PERMANENT TSB

RACHEL DOLAN HEAD OF PROCUREMENT , PERMANENT TSB

The significant savings delivered by Project Titan meant that it had also succeeded in another vital area : changing the perception of procurement within the bank . Now , it is no longer viewed as an administrative function but as the bank ’ s preferred partner in driving competitive and strategic advantages through data-driven cost control .

The programme followed a three-phase delivery roadmap over 12 months : Waves 1 and 2 comprised 34 initiatives , while PTSB expects a further € 2mn in savings from Wave 3 .

To meet the challenge , the joint PTSB-Efficio procurement team got their collective shoulder behind the ‘ One Team , One Target ’ ethos . This partnership approach saw both parties jointly define strategic recommendations and deliver against the targets .

“ The delivery model was not typical of a consulting engagement ,” says Dolan . “ It is more usual for consultancy services to be advisory , with the client executing on recommendations . But , with Efficio , we established a supportive , trusting relationship , and the two procurement teams presented as a single collaborative function to the wider business .”

That the project was delivered midpandemic , with all parties working remotely , makes the achievement all the more impressive . But COVID-19 was not the only challenge . To be successful , Project Titan also had to win over PTSB staff .

“ Most colleagues were not cost-conscious at that time , and they saw Project Titan as a threat , rather than a means of support for them to reach their own objectives ,” says Dolan .

To persuade the doubters , Project Titan leaders worked hard to first understand , and then realign , the prevailing corporate mindset .

“ Through a range of stakeholder interviews , we gained a clearer picture of the biggest pain points ,” says Dolan . “ Bringing the business along on the transformation journey was vital to its success .”

She says that because Titan leaders involved stakeholders , the changes they introduced “ felt familiar , and the business developed a greater appreciation of procurement ”. Key to this process were a number of strategies , one of which was proactive outreach across different areas of the bank .

“ This meant we were able to develop a pipeline of procurement initiatives , which allowed us to mobilise the resources we needed to deliver on our need to source strategically .” Dolan says these new ways of working are now embedded across the Bank and that they will be finessed as the ongoing relationship with Efficio continues to evolve .

She also explains that says the collaboration has delivered improvement to PTSB ’ s procurement function in areas , including :

• IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE “ Efficio subject-matter experts were available on demand across different initiatives ,” says Dolan . “ We leveraged their internal benchmarks so we had ‘ shouldcost ’ benchmarks for supplier negotiations .”

94 October 2022