Why ‘growing your own’ should be a priority for procurement teams

Why ‘growing your own’ should be a priority for procurement teams

More firms should put a focus on ‘growing their’ own procurement talent internally, according to 1st Executive.

An analysis by the procurement and supply chain recruitment consultancy found that few firms outside of major employers like Airbus and Nestle put enough effort into developing their own internal talent and instead rely on professionals ‘falling’ into the industry from other fields. The firm argues that concentrating on talent development could save organisations a huge amount in long-term recruitment fees and could enable them to better serve their clients.

James Tucker, co-Managing Director of 1st Executive, comments.

“In almost every other sector there is a much greater focus on developing talent internally than there is in procurement. Yes, a few of the major employers have their own programmes, but that’s about it, and smaller organisations are often left to hire those who have fallen into the sector from business analysis roles, for example. This isn’t a sustainable approach and with the numbers of students studying procurement-related courses at university falling, something needs to be done soon. Some employers say they don’t want to waste the time, money and effort development graduate talent only for them to leave at the first opportunity, but surely it benefits the entire industry to provide the best possible, fully trained staff to the workforce? It’s then up to your firm to treat them well enough and offer them opportunities so that they would want to stay.”

“By developing innovative and robust training programmes that provide a clear pathway through the organisation for procurement specialists, it’s likely that more employers will be able to tackle their workforce solutions effectively and stop paying over the odds for the contingent talent they require on a short term basis. They will also be able to attract more high-potential people to what is still a relatively closed and insular market. Firms can struggle to attract talent to their procurement teams and this approach gives them a boost by not only enabling them to ‘grow their own’, but also to build increased brand loyalty amongst professionals with the skills and mentality to be a success. It’s an investment, but a worthwhile one that can bring long-lasting benefits to procurement teams.”


Tracey Barrett
BlueSky PR 01582 790702/0771 2281631
tracey@bluesky-pr.com