Persan - People First

Persán – people first

It is key to have talented people and if talent and strategy go hand in hand the result is outstanding. The limit of a In association with company is where the limit of its people are.

Ana Dias Chief Procurement Officer

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Leadership | Persán

Persán – people first P

ersán is Spanish family-owned business, founded in 1941, with an operations presence in 3 countries, Spain, France and Poland. The company has grown substantially in the last couple of years and is now a leader in Europe in the development and manufacture of home care and personal care products. Persán has a clear goal which is to became one of the world’s leading companies in the home care sector whilst keeping the culture of the simplest multinational in the world.

Rapid growth and big ambitions meant that Persán needed to add outside knowledge to develop a structure and culture that can support and go beyond these goals. Ana Dias joined at the end of 2022 as the first Chief Procurement Officer from outside of the business. With extensive experience across

multi-nationals within the food and beverage sector Ana has been tasked with an exciting opportunity – revolutionise procurement.

Ana offers a great insight into what she has inherited, the ambition, the challenges, the opportunity, and the blue print.

Ana you joined Persan as CPO at a very interesting time in its history as it moves away from its traditional roots towards an exciting period of growth. As the first true outsider to head up the procurement function what was the opportunity at hand?

The opportunity is to build almost from scratch a next generation procurement operating model. The large multinationals I worked for before were very structured companies, with an established system of governance often with a firm bureaucracy,

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leading to lack of agility. In Persán I have the chance to rewrite the entire model and to adapt it to the new needs, not losing sight that Persán wants to be the simplest multinational in the world, so as not to lose agility, which is one of our advantages and which has allowed us to this tremendous growth.

The model needs to be sustainable and agile, to keep up with the growth, and scalable for the internationalisation strategy, increasing efficiency, building better supplier relationships and generate additional long-term cost savings for the business.

Also, the opportunity to lead a different kind of team. I’ve never led a full team of such young people before. I presently have a

team of which 88% is millennial generation and 12% is Gen Z. No X generation in the team, and this is not only a challenge for me but also an opportunity. An opportunity to share with them my learning journey, being able to transmit my experience, try to make a positive footprint in their life.

Mentor, provide guidance and support as they develop their skills, provide progress feedback. These young people are sponges, keen to learn, this is the moment to engage them to embrace procurement.

But also, I see it as an opportunity to learn from them. Learn different skills and to also develop other skills that were not so important to me until now, understand their different perspective of the world, what moves them and why, and mainly, see their development and growth.

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Leadership | Persán

Processes and digitalisation are not the key for success. People are.

Ana Dias Chief Procurement Officer

The Business Profile

Persan’s symbol is a butterfly, which could not be more appropriate for the transformation project that is taking place across the organisation. An authentic metamorphose, a change of mindset, as everyone beginning with the family, is looking ahead to became one of the world’s leaders in the home care sector.

Of course, I also inherited a different business, as I came from the food industry.

Although similar in what concerns stakeholders, markets, clients, and dynamics but unfamiliar in what concerns raw and packaging materials portfolio. So, for me it is also a learning process and a challenge to get familiar with the chemical industry and its particularities.

What did you inherit on day one?

I have inherited a team of young people, resilient and very committed, with a great desire to learn and develop in a procurement role, who were doing excellent work and with good results, but still a very transactional department without clear and defined processes, working under pressure as all procurement departments, focused on the urgent and not the priority, without setting procurement strategies, just putting out fires every day.

Also, a low level of digitalisation which also concerns procurement tools, albeit the IT department had made tremendous progress, it had no yet reached procurement, and also like most companies a business where the focus is selling not buying.

In short, a department with good results but with fantastic potential to develop and provide even more value to the company, eager to show that they still have a lot to give, but also due to lack of clear and written processes and policies, digitalization, and a scalable and organized structure, under prepared to face the growth of the internationalization in a smooth, organised and sustainable way.

Yet, I also must say that I have found in the company a willingness to change the ways of working and a strong committed team at all levels.

So, it is fair to say that the function needed a refresh. What steps did you identify as you started the transformation?

Yes, it is fair to say that the function needed a refresh, but it is also fair to say that it would be impossible to multiply by two the results in the last couple years without a strong team behind. The truth is that procurement functions in general need a refresh as we have now new generations arriving into the job market, with different perspectives than the ones we had before.

Different skills and different motivations.

As I have a young team it is natural that the ways of working also have to be adapted to these new profiles, in order to engage them.

I have identified three major steps for the transformation, People, Processes and Digitalisation, in this order of priority.

People are core to make sure everything works. Without interest and compromise from their side it will be difficult for new processes and digitalisation to work, 5

Leadership | Persán as I think the best way to achieve robust processes and useful digitalisation is to make people part of the process, this will also help to engage them. If we want to be agents of change we need to engage our teams to be part of it, and think as a team what we can do differently to get better results.

In my opinion, to have clear and written procedures, facilitates not only the daily work, but the onboarding of new members and also allows the entire organisation to know how we work in order to improve synergies between departments and agility, in addition to everyone knowing the workflow and who does what and when.

Processes and digitalisation are not the key for success. People are.

Of course, digitalization now plays an important role in the business. Although there is no magic technology solution that will perfectly integrate your full needs, the use of technology to optimise and automate procurement processes and workflows is a must, as it streamlines routine tasks and leaves more time to spend in strategic topics, AI and chat

Although the Procurement Governance was clear, and some of the processes were in place, there was the need to write them and take them to another level, given they have been created for a small company, not a multinational company.

A FILM ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY

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GPT are now the most trendy topics in procurement, along with sustainability.

How much have your previous experiences influenced your approach?

As part of my previous role, I had the privilege of managing a global team made up of individuals of different nationalities, spanning different time zones and languages. The first thing I’ve learned is that we have to accept cultural differences, the second important thing is that, you need to understand, you need to listen and create an inclusive culture.

Team members from different regions have unique communication styles, work preferences and cultural nuances.

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I’ve been a privileged person. Every day I contact people in different parts of the world, learning and teaching, explaining and listening and I can say that this diversity influenced a lot my approach, giving me the opportunity to develop as a leader and as a person.

Also, having worked in large multinationals, with defined governance and processes, being part of multicultural and transversal projects, also helped me to add value to this new challenge. We don’t always have to invent everything, sometimes you just need to apply what you learned.

Furthermore, I have learned in my previous experiences, that to make a difference in

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Our products, developed by the R&D team with and for our customers, are made with excellence to offer the best performances in many different applications: from household detergents packaging for ADW and laundry to Personal Care and Cosmetics, from Solid Surface to Water Transfer Printing and many more.

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Leadership | Persán the environment in which we operate, each person must seek the best of themselves, putting skills, abilities and attitudes into practice. Making a difference is within everyone’s reach, all it takes is attitude to get out of the ordinary.

Whilst the business continues its rapid phase of growth it is wrestling with a transition, this is as much a cultural issue as a physical one. What are the primary challenges from your perspective and what opportunities are born out of these challenges?

In my opinion, the primary challenges in the internationalisation process lay on two axes: people preparation and strategy. It

all starts with developing competence in formulating and implementing business and management strategy.

It is key to have talented people and if talent and strategy go hand in hand the result is outstanding.

The limit of a company is where the limit of its people are.

Prepare a team to face the growth Persán is facing is a tough job but is also a beautiful and gratifying job. How many dream of being part of a company with this growth and have the opportunity to grow professionally with it? Of course, growing pains are part of this growth but in return

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provide you with more knowledge and soft skills like resilience.

The second one, strategy, defines and drives the decisions, to achieve the goal, driven by growth and based on building revenues. Key for a company’s success.

When you are able to manage both, you open the door to countless opportunities.

The opportunity to work in an international team, that is also expanding, brings you a different perspective, elevated levels of creativity, vision, proactivity, and opportunism, and in my opinion this is a relevant topic to engage the new generations of procurement talent.

Also, procurement and supply chain strategies are unique based on your business requirements, and you need to develop them specifically for the locations you wish to expand. This includes studying the local trade regulations, external influences, existing supply chain, and local material availability. You need to proactively and closely align with business priorities and requirements to anticipate and react to current and future opportunities, and, most part of the time, to get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. Being a procurement professional for over 13 years, where tactical work is the most common, I find very attractive and a great opportunity to be challenged and be able

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Our aim is to offer our clients comprehensive solutions: we design, develop and build molds in our own tool shop. As an experienced producer and moldmaker, Rosinski Packaging offers a wide range of possibilities and technologies to expand the product portfolio: n Extrusion n Injection stretch n Injection molding (EBM) blow molding (ISBM) molding (IM) Our packaging products are supplied to customers from various market segments: n Cosmetics n Food n Home care n Pharmaceuticals Thanks to many years of experience and expertise, we guarantee the compliance with the highest technical, quality and sustainability standards.

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Leadership | Persán to get out of the comfort zone. Everything I have done that has made me proud of my achievements was outside what I would have been comfortable doing.

As business pressures continue to elevate, the more exciting it is to work in the procurement area.

Transformation revolves around people, processes, and technology. One of your big focuses in this early phase is people.

Creating a team, arming them with the skills and capabilities required, and

It is key to have talented people and if talent and strategy go hand in hand the result is outstanding.

The limit of a company is where the limit of its people are.

retaining them, is a big challenge. How are you approaching this?

This is the most difficult challenge. In addition to facing a market where the shortage of procurement professionals is a reality, in a country where fluency in English is scarce but essential for a role in a global team, also the young and new generations are a challenge for procurement area, as they see it as a transaction function, no appealing.

As I said before, I have a new generation team. New generations have a different personality, different ambitions and what

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they value in their life and job is completely different from previous generations who are still the vast majority in the organisations.

Arming the team with the skills and capabilities required involves having a mix of profiles. Profiles with more seniority that bring experience, and younger profiles that you can train and who bring interactivity, a strong tendency towards entrepreneurship, dynamism, innovation and creativity, but also a constant search for new challenges and the absence of fear in taking risks, including changing jobs as a new normal.

To retain these new generations, there are some musts like flexibility, training, career plans, which is one of the most valued things for Y and Z generations, as they want quick professional and financial growth; digital tools, as they do not like to perform administrative tasks; you have to give them meaningful work, as they have to feel that what they do must contribute to a better planet, social causes, sustainability; freedom to propose ideas and present projects.

So, we are working on these new requirements to ensure we can attract and retain the talent we need for our growth while we are also searching the job market for profiles with more procurement seniority.

As procurements influence grows within the organisation the path of opportunity and what is achievable becomes much clearer. One such area of interest is

moving from a transactional to a strategic function. What are the ambitions to work collaboratively with suppliers in the future?

Has any progress been made on this? Are there already high levels of participation at the top end of the supply chain?

The development of strategic alliances and collaboration with suppliers is key to strengthening not only the resilience of the supply chain but also growth and business continuity.

Supply chains are very stressed due to geopolitical challenges, climatic changes, production bottlenecks and new ESG requirements. We went from a VUCA to a BANI world, and this is the new normal, in which to predict disruptions instead of reacting to them is key. It has never been more essential to have an agile and resilient value chain to try to control the uncontrollable and, at the same time, cover the legal and strategic requirements, and achieve good value for money. For that, we have to make sure the relation with our suppliers does not end once a contract has been signed but evolves through the contracting life cycle.

The progress made so far is a structure based in on a Category Management Center of Excellence, which includes methodologies, tools and templates that drive efficiency, consistency and results. If you are able to combine with a category manager skill set, deep category knowledge, market intelligence and spend analytics, you will have less stress in your supply chain.

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Leadership | Persán A significant part of category management work is supplier relationship management, which we have included in our procurement model as a process, including how and when it is important to hold regular review meetings where both parties seek to understand how they can make the contract perform better and that promotes improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. This process helps to determine the value each supplier provides, and which ones are most critical to business continuity and performance. It also enables category managers to cultivate better relationships with suppliers based on each supplier’s importance.

It is vital that the category manager or the buyer keeps managing the supplier and deals with problems as and when they arise, but it is also key is to address problems when they are still minor and therefore easier to resolve.

Clearly, operating models increasingly require a resilient supply chain, and for these, procurement models need to be more agile, flexible and, above all, adaptive.

In short, I can say that yes, there are already high levels of participation at the top end of the supply chain.

The transformation and reshaping of procurement at Persan whilst continued rapid growth in sales will be a big challenge, but will of course offer the business a firm footing to go further than expected. What are your aspirations for the coming 12 months. What is the key to this ambition?

My aspirations for the coming 12 months are as big as Persán’s growth in recent years and in the years to come.

But my particular ambition is to lead my team to achieve the level of a high performance team.

Also, as organisations around the world are experiencing radical changes in their operations accompanied by the different demands of their interest groups, CPOs are now masters of complexity due to supply risk disruption, climate changes, trade wars, digital disruption, talent shortage, new regulations, mega suppliers power, ESG requirements. My ambition is that Persán manages to navigate all this complexity in the smoothest way possible, while heading to the ‘One Billion Project’, and for this to be possible, it is key that procurement and all stakeholders navigate in the same direction.

The key to this ambition, lays in having the right people in the right place, adapting to changes as it occurs always trying to predict them as much as possible, and proactively stay ahead of challenges.

As Robin Sharma said, “change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end”

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