If you don’t define your spend culture values, your people will do it for you. Allowing others to set your course is very troublesome. Their vision and ideas may not be compatible with yours. If you are not setting the parameters within which to work then your employees will not know what you are looking for. Giving them something tangible to work with will allow them to measure what they are managing and how well they are doing it.
An organization’s spend culture is often directly related to the velocity of its growth. How your spend culture plays out in the daily workings of you business depends on many factors, such as risk tolerance, engagement levels, experience and values of the people involved in operating the business and making spend decisions. This can be the difference between progressive growth or one that stagnates.
Spend decisions directly impact business agility. A business naturally evolves away from simplicity and towards complexity. Both innovation and flexibility require a degree of spending fluidity.
A tactical spend culture makes spending strategic. In order to execute effectively, teams need a vision and strategy that are aligned. Knowing where you want your organization to go and how you’re going to get there helps you select the proper people to bolster your vision.
Companies need to trust that their people are making the best decisions. Understanding the values that those decisions are based on are what is necessary to achieve true alignment of vision.