Who is Financially Responsible for Advanced Procurement Training?

While many tend to agree that continued education is beneficial, a purchasing manager usually moves to the front of the line in terms of corporate importance. Procurement training is ideal when looking to maximize results when purchasing marketable goods, but who should be financially responsible for tuition fees?

Employers understand the value derived from this form of training, that it not only affects the employee but also the company as a whole, yet many jump ship when it comes to continuing education, out of pocket expenses or simple tuition fees. Employees may not be able to afford, or have the desire, to invest personally in continued education. So what happens next? 

The Importance of Educating Purchasing Managers

Purchasing managers are responsible for development and management when buying marketable goods. Further education is a critical factor when looking to maximize these results as it can also create potential for cutting expenses dramatically over the long-term. Companies looking to hire exceptional employees may benefit from staff training as a cost-effective work-around when hiring on a budget.

Often, employees may not be aware of their company importance. Many may take out an expensive loan or seek other methods of personal funding, when any reputable company should be more than happy to discuss or implement a training development program when asked of their purchasing manager. Many will even offer this as part of the course of employment or during the application phase, knowing it may be critical to success.

Companies should consider taking a vested interest in corporate training when looking to advance the company as a whole. As the purchasing manager is responsible for the majority of major expenses, this makes for a logical place to create improvement. Employees are known to offer a higher success rate when training correctly and can help create long-term savings.

What Are the Benefits of Advanced Procurement Training?

Those who take the time to invest in their staff can expect to see employee loyalty increase, as the duration of employment is usually extended on completing a contracted period of time once qualified as a means to “pay-back” advanced training. This can also help save on costly re-training or new staff induction expenses, along with immediate cost spending savings, improved efficiency and competency in general.

Advanced training depends on several factors such as:

• The current financial stability of the company 
• The availability of educational benefits
• The purchasing manager in question

 Should My Employer Pay For Continuing Education?

Sadly, there is no magical answer, it all depends on your employers training policy, budget and willingness to help you work towards your goal. You may ask your employer to consider you for training, exercising your employee rights to do so, but they are not obligated to provide specialized training. Employers may not turn down procurement training based on age, sex, marital status or other personal factors.

You should anticipate questions and possibly even concerns. Try to address these in a professional manner that demonstrates your worth to the company. For example, if your employer shows concern that training is an added expense, you may politely advise that tuition can often cost less than hiring and training newer employees. Make a case for how your education will generate a higher level of competency and income for the company.

It doesn’t matter if your employer has a tuition program in place or not, you should always attempt to make a compelling case as to why schooling for advanced procurement training is needed if you feel it would be beneficial in carrying out your job. At the end of the day, the importance of educating purchasing managers relies on the communication between employees and employers.

How Will You Approach Advanced Procurement Training?

The financial responsibility of advanced procurement training ultimately falls on the respective employee and employer decision of an agreeable outcome; each should be equipped to address the interests and concerns of advanced training. When continuing training, both careers and companies may grow; take time to consider the benefits of training a purchasing manager before writing it off as another expense.