Circular commissioning – a circular way of working throughout your organisation
In recent years, the focus has begun to shift from the Purchasing department to the organisation as a whole. In other words, to circular commissioning. This requires not only policies and procedures, but internal ambassadors as well, who can provide encouragement to colleagues.
The circular procurement task of the whole organisation
’To be a circular client, you must implement the circular way of working throughout the organisation. Circular commissioning is not just about procurement, but also about operations,’ argues Carola Wijdoogen of Sustainability University, a platform that connects experts in sustainability.
This means that the role of procurement is shifting. Purchasers still guide the procurement process, but in addition, they also provide steering based on substantive performance. ‘But, purchasers can only do that if their own organisation gives them the right mandate. Proper internal assignment and management are crucial.’
Sara Rademaker of Circular Support (consultancy for governments in the transition to sustainable and circular commissioning) has extensive experience with public organisations, including the Utrecht, Zeist and Rotterdam local authorities, Staatsbosbeheer and the PIANOo expertise centre. Sara explains, ‘Circular procurement should be an organisational objective, not a procurement objective.’
According to Sara, this can only work if you follow these three steps:
- Formulate a clear ambition from the management;
- Translate that ambition into policy objectives;
- With that, create a concrete strategy at project level.
What type of leader do you need?
Being a circular client doesn’t just happen. Sara explains, ‘If you want to work on circular procurement across the organisation, you need a combination of formal and informal leaders. A combination of clear direction from the management together with internal ambassadors who can carry colleagues with them.’
Formal leadership is about internal assignment as a starting point for circular procurement and about policies and procedures that ensure that circularity is actually accomplished. ‘Organising formal leadership is an important step in many organisations,’ explains Hans Bloemendaal, who is responsible for circular commissioning at PIANOo. ‘Purchasers often have an executive role. As such, it’s important that they are allowed to make decisions on introducing circular principles and to challenge the market on them too.’
Informal leadership is about those on the shop floor taking their own initiative. These people exist in all organisations – purchasers or project managers with an intrinsic motivation to improve the world. ‘You shouldn’t underestimate the importance of enthusiasts like these,’ Sarah continues. ‘They are internal ambassadors who can can help to encourage other colleagues. Flipped around, colleagues can come to them with questions, so there’s no loss of momentum.’
Ratio of formal to informal leaders
What mixture of formal and informal leadership works best? The ratio between the two depends on the culture and management that exists within an organisation:
- With a centralised management model: more formal leadership is needed, with monitoring and reporting.
- With a decentralised management model: informal leadership plays a greater role, with internal ambassadors driving colleagues.
’In either case, it’s important that departments feel that the circular ambitions of leaders are also their own. If that feeling is absent, the topic will drop off the table quite quickly,’ Sara concludes.
The power of an advocate
A temporary advocate can help to both organise formal leadership and to encourage informal leadership. ‘An advocate makes it clear to teams what can be achieved, either by adapting their work processes or by actually working with them in their fields. That’s how you create forward motion.’
If an advocate comes from outside the organisation, he or she will often know the market better than the internal organisation. ‘If you want your organisation to drive the circular transition from procurement, it is important to know how far along the specific markets are in the transition to circular working,’ explains Carola.
’Each phase requires a different approach, with the phase differing by product category.’ An advocate from outside can help the organisation to choose the right approach and thus create an example of success.
But, an example of success alone is not sufficient. It is crucial that you share the results and good examples within the organisation. ‘In my experience, colleagues automatically want to do more as soon as they know what they can achieve,’ Sara concludes.
Collective responsibility
By taking the step from circular procurement to circular commissioning, you make the whole organisation responsible for its circular ambitions. This collective responsibility requires a different way of working, from director to project manager and from purchasing advisor to contract manager.
‘Once you start to professionalise circular commissioning, you’re really starting to take your circular ambitions seriously,’ explains Hans. ‘Project teams not only get more flexibility to pursue it internally, but externally as well. That way, they can challenge market parties to improve circular performance.’
