Scottish Government procurement: annual report 2020 to 2021

6. Our commitment to professionalisation and growing talent

We regularly review our resourcing and talent management plans, such as the Procurement People of Tomorrow programme, as attracting, retaining and developing procurement staff allows for our longer term strategic planning. This also allows us to build our capability and protect us against skills gaps in the future. Our approach on people capability was recognised when the Scottish Government was nominated as a finalist at the 2020 World Procurement Award in the Talent & Development category.

Our programme to embed and grow commercial capability continued, targeting all Scottish Government civil servants at awareness, practitioner and leadership level, to ensure they understand and can contribute to our wider commercial and sustainability ambition. In the reporting period we launched a commercial programme for Senior Responsible Owners that comprised sessions on leadership, commercial acumen, sustainability and assurance, which is now being repeated annually to further bolster our commercial capability across government.

Contract Management Training

In October 2020, we launched our Contract and Supplier Management (CSM) e-Learning Training Programme.

The training consists of seven individual modules, the first of which is mandatory, for any member of our staff responsible for managing a contract. The mandatory module (CSM Essentials), provides an introduction to our model of contract and supplier management, a detailed overview of the essential elements of the contract managers role and clear guidance on where to seek additional support where required.

The six additional modules, which are supplemented with a training needs analysis, offer Contract Managers a "deep dive" into more nuanced elements of CSM including project management, contract terms and conditions, performance management and financial management.

The training has been made widely available with over 120 members of staff completing the training to enhance their commercial skills and knowledge.

In addition to this, the Procurement Journey is our online source of step-by-step guidance aimed at buyers across the whole of the Scottish public sector. It is tailored to the value and risk of a particular procurement exercise. It has been widely recognised as helpful by those using it in Scotland, across the UK, and in other countries. It is continually updated with changes in legislation, policy and best practice.