5 Continuing Education Resources for Procurement Professionals
For procurement professionals to get ahead in their careers and help their companies succeed, continuing education can play a key role. From formal educational events specifically geared toward teaching professionals about certain procurement and supply chain topics, to news sites that help procurement professionals stay up-to-date on trending topics, to discussion boards where peers can share insights, procurement employees have a variety of options to help expand their professional knowledge.
Some of the key resources we recommend to continue procurement education include:
- SAP Business Exchange: In addition to being an SAP Ariba™ partner, we also participate in the SAP Business Exchange. In this online community, users can learn about and discuss expense management software SAP Concur, along with other procurement-related topics that may be broader than just Concur issues. The SAP Business Exchange also directs participants to upcoming events such as SAP webinars that can help procurement professionals learn new tips to help their companies operate better.
- Procurious: This social network is geared specifically toward procurement and supply chain professionals, thereby helping these employees quickly find relevant information. Among its numerous resources include online classes, community discussions and links to relevant events. Procurious also has helpful blog articles and shares top industry news, making it easier to stay up-to-date with relevant topics.
- Trade Associations: In addition to groups like SAP Business Exchange and Procurious that specifically provide educational resources for procurement and supply chain professionals, some trade associations also have procurement-related events and other resources that can help these professionals improve. For example, Premikati is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) company, and we’ve found that organizations like this provide helpful events and programs, such as to learn how to boost supplier diversity programs. They can also be a great resource to learn where to find specific types of suppliers.
- LinkedIn Groups: LinkedIn has numerous resources for essentially any professional to learn and grow their careers, and procurement professionals havethe luxury to choose from a number of large, active LinkedIn Groups geared toward this occupation. The “Procurement Professionals – Best in class” group, for example, has nearly 400,000 members, and the “Strategic Sourcing & Procurement” group has over 100,000 professionals. Within these groups you can keep up with news shared by peers and discuss procurement-related issues to help you learn how to tackle occupational challenges.
- Premikati Webinars: We offer our own series of webinars in order to help procurement professionals learn about SAP Ariba™ as well as how to improve strategically overall. For example, upcoming topics include helping professionals ensure an invoice is ready to pay as well as how to identify vendor efficiency opportunities.
By leveraging these types of resources, procurement professionals and others in related roles can continue to gain knowledge beyond what they learn directly from their day-to-day work. Learning from peers and industry experts can help you gain new perspectives and learn new strategies that ultimately help you and your company perform better.