Buyers’ competences according to the leaders

In the previous post, we raised the subject of new competencies that are required from buyers. This time, we will consider how the new challenges in development are assessed by the purchasing department managers. Are purchasing department’s employees ready for new challenges? Or maybe there is still a lot to do in this area? An excellent material for an analysis is provided by the “The Deloitte Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey 2018” survey.

Purchasing departments aren’t ready for new challenges

Only 49 percent of respondents admitted that their teams have competences that will enable them to achieve the goals set for purchasing departments. It is worth noting that the respondents have never rated the level of their teams’ preparation so highly. However, it can not be overlooked that the percentage of respondents who answered “yes” is the highest in the history of the study and is 49%. However, this is not a result that allows us to look into the future with optimism.

What areas can be the source of the biggest problems? Respondents in the study indicated that the greatest competency shortages will affect:

• innovations aimed at ensuring competitive advantage,
• digital transformation.

Among the areas with the highest rate respondents listed:

• cooperation with external entities and other departments of the Company,
• providing expected results.

This is a source of positive impact of purchasing on the entire company’s result, inter alia, in the development of commercial partnerships with suppliers and good results in generating savings. Ultimately, purchasing departments are the strong points of your organization.

New challenges vs. training budgets

The respondents recognize the need to change traditional training programs and talents development. However, despite the enormous challenges, 72 percent of study participants spend no more than 2 percent of their budgets on trainings. Although in this area very dynamic growth is observed, one can risk the claim that expenditures on improving competences are still insufficient.

Even more interesting is the data on the development of technological competence. It turns out that only 16 percent of respondents invests in developing employees in this area.

In Eveneum we believe that every company is only as effective as its weakest link. That is why we offer effective methods of improving purchasing competencies, thanks to which it is possible to improve every smallest aspect of business operations. We invite you to cooperation.