Executive Champion

From the beginning, executive management support is critical to developing a best practice card program, but the role is no less important as a program matures. As a program manager or administrator (PM/PA), are you actively engaging your champion to help enhance their role and prevent their support from waning? We know that executives have the power to make or break a card program, so keeping them involved is a must. Following is a look at what you can do, as well as examples of what the executive champion can do.

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Know Your Executive

You might be working with the same executive who approved the original implementation of a P-Card program or someone new. Either way, consider the following.

  • What is their current view of the program? 

  • Which aspects are most important to them?

  • What do they expect of you?

  • How often do they want to see a report of program progress?

  • How do they want to receive program updates?

  • Do they prefer details or summaries? Graphs can be a great way to provide at-a-glance information.

Inform Your Executive

Having a better understanding of your executive allows you to tailor your communications accordingly. Following are ways to keep him or her informed. In addition, occasionally verify if what you are providing is valuable and, if not, what you can do differently.

  • Report program status; for example, progress toward goals, comparisons to previous years, and missed opportunities (see also information on metrics).

  • Share P-Card best practices and how your organization compares.

  • Outline any issues and propose solutions.

  • Make suggestions regarding program improvement and/or expansion possibilities.

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The Ongoing Role of a Champion

An executive champion can directly execute and/or delegate the following actions. 

  1. Enforce cardholder and manager accountability, and demonstrate corrective action consistency across job levels.  

  2. Support training initiatives; for example, email participants about the importance of training and attend in-person sessions (if offered) from time to time.

  3. Promote the program; for example, encourage “lunch and learn” sessions, make P-Cards a topic at budget meetings, and introduce the P-Card program at new hire training.

  4. Routinely review program status; subsequently, this could mean asking questions of the PM/PA and participating in calls/meetings with the card provider.  

  5. Help steer the program; for example, endorse policy changes to expand card usage.

An active executive champion can take a program to the next level.