Procurement training and development
Generic procurement training is expensive entertainment. People enjoy the two days, rate it well, and return to doing exactly what they did before, because nothing about their work changed.
The problem this solves
Training is bought by topic rather than by gap. The category everyone requests gets the budget, while the capability that is actually holding the function back goes unaddressed because nobody has measured it.
A buyer and a category manager sit in the same session measured against the same bar, so the content is simultaneously too advanced for one and too basic for the other, and neither leaves able to do something new.
There is no assessment before or after, so the only evidence of value is a satisfaction score collected while the coffee was still warm.
What we actually do
The steps, in the order we run them.
Measure the baseline
We assess capability across eleven dimensions using our scenario-based skills assessment, against the level each role actually requires, so a buyer and a CPO are each measured against a fair bar.
Find the gaps that matter
Individual results aggregate into a team view showing where capability is genuinely short against what the function's strategy requires, which is rarely where the training requests were pointing.
Design against the gap
Role-based content built on your own categories, contracts and scenarios. People learn negotiation on a negotiation they are about to run, not on a case study about an airline.
Deliver and apply
Workshops in English or Arabic, followed by application to live work with coaching, because the transfer from classroom to practice is where training normally fails.
Reassess
The same assessment after the programme, so the investment is evidenced by measured movement rather than by a feedback form.
What you get
- A measured capability baseline across 11 dimensions, by individual and team
- A prioritised development plan aligned to the function's strategy
- Role-based training built on your own categories and live scenarios
- Delivery in English or Arabic, with coaching on live work
- A post-programme reassessment showing measured movement
Our skills assessment measures eleven dimensions across three cumulative levels, Supporting, Enabling and Shaping, so the development plan addresses the gap between where someone is and what their role requires, rather than a generic curriculum.
Questions we get asked
Why assess before training?
Because otherwise you are buying content on the strength of what people think they need, which is reliably different from what the evidence shows. The assessment usually redirects a meaningful part of the budget.
Can you deliver in Arabic?
Yes. Workshops, materials and the assessment itself run in English or Arabic, including right-to-left interface and reporting, which matters when the team is mixed and the board reads in Arabic.
How is this different from a CIPS qualification?
It is complementary rather than competing. CIPS builds recognised professional knowledge. This measures applied capability against your roles and closes the specific gaps, using your own categories. Several clients run both.
What size team does this suit?
The assessment works for an individual upward. Structured programmes make most sense from around eight people, where the aggregate view reveals patterns worth designing against.
Where to start
Run the free procurement maturity diagnostic for a scored view of where the gaps are, or talk to a consultant about this specific problem. Both take less time than a meeting about having a meeting.
Talk to a consultant