Procurement teams face a "war for talent" as they compete for skilled workers against other industries. Younger generations are more interested in careers that are socially impactful and offer opportunities for growth. If procurement does not professionalize by offering career paths, training programs, and opportunities for leadership, they risk being unable to fulfill their functions and could lose relevance within organizations. They must find ways to attract, develop, and retain top talent to survive in today's competitive employment environment.

1. Procurement’s war for talent
Fighting for the survival of procurement
Iain Palfreman
Group Procurement Director –
Freightliner Limited

2. Introduction
• Procurement – What do we do?
• UK Employment market & the war for talent
• Where will the talent come from?
• What can we do?
• Consequences of failure?
• What next?

3. Reed Salary Survey 2016 £. since 2015
1 Strategy & Consultancy £56,636 £3,321
2 Accountancy (Qualified) £51,644 £419
3 Banking £51,556 -£2,369
4 IT & Telecoms £47,461 £3,023
5 Recruitment Consultancy £45,975 -£12,687
6 Financial Services £45,373 -£239
7 Construction & Property £43,097 £489
8 Purchasing £39,886 £1,729
9 FMCG £39,565 £500
10 Legal £39,406 £2,247
11 Health & Medicine £39,020 £3,919
12 Energy £38,609 -£6,078
13 Marketing & PR £38,384 £547
14 Scientific £38,114 -£3,369
15 Human Resources £38,010 £667
16 General Insurance £36,798 £773
17 Media, Digital & Creative £36,580 £204
18 Estate Agency £36,483 £1,120
19 Sales £36,398 £419
20 Training £35,798 £3,655

4. Procurement – what are we?
• Policy police
• Process driven
• Systems managers &
administrators
• Contract negotiators
• Contract managers
• Risk managers
• Bureaucrats
Boring!!!!
• Problem solvers
• Change managers
• Relationship managers
• Simplifiers
• Collaborators
• Connectors
• Internationalists
• Innovators & inventors
Boring??????
We are a people
profession!

5. UK employment & the war for talent
Generation
Y
Everyone is
chasing the
same
people
More
graduates
than ever
before
Willingness
to invest in
training
Shortage of
key skills
Average UK
Graduate
Salary
£29k?
Full
employment
Changing
Attitudes
Reduced
workforce
mobility
Social
Attitudes to
work
Technology
impact
Regional
resource
availability
Aging
population
Brexit – loss
of freedom
of
movement
for labour

6. Where will the talent come from?
• The graduate pool
• Ethnic groups
• Women
• Alternatives to
University
• Internal transfers
• External transfers
• Use your network not
just your connections!
What are they like?
• Not money driven
• Socially aware
• Connected
• Ambitious
• Immobile
• Capricious
• Educated
• Challenging

7. What can we do?
• Do nothing
or
• Do something!
• Professionalise
• Create a career plan
• Create opportunities
• Sell procurement
Selling Procurement
• Internships
• Create a graduate
programme
• Engage with local
Universities
• Mentoring
• Explain the role properly
• Modern apprenticeships

8. What can we do?
Professionalise
• Create a graduate
training programme
• Training contracts
• Mandate professional
qualifications
• Sponsorship of MBAs
• Segmentation of roles
to aptitudes
• New apprenticeships
Create a career plan
• Segmentation of roles
in procurement
• Rotation of staff
• Use of placements in
other departments or
other organisations
• Create templates of
possible careers
• Guide staff on next
steps

9. What can we do?
Create opportunities
• Mentoring of staff
• Use of personal
development plans
alongside the career
development plan
• Create excitement in
the role
• Give opportunities to
lead
• Give early responsibility
to staff
• Give support to staff
• Highlight areas for
improvement and give
training and
opportunity to learn
• Identify and promote
good achievement
highly visibly

10. The consequence of not acting
• Procurement cannot
deliver the service that
is required
• Procurement are a
blocker – they don’t
understand our needs
• If you cant do it then
someone else will
• Anyone can buy stuff
• We can automate the
procurement process
• Procurement don’t add
value
• Why do we need a
procurement team
• Save money – get rid of
procurement!

11. The war for talent - summary
• Is procurement a function or a profession?
• Potential staff have choices
• The business needs the activity to be
delivered
• What are you prepared to do?