The Importance of Positioning Contract Managers as Contract Management Professionals

Jim Bergman

Contract management plays a pivotal role in maintaining seamless operations, ensuring compliance, and mitigating risks. Despite its significance, contract management is sometimes treated as a secondary role or an added responsibility rather than a dedicated profession. This approach can lead to suboptimal outcomes and inefficiencies. Recognizing and appraising contract managers as contract management professionals – acknowledging that it is their “regular day job” – is crucial for both the employees and the organization.

Here’s why:

1. Expertise and Specialization

Contract management is a specialized field that demands a unique set of skills, knowledge, and expertise. When contract managers are assessed as professionals in their domain, it reinforces the importance of their specialized role. This recognition encourages continuous learning and mastery of contract management best practices, industry standards, and evolving regulations. In contrast, treating it as a secondary role dilutes the focus and can result in missed opportunities and costly errors.

2. Quality and Consistency

Ensuring that contract managers are evaluated based on their performance in contract management tasks fosters consistency and quality in contract administration. Dedicated contract management professionals are more likely to develop efficient processes, maintain meticulous records, and ensure compliance with contractual obligations. This leads to higher-quality outcomes, reduces risks, and enhances organizational credibility.

3. Accountability and Responsibility

When contract management is considered a primary role, it establishes clear accountability and responsibility. Contract managers are held to specific performance metrics and standards, which drive excellence and accountability. They take ownership of their role, knowing that their contributions directly impact the organization’s success. On the other hand, when contract management is seen as an ancillary duty, accountability becomes fragmented, and critical tasks may fall through the cracks.

4. Employee Motivation and Career Growth

Assessing contract managers as professionals in their field boosts employee morale and motivation. It signals to them that their expertise is valued and recognized, which in turn fosters a sense of pride and commitment. Moreover, a clear and structured career path for contract management professionals provides growth opportunities, making the role more attractive and rewarding. This helps to retain top talent and reduce turnover rates.

5. Strategic Contribution

Contract managers play a strategic role in the organization by negotiating favorable terms, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring that contracts align with business goals. When they are appraised as contract management professionals, it underscores their strategic importance and allows them to contribute more effectively to the organization’s objectives. Their insights and expertise can drive better decision-making and create competitive advantages.

6. Enhanced Collaboration

Recognizing contract management as a primary profession fosters better collaboration within the organization. Contract managers can work more effectively with legal, procurement, finance, and other departments, ensuring that all parties are aligned and working towards common goals. This collaborative approach leads to more cohesive and efficient contract management processes.

7. Risk Mitigation

Contracts are often fraught with potential risks, including legal disputes, financial penalties, and compliance issues. Professional contract managers are adept at identifying, assessing, and mitigating these risks. By ensuring that contract managers are evaluated based on their expertise and performance in their primary role, organizations can better safeguard against potential pitfalls and navigate complex contractual landscapes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, treating contract management as a professional career rather than a secondary role is essential for optimizing organizational performance and achieving sustainable success. By assessing and appraising contract managers as dedicated professionals, businesses can harness the full potential of their expertise, drive quality and consistency, and foster a motivated and accountable workforce. This approach not only benefits the contract managers but also strengthens the organization’s overall contract management capabilities, leading to better outcomes and a competitive edge.

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Published by Jim Bergman

Jim Bergman is a commercial contract professional with global experience spanning the USA, Latin America, UK, Europe, China, South Korea, Japan, India, SE Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. He has worked on a wide range of direct and indirect spend categories in numerous sectors, developing a deep knowledge of services, goods and technology procurement and sales. Across this wide array of commodity and services experience, Jim has found the keys to success in maximizing value for money through customer-supplier relationships founded on innovative category management and strategic sourcing practices, key performance metrics and measures, as well as Total Cost of Ownership principles and collaborative contracting tenets. He has shared his knowledge through advisory engagements, as well as in developing and delivering training programs both on-line and in classrooms, in both open-enrollment and internal environments. Jim has assisted his clients through all phases and steps of contracting, negotiation, strategic sourcing and bidding processes, demonstrating value generation in excess of $250 million. His audiences and clients have included over 7,000 attorneys and commercial professionals students from over 1,000 corporations and public-sector entities.

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