Top soft skills to look for in successful procurement and

There is increasing pressure on and expectation for Procurement and Supply Chain professionals to possess useful, high-level soft skills in addition to the required technical skills for many roles.

This is due in part to the pressures, changes and challenges we’ve all experienced of working from home, and the increased digitisation to support this. The success experienced largely across the board in this new landscape of work means that these new soft skills learnt are likely to remain useful in the future. There is an increased expectation for Procurement and Supply Chain professionals to drive insights that support strategy within a business.

The future will require adaptability, the ability to perform well under pressure and maintaining communication, remote management and teamworking skills are going to be increasingly important if not vital to the smooth running of Procurement and Supply Chain responsibilities.

What it takes to work in Procurement and Supply Chain

Procurement and Supply Chain requires a range of specific tasks and processes, and in order to do them you need the corresponding knowledge, experience and technical skills. These technical skills vary depending on the specific role and seniority level, such as software knowledge and task-specific knowledge.

What are technical skills?

Technical Procurement and Supply Chain skills relate to the primary task at hand – this will include software and programmes used, Procurement and Supply Chain qualifications and tasks that are relevant to the role.

What soft skills are needed for Procurement and Supply Chain?

Soft skills are those skills that make someone well suited to a Procurement and Supply Chain job but aren’t specifically task-related skills. This can include communication skills, leadership, time management, attitude and so on.

Procurement and Supply Chain professionals are increasingly sought for their soft skills, their strategic and commercially value, the insight they can add and communicate clearly with a number of stakeholders (potentially less Procurement and Supply Chain literate), responding well under pressure and able to adapt when change is needed.

The importance of interpersonal skills in Procurement and Supply Chain:

As mentioned above, Procurement and Supply Chain professionals need to communicate with a number of stakeholders, possibly within different functions and at various levels of seniority. This calls for diplomacy and an ability to operate professionally while gaining stakeholder confidence.

How to assess soft skills in Procurement and Supply Chain

Assessing candidates for their soft skills can be trickier than quantifying their technical skills, which is rather more straightforward. Competency-based questions at interview are always a good idea, adopting hypothetical situations that help uncover some of their soft skills.

For example:

‘If x problem occurred, how would you deal with that? At what stage (and to whom) would you escalate the problem?’

Asking anything that will help uncover their communication style, resilience and adaptability under pressure will give you insight into their soft skills.

At SEA Global we can help shape your recruitment strategy. Through our database and deep networks we are able to source high-calibre temporary, interim or permanent candidates from diverse backgrounds to suit the specific needs of your business and create an inclusive workplace. We also have the expertise to help you define your recruiting needs, advise on interviewing technique, source and assess candidates effectively and quickly to help you streamline your recruiting process.