Developing procurement capability

The Procurement practice in New Zealand is following the international trend of transforming itself from a largely administrative back-office function, focussed on transactional purchasing, to a more strategic organisational function, that’s a discipline in its own right.

This shift in focus requires a much broader skill set and as a result has exposed a significant skills-gap within the New Zealand profession.

While there’s still a need to develop improved practices at an operational level, the greatest demand for capability-building is in the area of strategic procurement.

We have initiated a range of actions to address the skills shortage and to raise the procurement skill-levels across the State sector. These include:

• Providing funding to enable agencies to undergo a thorough review of their procurement capability and develop a roadmap for improvement; 
• Developing a Procurement Competency Framework and Training Needs Analysis to help individuals and managers identify skills gaps and how best to fill them;
• Easing the way for skilled and qualified migrants applying for procurement roles in NZ through the visa application process; 
• Establishing a professional procurement education framework that offers subsidised support; and
• Increasing access to high quality training.