Value in volunteering: why procurement’s skillsets are required beyond your job

Most procurement professionals feel passionately about the positive difference their skills can make to their organisation, society and even the planet. And increasingly, boards are recognising this potential for impact too: procurement skills are in high demand for voluntary, trustee and non-executive roles.

From public institutions to third-sector bodies, organisations across all sectors are under greater pressure to ensure they spend budgets wisely and get value from suppliers. This is procurement’s bread and butter. Beyond this, the strategic and stakeholder management skills, as well as operational insight into the inner workings of businesses, are also invaluable tools practitioners bring to the table.

For those exploring a route to fellowship status – the highest grade of CIPS membership and professional recognition – volunteering provides an exciting opportunity to demonstrate how you are giving back and going beyond your immediate role. But voluntary and non-executive roles also offer another chance for development through unique experiences.

“Procurement done well can change lives”

Voluntary and non-executive roles can take many forms. In the UK, the Department for Education is running a campaign to encourage procurement professionals to consider giving their time and expertise to sit on school and academy trust boards. “A critical aspect of governance is ensuring that public funds are spent effectively,” the campaign explains. “Your skills will help support schools to make informed decisions, ensuring that every penny of public money is used to benefit the students in their care.”

As a voluntary role, governors and trustees are responsible for planning the organisation’s strategic direction, overseeing financial performance and holding leadership to account. These are all areas where skilled senior procurement professionals can add value, while giving back to society.

Experienced procurement leader Gillian Askew FCIPS, director of social enterprise Go4Growth, has been involved in school governance for over a decade. “My whole career has been focused on the broader benefits procurement can bring to society,” she says. “I believe procurement can change the world. Done well, it can change lives.”

“We have to spend money wisely: it has to work hard for our children”

Askew first joined a school as a governor in 2014, becoming a trustee of Nexus multi-academy trust (MAT) in 2020. Procurement remains a skill set rarely found on governing bodies or within MAT trustees, something which she is hopeful will change in the near future.

“I saw straight away that it’s really tough for schools from a procurement perspective,” she reflects. “My role is to be an informed client, scrutinise what we are doing and make sure that the business of running the school or trust is being done in the way that makes sense to our learners, our communities and in compliance with regulations and funding mechanisms.”

Her professional expertise has been particularly impactful in helping the schools to get more from their contracts. During her first governorship, Askew discovered that a Supplier SLA (service level agreement) was not being delivered – the school was not receiving the value-added services it was meant to be getting. “We were not optimising that contract,” she says. “In any school or trust, we have to spend money wisely: it has to work hard for our children.”

She adds that issues like the impending ending of PFI contracts, which currently maintain many school buildings, mean schools will likely need procurement and contract management skills more than ever.

CIPS recognition of procurement governance sets up future success

At Nexus, she has helped drive procurement excellence, supporting the trust through governance to achieve accreditation of the CIPS Procurement Excellence Programme.

“At every board meeting, I’m able to play to my professional strengths,” she says. “Where I can add the most value is sweating the asset of my own knowledge. Nexus now has real rigour and structure in procurement and it’s been a privilege to be a part of that development.” Being recognised by the CIPS Excellence standard also helps in other areas. It may help the trust secure future funding because it can send a message that money will be spent efficiently and effectively and with robust governance underpinning everything we do.

Askew adds that procurement has also helped the trust achieve impactful innovations, such as introducing biophilic design (design which incorporates natural elements) into its estate. “Some of the innovations have been transformational to the campus, changing the lives of our students and their families beyond recognition in some cases. It’s those non-financial benefits that can make as big an impact as savings, if not bigger,” says Askew.

Askew is clear that her school governance experience has made her a stronger procurement professional, giving her insight of the “other side of the lens” in public procurement, as well as making her a better leader. She also believes it will help her continued professional development and will play a part in achieving her future career ambitions, which includes non-executive director roles.

But it’s the giving back that matters most to her. “Education is the nucleus of life,” she says. “Positive outcomes through education lead to better quality of life. Budgets are always constrained, so if we can use all the skills in our toolkit, we can add so much value to children and families. There can be no better thing for me to do as a procurement professional.”

Find out more about becoming a school governor.