Undervalued? Underpaid

[From iSource Business, December 2000] In the still-idealistic 1960s, the Kingsmen sang, "The best things in life are free, but you can keep them for the birds and bees. I want money."

And while such a mercenary approach is probably a little too Wall Street to be mentally healthy, the bottom line is that money matters.

Job satisfaction, teamwork and shaping a company's future are all great for warming the heart, but they do precious little when it comes to warming the condo. Just try mailing in a wad of job satisfaction the next time the VISA bill comes and see how nicely the folks at the bank treat you.

Luckily, help is on the way. To help you learn the facts and formulate a battle plan for staking your company's claim in the Great Gold Rush, iSource Business spoke with key players in the e-procurement field, from corporate executives to a purchasing veteran. Here's what we found.

The Case for Cash

It's sometimes difficult for the average employee to approach the boss and ask for a raise. One can feel like a member of the Oz quartet approaching the Wizard's intimidation chamber. Worse, employees often end up arguing points that are hard to quantify. How does a groundskeeper, for example, actually prove to his boss that the healthy greens on the golf course are the result of his botanical expertise and not just an especially rainy summer?

But the times are indeed changing. Jim Tyson, director of purchasing for Pier1 Imports, says, "I've seen an increased or enhanced status for purchasing." The reason? "We basically spend the company's money. And they've never looked at us as a potential profit center or a way to generate revenue. But that's beginning to change, and I think it's partly because the purchasing profession as a whole is emphasizing the fact that every dollar we can save by effective purchasing, after we've covered our department's operating costs, goes straight to the bottom line. In sales, only a tiny piece of it gets there. I think the purchasing profession as a whole has done a pretty good job in the last four or five years of pushing that idea, and upper management is beginning to pick up on that."

But even with this shift in perspective, knowing the facts behind your argument is critical. As an old saying goes, "The fewer clear facts you have in support of an opinion, the stronger your emotional attachment to that opinion." And emotion does not belong at the bargaining table. Right now the facts, for a purchaser, are good