For procurement operations at many companies, training and professional development programs often get set on a back burner. Programs are initiated, but if budgets need trimming, training is among the first item cut by management.

Bayer takes a different perspective. "We wanted to put in place a program to help employees further develop their skills, yet not be economy-dependent," says Dr. Soheila R. Lunney, director/senior staff officer, materials management, Bayer Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

With a teaching background and 16 years of experience at Bayer in different disciplines, Lunney and a core team comprising Bayer procurement and legal professionals developed a procurement and logistics training curriculum. Created under the direction of Robert A. Rudzki, chief procurement officer NAFTA region, the curriculum is intended to assist the buying operation in making a transition from performing tactical activities to strategic thinking, planning and procuring. It is used as a guide to the skills that employees need to be successful in their procurement careers at the company. For the curriculum, Lunney and her team looked at education level and career accomplishments for both entry-level and experienced or seasoned employees.

The core development team includes the following individuals from Bayer's materials management operation: Jim Baehr, Stan Loper and JoAnn Borgo. Also on the team is Robert Koch, the organization's legal counsel.

Based on the curriculum and on internal and external benchmarking, Lunney and her team put together a "procurement/logistics skills development model." This is a linear progression chart that shows the number of years an employee has worked in procurement versus skills areas that the procurement operation would like to see developed by the employee. Skill areas include core, personal development, functional application and systems/computer competency.

"In the core skills area, for example, we would like new hires to be introduced to basic business orientation and problem solving," says Lunney. "In the functional application area, they should be familiar with procurement and logistics (supply chain management), business ethics, business law, effective negotiating, accounting principles and total quality management."

As an employee's years in procurement increase, so should his or her proficiency at procurement and logistics. An individual with three years of experience should possess such core skills as a working knowledge of customer service and responsiveness and project management. At the same time, he or she should have such functional application skills as value-added analysis, reengineering/process redesign, supplier management, and e-commerce.

Managers can use the guide to initiate discussions with employees during performance reviews.

"Keeping in mind that we want this to be a sustainable process, we developed a procurement training program that would be available to our employees in-house," says Lunney. The program is in addition to some basic skills classes already offered internally by the company.

As lead on the program, Lunney put together a team of "super trainers" to teach the course material. "To me, one of the best ways to learn is from each other. I have always promoted this among members of my team. Seeing people's eyes sparkle when they understand a concept and then apply it has always been rewarding to me."

Once the core team develops course material, they conduct a pilot test of the session. For the pilot, 10-15 individuals from procurement attend and evaluate the team's effort. After incorporating attendees' improvement suggestions into the course material, the team then is ready to conduct its class for a wider audience.

The first course the team put together was a basic day-and-a-half workshop called Strategic Sourcing Team Process, which was offered initially in 1997.

Once Rudzki came on board in April 2001, enthusiasm for the training program grew.

Procurement began offering an enhanced Strategic Sourcing and Negotiation Management session to employees in November 2001. The team holds the class at corporate headquarters or travels to one of the company's facilities in the NAFTA region to instruct employees. The team held one of its initial sessions at the company's West Haven, location for 18 participants, 11 of whom traveled from other sites. Other sessions were held recently in Pittsburgh, Baytown, Texas, and Berkeley, Calif. Feedback from attendees, Lunney says, "has been very positive."

To supplement internal training, the procurement operation also encourages individuals to enroll in classes conducted outside the company, such as workshops offered by local chapters of the Institute for Supply Management (formerly NAPM).

Recently, ISM approved the Bayer training program for credit toward CPM recertification.

By developing an internal program, "we can go much farther with our training effort than having to rely on sending people outside the company especially when the economy slows," Lunney says. "Our chief procurement officer, Bob Rudzki, is very supportive. From day one, he has encouraged people in his organization to improve their skills. We want our procurement operation to be on the forefront. We cannot be a follower."

In addition to instructing individuals working in procurement, the operation invites the group's stakeholders—Bayer employees working in engineering and manufacturing—to attend the sessions. Much of what is covered during the classes involves procurement's interactions with the stakeholders: how to work together, how to respond to stakeholder requirements, how to keep channels of communication open. "Through the course, stakeholders will know where we in procurement are coming from and, at the same time, we will better understand their requirements. We are raising awareness that we need to work together." The sessions help to educate stakeholders on supplier backdoor selling practices as well.

As such, the classes not only provide training but also a source of valuable information. "When we walk away, our work is not done," says Lunney. "We act as consultants to individuals in procurement, procurement teams and stakeholders and provide regular cost-reduction reports to management."

For seasoned procurement professionals whose jobs include global sourcing activities, Lunney and her team developed a half-day "International Contracting Guide" workshop. This course which helps procurement professionals put together a global contract covers such topics as business law, ethics, culture, taxes and insurance. The first international contracting guide session was held in Pittsburgh in February 2002 along with the strategic sourcing and negotiation management class. Another was held in Kansas City in March.

Before she developed the procurement and logistics training curriculum, Lunney benchmarked training activities at several other companies. She looked at companies similar to Bayer as well as those that are different. "For the International Contracting Guide, we found that there are many individuals who have experience in the area, but no developed training or published documentation that could help us. We even called the United Nations." To date, more than 100 people (procurement and its stakeholders) have attended the Strategic Sourcing and Negotiation Management and the International Contracting Guide sessions.

While putting together the session on strategic sourcing and negotiation management, Lunney saw a need for a class to train Bayer's sales force on the inner workings of a procurement operation. "Our sales force should be familiar with procurement when they approach their customers," she says. "It also demonstrates to the business units that in addition to helping reduce costs, procurement also can help bring value to the company's customers." This class she calls "strategic sourcing and negotiation management for nonprocurement professionals."

Next, the core team is creating training on supplier development, which Lunney expects to roll out within Bayer in 2003.