professionals and on top of highlighting wage differences also found that men consistently earn higher bonuses.

The report suggested that the reasons for this disparity was to do with the ‘glass ceiling’ and Jon Webb, research analyst with the PIU, said "The procurement profession has long struggled to attract female talent, but this report shows that the function is not willing to pay women a fair wage.

If you want to increase the inclusiveness of the supply chain, you must give the same reward for the same work."

News – Procurement Intentions: CPOs target larger teams

The results of the June Procurement Intentions survey were released and showed that a growing number of CPOs are looking to hire more staff over the coming months.

31% of our Panel said that they intended to hire more staff over the next three months, with 64% seeing numbers remain the same and 5% indicating that numbers will fall.

In May 74% said that numbers would stay while 18% said that there would be an increase indicating the growing trend.

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News – KPMG acquires BrainNet

On the acquisition front, supply management and procurement consulting group BrainNet, has been acquired by KPMG in a deal that is expected to be completed towards the end of the summer.

KPMG is expected to create a Global Centre of Excellence, which will be run by current BrainNet CEO Christain Rast.

"We look forward to welcoming the BrainNet team to the KPMG global network," said Mark Goodburn, global head of advisory at KPMG International. "With the acquisition of BrainNet, KPMG will have an even greater depth of knowledge and global footprint to help member firm clients navigate their most complex supply chain challenges and opportunities."

Blog – What can you learn from salespeople?

In his weekly blog, US contributing editor Paul Teague, encouraged every CPO to read a book by Philip Delves Broughton entitled The Art of the Sale: Learning From the Masters About The Business of Life.

From it he says you can learn and understand the best characteristics of a salesperson that you’ll be able to carry into your own job, one of which is tenacity and the art of persuasion.