REAL CHEMISTRY
CREDIT: CHARLIE CHALKIN
That meant earning a seat at the table in conversations about expansion, acquisition and growth – not just being called in to consolidate contracts after the fact.
Rethinking the culture of procurement Ontonia describes the traditional perception of procurement as one that is defined by caution and restriction.
“ The misnomer in procurement is that we’ re a back-end function, and that there’ s always a way to say no,” she says.“ With our team, we aren’ t that. We’ re exactly the opposite.”
Her approach to changing that perception is rooted in relationships. She insists that her team be known by name all across the organisation.
For Ontonia, the people that her team supports have to feel comfortable reaching out, and they should feel that procurement is a partner, not an obstacle.
“ If the teams you’ re supporting don’ t know your name, or they don’ t know what makes you tick, you’ re not building a true partnership,” she says.“ You have to be a human.”
That emphasis on relationship-building extends to the company’ s external partners as well. Ontonia meets with most of Real Chemistry’ s vendors at least once a quarter. The agenda, she says, is not simply what they can do for the business, but what Real Chemistry can do for them.
“ I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that we have to be a good partner,” she explains.
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