Questions answered
Now that you have completed your assessments you may have some
questions about the process and what’s next.
Some common questions are answered below. We also welcome your feedback on your assessment experience to help us refine the program in future years.
Q “I missed out on completing the assessments, will I gain an opportunity to do so?”
Yes! For those who missed out on gaining access to the assessments at www.procurementpathways.com they will be reopened for your use in the upcoming weeks. However, your results won’t form part of the initial consolidated report that is provided to the organisation.
Q “There were aspects covered in the assessments that I do not perform in my role, and could therefore be seen as ‘irrelevant’ to me. What will happen in this case
Be at ease if you found some of the questions irrelevant for your particular role as they are not intended to be role specific. Group results matter the most. The key for the leadership team will be to look across all assessment results, in aggregate, to build a complete picture of capability across the group.
Q “The assessment talks about procurement concepts in different terms than I am used to. Does this mean its relevant to my experience and the NSW Procurement Framework?”
Yes! Many organisations have similar processes, roles and responsibilities but name them differently. Whilst the terminology may differ, the outcomes for most procurement functions are extraordinarily similar.
Q “My role primarily covers Contract Management tasks. Why was I given procurement assessments?”
Many questions featured throughout the assessments covered off the competencies required to successfully manage the pre-award, contract implementation and post award contract management process across NSW Education. They work together to evaluate either procurement or contract management skills, knowledge and behaviours across these disciplines and have relevance for contract management capability.
Q “I have already done my qualifications with CIPS, so why do I need to
do this?”
The CIPS Qualification no doubt provides a fantastic knowledge base for
procurement. Of course, there is more to procurement excellence then
just ‘knowing’ good practice and that is where this program comes in.
Procurement Pathways is about contextualising knowledge giving you the
opportunity to build upon the academic approach in a practical way that
suits our environment.
Q “You say that group results matter the most, why?”
As a commercial function serving the needs of NSW Education, it is
necessary for us to analyse our capability and benchmark ourselves as a
group, against a defined standard created by industry experts and against
other like-for-like organisations so that we can determine, prioritise and
focus our development efforts.
Q “What will happen after all of these steps are complete?”
All managers will have access to a Procurement Pathways support coach
to ensure that the 70:20:10 model of learning is being applied and that we
all gain the most from this program. Over the months that follow no doubt
you will begin to see various modes of learning,