Learning & Development
Lasting technical and behavioural skills that lift your teams’ performance
Our learning & development experts have deep experience in designing competency frameworks and learning pathways for procurement across technical, behavioural, and digital skills. Delivered through hybrid learning experiences and coaching for individuals and teams, we sustainably lift your teams’ capability and performance.
Competency framework & assessment
Establish the competencies that define strategic excellence in procurement. We develop holistic skill profiles across technical, behavioural, and digital competencies for various procurement roles and assess your team against it to identify skill gaps and design targeted learning and development plans.
Learning pathway design
Design learning pathways that unlock procurement’s potential. We create bespoke learning pathways based on identified priority skills that align training design and delivery to your business goals and ambitions and enable structured performance measurement, talent development, and career progression.
Content development
Develop training content that is tailored to your needs and priorities. We create training content around the technical, behavioural, and digital skills needed to succeed in modern procurement, covering tools, frameworks, and techniques in areas like category management, sourcing, negotiation, supplier management, business partnering, or influencing.
Training delivery
Deliver training experiences that embed learning and drive behavioural change. We provide ready-to-deploy or custom learning modules that combine classroom sessions, bite-sized video content, interactive tools, and real-world scenarios to create learning experiences that are tailored to your situation, budget, and desired outcomes.
Coaching
Create sustainable capability uplift by enhancing trainings with coaching. We support individuals and groups to turn their learning experience into practical applications and lasting routines by applying established and emerging coaching techniques that challenge them to expand their worldview and enhance their performance.
Impact measurement
Measure the impact of your investment and keep track of your capability uplift. We use the Kirkpatrick model-based measurement to continuously track the impact of your training programme against your defined ambition to link learning to objectives, demonstrate meaningful change, and ensure a measurable return on your investment.
Certification
Give credit for successfully completing learning and development milestones. We offer formal certification for individuals who complete training, and certificates of competence when post-course projects are assessed and evaluated. This demonstrates your investment in enhancing professional credibility and building lasting capabilities.
Interested in learning more about how we combine capability uplift with performance outcomes?
Download our training prospectus to learn more about available content and approaches.
Supported training formats
To achieve sustainable capability uplift, we provide a variety of training formats.
Classroom training
Our signature classroom trainings blend foundational knowledge with on-the-job applications. We teach the theoretical background of key concepts like category management, business partnering, or negotiations, and apply them to the trainee’s real-world challenges.
Virtual learning
All of our training sessions can be run virtually to cater to global teams, tight schedules, or tight budgets. Our experienced trainers ensure an effective mix of theoretical background and practical assignments to achieve capability uplift and desired performance outcomes.
Coaching
We provide one-on-one and group coaching tailored to the identified development needs. Our expert coaches leverage clinics, peer groups, team workshops, and individual feedback to embed new skills, enhance performance, and build confidence.
Hybrid learning
There is no one-size-fits-all when aspiring lasting capability uplift. We develop custom learning programmes that leverage physical and digital formats, and theoretical and practical elements, to align with your transformation objectives.
Procurement Training FAQs
What procurement skills does our team need?
Essential skills: Core procurement (category management, strategic sourcing, supplier management, negotiation, cost analysis, compliance), Business (financial acumen, business strategy, stakeholder management, communication, project management), Digital (systems fluency, data analysis, Excel, digital tools, mobile), Data literacy (interpret dashboards, data-driven decisions, basic statistics), AI literacy (capabilities, limitations, governance, responsible AI), Strategic (category strategy, market analysis, competitive intelligence, innovation), Soft skills (critical thinking, problem-solving, change management, emotional intelligence), Relationship management (supplier relationships, internal stakeholder management, trust-building), Compliance & Risk (regulatory understanding, compliance management, risk identification), Leadership (for managers: team development, coaching, decision-making). Tailor by role. Skill gaps are the #1 barrier to transformation.
What training does our team need for transformation?
Training should cover: Transformation fundamentals (why, business case, timeline, vision), new operating model (roles, responsibilities, decision rights, governance), new processes (step-by-step workflows), new systems (hands-on platform training), data & analytics (access, interpret, use in decisions), change management (why resistance occurs, how to embrace change), skillbuilding (competencies required in future state), leadership (for managers: leading through change, team development), executive awareness (for business leaders: transformation implications, benefits), and supplier training (contracting approach, collaboration expectations, technology). Training should be role-based and phased (pre-go-live awareness, go-live hands-on, post-go-live support). Plan 3-6 months of intensity around major changes.
What are the core competencies of a category manager?
Effective category managers combine analytical and relationship skills. Analytically: master category strategy development, market knowledge of suppliers and dynamics, data analysis (spend, cost modeling, benchmarking), and strategic thinking (long-term planning, competitive positioning, risk management). Relationally: strong negotiation (persuasion, deal-making, win-win thinking), supplier collaboration (joint improvement, relationship building, trust), stakeholder management (communication, influence, impact), and emotional intelligence (self-awareness, empathy, adaptability). Business acumen understanding customer needs and financial metrics is essential. The best combine left-brain analytics with right-brain relationships. Developing exceptional category managers requires multi-year investment with high ROI.
How do you build negotiation skills in procurement?
Provide training covering fundamentals (approaches, tactics, communication), deal preparation (landscape understanding, strategy, opening position), negotiation conduct (active listening, questioning, making trades, closing), advanced tactics (bundling, sequential negotiations, supplier transparency, scenario modeling), soft skills (emotional control, rapport building, reading the room), and post-negotiation (documentation, follow-up, relationship maintenance). Best approach mixes classroom workshops, role-play simulations, executive coaching, and peer learning with real experience and mentoring. Most procurement teams are weak at negotiation. Building capability across the function typically increases savings by 1-3% of negotiated spend—one of the highest-ROI investments procurement can make.
Benefits
Unlocking procurement’s potential by building lasting capabilities.
Content led by our global research
We continually refresh our approach based on the latest research findings and insights from our world-renowned category management benchmark survey.
Tailored
training design
Each programme is tailored to your unique requirements, ambitions, and budget.
Experienced instructors
Everyone in the Future Purchasing team is a procurement expert with a minimum of 15 years line and consulting experience.
Measurable performance uplift
We assess training impact through a multi-part measurement approach to ensure your investment delivers sustainable behavioural change and tangible results.
Build lasting capabilities
Ready to build lasting skills that lift your teams’ performance? Talk to us about how we can help you build training programs with a tangible ROI.