Competence of buyers as perceived by purchasing managers

In our previous post, we touched on the new competencies required of buyers. This time we will consider how the new competence challenges are assessed by purchasing managers. Are purchasing departments ready for the new challenges? Or is there still much to be done in this area? The Deloitte Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey 2018 provides excellent material for analysis.

New powers for buyers

Purchasing departments are not ready for new challenges

Only 49 per cent of those surveyed agreed that their teams had the competencies to achieve the goals set for purchasing departments. It is noteworthy that respondents have never rated the level of preparedness of their teams so highly before. However, it cannot be overlooked that the percentage of respondents who answered in the affirmative is the highest in the history of the survey at 49%. However, this is not a result that allows us to look to the future with optimism.

What areas are likely to cause the biggest problems? Participants in the survey indicated that the biggest skills gaps would be in:

• innovation to ensure competitive advantage,
• digital transformation.

On the other hand, among the areas rated best, respondents mentioned:

• cooperation with external parties and other departments of the company,
• delivering the expected results.

This is a source of positive impact of purchasing on the operation of companies and results, among other things, in the development of commercial partnerships with suppliers and good results in the area of generating savings. This makes purchasing departments strong points in their organisations.

New challenges and training budgets

Survey respondents recognise the need to change traditional employee training and talent development programmes. However, despite the enormous challenges, 72 per cent of survey participants allocate no more than 2 per cent of their budgets to training. While there has been very dynamic growth in this area, it is fair to say that investment in competence enhancement is still insufficient.

Even more interesting are the figures for the development of technological competence. It turns out that only 16 per cent of those surveyed are developing this area among their employees.

At Eveneum, we believe that any company is only as effective as its weakest element. That is why we offer effective methods for improving purchasing competence, which makes it possible to improve every aspect of your business. We look forward to working with you.