What is a Procurement Academy?

A Procurement Academy is the term often used to describe a framework that can accommodate a package of learning, training, and development offerings in a Procurement organization. 

The framework will often be developed with the specific organization and procurement community in mind; taking into account any specific goals or targets such as driving more value, further optimization, or expansion of teams.

What might be included in a Procurement Academy can vary, although typically it could focus on professional training and qualification, E-learning, mentoring, coaching, and skills assessments. It is important for each Procurement organization to develop an Academy which is suitable for their needs and the focus should be on a “blended learning concept” to ensure flexible options which are adaptable to the team’s individual learning styles, preferences, and accessibility.

 

Why is the concept of Procurement Academies growing in popularity?

We have seen growth and popularity increase over the past 5-6 years, this is borne from the increasing development of typical corporate learning and development academies. Most organizations have started to roll out company-wide training environments which can host varied content, mainly in E-Learning formats to support mandatory requirements such as compliance and development-focused learning. Many Procurement organizations have started to adopt similar methods often using the same software or tools to suit their specific development and training requirements. There has also been a focus shift to ownership of personal development and leaders are seeing the value of developing centralized Procurement Academies as the hub for any individual’s journey.

It is now more important than ever to retain and develop strong personnel and therefore higher focus is being placed on development and progression, having a strong framework to support this key. 

 

The 70-20-10 Model for Learning and Development 

Procurement learning models are typically aligned to that of the 70-20-10 model – holding that individuals obtain 70% of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20% from interactions with peers, and 10% from educational events. It is important to consider how this fits with the design of any Procurement Academy Framework.

The model is considered to be of greatest value as a general guideline. It can be used to maximize the effectiveness of learning and development and organizations need to ensure that their academies can adapt to ensure the effectiveness of learning and development through formal learning and other activities and inputs. 

 

Coaching and Mentoring

Following the learning model above, this leans well toward the benefits of coaching and mentoring schemes being included in the framework. 

Coaching typically can focus on specific areas of skills and knowledge development and this can be handled internally or externally. An example might be an experienced coach teaching a group of junior buyers to develop negotiation skills and techniques over a defined period with clear learning paths.

Mentoring on the other hand typically will be a long process and involves more senior employees working with individuals or groups, say over a 6-month period with regular check-ins and 1:1s to monitor progress. Mentoring could be a worthwhile consideration where there is a focus on development and growth in line with the business and the individual’s career path long term. Reverse mentoring should also be considered where senior employees are coached by more junior staff (an example might be in Digital Skills) – remember seniority does not give a free pass for upskilling or developing!

 

What should Procurement Academies focus on to achieve good results?

A good place to start in any learning and development journey is to focus on skills analysis to identify any particular gap in learning as well as individual development targets. It is important that the Procurement Academy can support planning for any particular activity such as training, coaching, or on-the-job learning. Online E-learning platforms can provide a good basis to develop the framework around this – however, it is important to make sure that the particular platform is suitable and adaptable to ensure it does not reduce the academy to a static knowledge portal.

Procurement leaders should consider the 70-20-10 model when developing their frameworks and not solely focus on formal training but also consider the ability to learn internally through mentoring or coaching. 

 

What is required to start building an effective Procurement Academy?

• A Capability Framework – should describe the range of skills and proficiency levels relevant to the specific role, category, or location. Having a common landscape across the organization is key to defining needs and targets. 

• Be up to Date – Learning and Development teams need to ensure they are up to date with current trends, skills gaps, and the right tools and methods which are effective to meet those development needs. Teams should focus on not only generic third-party approaches but apply real-life category experience to achieve good results. 

• The Right Platform – The selection of the right learning tools and platforms is key, it needs to be flexible and suitable for the ever-changing needs of the teams and business – the content ideally should be a mix of external and internal – procurement team targets that could include content development, which can then focus on procurement process development and this can be rewarded and recognized.

• Culture of Ownership – As we have explored, individual ownership is important! Each individual needs to take ownership of their own needs, targets, and career progression. Organizations need to ensure they breed this culture and provide the right tools and resources to support this method. 
• Objectives – An effective Procurement Academy should ensure alignment of the organizational objectives and match this to future skills and profiles