Over the last three years supplier management has become one of our fastest growth areas. Until recently, enquiries and interest have come directly from the operations in the organisation but we have experienced a growing interest direct from the training community.

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It is a fact that in tough economic times the “nice to have” development budgets come under pressure.  Understandably the organisation looks for more direct business returns on training spend. This is one of the reasons that, for example, investing in developing the sales force generally gets more “air time” in challenging times than softer skill areas because it is easier to identify a bottom line benefit.

Investing in sales skills development can result in increased sales volumes and margins; investing in supplier management can result in improved supplier performance, potential cost savings, and maximising the value the supplier delivers.  The impact on the organisation of improved supplier management skills is significant.

Organisations generally now have a greater reliance on suppliers than in the past.  Whether they are traditional customer – supplier, outsourcing or offshoring relationships, many companies now depend on external organisations to deliver business critical services in IT, facilities management, telecoms, HR, customer services, and numerous back office processes.

Recognising the need to engage strategic suppliers, involving often complex contracts, organisations invest in transforming old style purchasing departments into highly skilled and professional procurement and sourcing teams.  However, research indicates that 60% of organisations are unhappy with supplier performance in major service delivery and project engagements.

So where is the problem?  There is probably no single answer, but undoubtedly a significant factor is the lack of effective supplier management. The contract may in place; the service level agreement defined; the key performance Indicators agreed – but without supplier management there are no guarantees.  Hence the growing realisation that investing in procurement processes and skills alone does not work – the organisation needs to look at the skills required to manage the entire supplier lifecycle, with a focus on managing supplier performance and relationship, as the two are interdependent.

This explains why we have seen a massive increase in demand for supplier management, and why we have delivered programmes for many companies in a range of sectors including banking, pharmaceutical, telecoms, energy, industrial, as well as public sector.

Until recently, the supplier management projects we have delivered have been in instigated by operational areas of the client organisation as they have recognised issues with how suppliers are being managed. So contacting us has been in reaction to the recognition of a problem.  However, recently we have experienced a new development, and requests to find out more about supplier management training are more proactive…

So, to return to the opening line – Why is supplier management training becoming a focus topic for Learning and Development Managers?

• As operational areas of the business engaging with strategic suppliers develop their experience [and experiences], there is a greater understanding of the need to train supplier managers proactively – so  it is becoming a TNA topic in its own right

• The supplier management function is becoming more recognised. One of the historic problems in identifying supplier management training needs has been that there is not a specific “supplier management” job role.  Project managers, IT managers, departmental managers, and a range of specialists in a business all potentially have a supplier management interface

• The current economic climate is focusing organisations on development initiatives that generate a quick and measurable business return.

Find out more about our supplier management courses.