OECD Recommendation
Develop a procurement workforce with the capacity to continually deliver value for money efficiently and effectively.
- Ensure that procurement officials meet high professional standards for knowledge, practical implementation and integrity by providing a dedicated and regularly updated set of tools.
- Provide attractive, competitive and merit-based career options for procurement officials.
- Promote collaborative approaches with knowledge centres such as universities, think tanks or policy centres to improve skills and competences of the procurement workforce.
Related Principles
Challenges faced by the public procurement workforce include:
- Transition of public procurement from an ordering function to a more strategic function
- Complexity of public procurement rules
- The multidisciplinary nature of the public procurement profession
- The fact that public procurement is not yet always seen a profession
Country Cases
High professional standards for knowledge, practical implementation and integrity
- Certification of capabilities for procurement in the UK
- Certification of capabilities for procurement in the United States
- Code of Conduct for the Queensland (Australia) Public Service
- Integrity training in Germany
- Key initiatives to professionalise and empower the public procurement workforce in New Zealand Specialised training for public procurement in France
- Principles and code of conduct for procurement in Spain
- Setting clear ethical standards for procurement officials: The 2002 public procurement reform in Turkey
- The Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Austrian Federal Procurement Agency
- The Canadian Certification Program for the Federal Government Procurement and Materiel Management Communities
- The Code of Conduct for Procurement in Canada
- The Construction Industry Ethics and Compliance Initiative in the United States
- The Scottish procurement competency framework
- The UK infrastructure procurement routemap
- US House of Representatives ethics clauses for consultants
- Web-based interactive guide for cooperation in procurements in Sweden
- Training and workshops provided by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development
- Establishing a certification framework and training programmes in Lithuania
- Checklist for local contracting authorities on gender impacts in Sweden
- Certification frameworks in Croatia
- Equal pay certification in Iceland
- The United Kingdom’s Gender Duty
- Guidelines and manuals on strategic procurement in Costa Rica
- Guidelines and standardised templates in Ireland
- Procurement forms published by the city of New Orleans in the United States
- Procurement competency framework in the United Kingdom and Scotland
- Australia Workplace Gender Equality, Procurement Principles and User Guide
- The CONSIP replication model for training in Italy
- Degree programs of public procurement in Costa Rica
- Digital challenge for innovative procurement training United States
- GCpedia and GCconnex (Canada)
- Social Procurement Framework in Victoria, Australia
- Building Risk Management Capability in the Australian Government
- Certification frameworks in Croatia and Scotland
- Certification of suppliers by the Sustainability Compass in Germany
- Development of curricula in UK public procurement capacity building
- Development of procurement guidelines in Ireland
- Ireland – Civil Service Code of Conduct
- Mentoring programme in New Zealand
- Online training modules in Peru
- Procurement competency framework in the United Kingdom and Scotland
- Setting clear standards of conduct for public officials
- The National Procurement Development Framework in Scotland (United Kingdom)
- The procurement advisory centre in Saxony
- The public procurement curriculum in Canada
- Launching a professionalisation strategy for procurement at PEMEX
- Chamber of Commerce of Peru and public procurement training
- Development of national procurement guidelines in Ireland
- Go-2-Tender Training Scheme for SMEs - Ireland
- Mexican ethics code and rules of integrity – provisions related to public procurement
- Training and workshops provided by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development
- Training and workshops carried out for SMEs in a collaborative way – Ukraine
Attractive, competitive and merit-based career options for procurement officials
- Inherently governmental and critical functions in the United States
- Positive work culture in the construction of Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 (UK)
- Staff rotation in the German civil service
- Promotion of public procurement for innovation by the National Centre for Research and Development of Poland under the ESIF R&I programme
Collaborative approaches with knowledge centres
- The Project Initiation Routemap in the United Kingdom
- Capacity assessment of the public procurement workforce in Peru
- Master program in public procurement at the Turin School of Development
- The deployment of framework agreements in Colombia
Other
- Help desk in France and Lithuania
- Key initiatives to professionalise and empower the public procurement workforce in New Zealand and PEMEX
- Methodological assistance for public procurement for innovation provided by the Public Procurement Office of Poland
- Applying user-centred approaches: Understanding women’s needs in Belgium
- Common Knowledge Network in Portugal
- Institutional Administration Index in Costa Rica
- Pilot projects to support the internal control system of public procurement in Peru
- Procurement Awards for Excellence in Australia
- Spreading innovation in Denmark
- The Canada Free Agents program
- UK Digital Buying Guide
- Belgium and development of technical specifications with businesses
- ChileCompra’s Code of Ethics in Public Processes
- New Zealand’s Procurement Capability Index
- New Zealand Procurement Excellence Awards
- The PPI2Innovate project
- Risk Management Strategy in Public procurement in Tunisia
- The Dutch advisory service for public procurement, PIANOo
- Tracking staff engagement at Germany’s Federal Employment Agency to improve organisational performance
- Gap analysis of training needs in Slovakia
- Use of the Commonwealth Contracting Suite in Australia
- Considerations to take into account to solve an apparent conflict of interest in Canada
- Diagnosing capacity and knowledge gaps in Peru
- Guidance on market analysis to assist SMEs in Public Procurement - Ireland
Reviews
- Enhancing procurement capability in IMSS (extract of Public Procurement Review – IMSS, Mexico)
- Enhancing procurement capability in ISSSTE (extract of Public Procurement Review – ISSSTE, Mexico)
- Improving Lthuania's Public Procurement System - Implementation of professionalisation and certification frameworks
- Enhancing procurement capabilities of the Peruvian workforce (extract of Public Procurement in Peru)
Other institutions’ work on capacity
- Curbing Corruption in Public Procurement – A practical Guide, Transparency International (2014)
- Open Government Partnership
- Open Contracting Partnership
- Open Data Charter
- Procurement iNET