Government & Public Services

Procurement Skills Academy and Coaching - UK County Council

Requirement to transform Procurement into a strategic capability
£600m of annual external expenditure
Little segmentation of expenditure into defined categories
No structured approach to the management of talent and no evidence of skills development within the team
Need to reduce cost base and improve management of complex categories
Need to improve procurement processes and practices

Completed a skills assessment amongst the group using an on-line profile and semi-structured interviews
Designed and implemented a strategic sourcing process that aligned to existing governance and approvals
Developed and implemented a competence framework aligned to roles
Developed a learning academy including courses in law, finance, negotiation, sourcing, contract management and commercial awareness
Trained 60 people in Procurement and another 60+ across the broader stakeholder community

Consistent ways of working
Developed a 3-year group development plan to target investment and training
Improved overall level of knowledge in strategic procurement and related competences
Embedded on-line category management tool
Supported the roll-out of the new process with short 1-day workshops on live category projects
Identified benefits of around £10-12m across 3 key categories

£40m of external expenditure
Poor process controls
Inefficient and ineffective procure-to-pay processes with 90% of orders placed on receipt of invoice
Unknown risks and concerns over compliance to the law
Suppliers not actively managed and known contract issues

Assessment of procurement capability across the organisation
Facilitated workshops to collect views and opinions, understand problem areas to help develop solutions
Developed a detailed plan to address capability gaps and recommendations for a transformation including changes to structure, role and process
Developed new role descriptions, processes, tools and templates

Newly defined category based role for the Procurement organisation
Clearly defined pipeline of work based upon detailed opportunity analysis
Better identification and management of in-contract risks
Clarity amongst contract owners on the application of the law
Procure-to-pay process changed to ensure all POs raised prior to receipt of goods/services

Requirement to transform Procurement and Commissioning into a more forward thinking and category led organisation
£250m of external expenditure
Little segmentation of expenditure into well-defined categories
Anticipated skills development needs
Need to reduce costs to support Council targets

Worked with the category teams to define strategies in three key identified category areas and identified opportunities
Delivered training in category management and supplier performance management to around 50 people

Completed an assessment of existing capability informed by contract owners’ opinions, practices and needs using a semi-structured questionnaire
Facilitated workshops to collect views and opinions, understand the problem areas and formulate potential solutions
Developed new processes, tools and templates
Recommendations for learning around 14 areas of competence