My colleagues do not respect the role my department plays
Also review the leadership in all the branches and ensure that the reporting lines are clear and have the branch manager take charge of the respective branch to reduce interference. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- You need to take charge and ensure the rest of the organisation understands what your mandate is and how this contributes to the overall strategy of the hotel.
- Organise a team forum and invite all the representatives of the branches, the aim to understand the challenges of each team. In the forum, discuss and formulate a strategy in line with the larger organisation strategy.
Q. I work for the procurement department of an international hotel chain.
This department has a bad history of disruptions and interference from other departments. It is almost impossible to succeed under these circumstances.
What can I do to turn things around?
You did not mention the post you hold, hence in answering this question, I will assume you are the manager in charge of procurement. You need to take charge and ensure the rest of the organisation understands what your mandate is and how this contributes to the overall strategy of the hotel. Organise a team forum and invite all the representatives of the branches, the aim to understand the challenges of each team. In the forum, discuss and formulate a strategy in line with the larger organisation strategy.
Discuss this draft procurement strategy with your CEO and executive managers and ensure finance and HR are involved. This is because there may be need for finance or more manpower or requirement for capacity building for the existing resource.
Also seek feedback from the heads of department on areas of improvement that they would like to see from procurement and discuss the actions that must be taken to succeed, taking into consideration feedback from other stakeholders.
Once you have the buy-in of all the managers and other key stakeholders, organise a team session with all the staff in all the branches at all levels to give direction on implementation.
Also review the leadership in all the branches and ensure that the reporting lines are clear and have the branch manager take charge of the respective branch to reduce interference. Create boundaries and a service desk in each of the branches so that there is less disruption between departments. You could also introduce a tracker to check when requests are sent and duration it takes to implement to gauge responsiveness of each branch.
There might be team members who do not support the changes in the department, so make an effort to have everybody on board and induct them into new ways of working.
All the best as you strive to restore the image of your department.
