How to Have Great Development Conversations with your Boss

“I want to do exactly the same thing every year for the rest of my life!’ – said basically no procurement professional, ever. In fact, many of us feel the exact opposite. We want to continually learn and grow, with the potential one day to take on a leadership position as a CPO, or perhaps even higher. 

But how do we get there? 

One critical, yet underrated, element in all of our career trajectories are Procurement Managers, and specifically how much they support our professional development. As such, it’s important to be able to have great development conversations with them … but how? 

The truth is that a lot of the work needs to be done by you, not by your manager. Here’s exactly what you need to do.

Step 1: Thoroughly Prepare – and Be Specific 

Like any element of procurement, preparation is the foundation of any successful development conversation. Before meeting with your manager, take time to reflect on your current procurement role,  including your achievements, challenges, and future aspirations. Consider the following questions:

• What have I achieved in my current role? Outline your successes, particularly those that have added value. This could be anything from championing new digital technology to improving supplier relationships. 
• What challenges have I faced? If you’ve worked in procurement for more than a few months, it’s likely you’ll have faced a challenge or two! Reflect on these and what you did to overcome them. 
• What skills do I want to develop? Do you want to develop within a particular category? Or perhaps you want to be known as the negotiator extraordinaire in your team? Whatever it is, come armed with a list of skills you want to develop – but also a specific plan to develop them. 
• What are my long-term career goals? Are you ready to be a leader? Think about where you see yourself in the next few years and don’t be afraid to ask where needed. 

Being prepared, as well as being specific about what you need and where you want to be, will help set your manager up to help you best.

Step 2: Emphasise That You’re Prepared to Put the Work In

Having a development conversation can feel like your ‘right’ – and it is – but ultimately, when having a development conversation, it’s important to understand the role you need to play in your own development, and the role your manager needs to play. 

Your procurement manager is, ultimately, there to remove barriers to your success, to guide you in the right direction, and, hopefully, to open up doors for you (that is, unless they are particularly toxic). 

However, when it comes to your development, the person that needs to put the real work in is you. So, in your development conversation, ensure that you come prepared with not just information on what areas you want to develop, but a specific plan on how you’ll personally achieve it. For example, if you’re looking to complete a professional qualification, for example your CIPD or ISM, ensure that you research your organisation’s policy, including whether you are entitled to study leave, and how you might manage studying alongside your work commitments.

Step 3: Align Aspirations with your Procurement Team’s and Broader Organisational Objectives

To make a compelling case for your development, align your goals with your procurement team’s and your organisation’s goals more broadly. Your development is about you and your career, but it does need to contribute to your organisation’s success, so ensure that you demonstrate how you’ll do this. 

For example, if you want to deepen your skills in negotiation, ensure that you discuss how this will strategically benefit your team. This might be via eventually upskilling them, or it could potentially lead to more favourable contractual terms in your category. 

By linking your development to broader goals, you make it clear that investing in your growth will benefit both you, your procurement team, and the organisation.

Step 4: Be Open to Feedback

All development conversations are just that – two way conversations between you and your manager. As such, you need to be open to receiving valuable feedback, including constructive feedback, as it can provide a fresh perspective on your strengths and areas for improvement.

If your manager suggests areas where you need to improve to make your aspirations possible, ensure that you consider what they’ve told you, and demonstrate maturity in receiving this feedback (just like you would need to do if you’d had a bad performance review). 

Showing that you’re receptive to feedback demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement.

Step 5: Action and Iterate

A development conversation is not just a conversation. It should end with an actionable plan – and also one that can be reviewed and iterated as things change and you move towards your goals. 

Work with your manager to create this plan. For example, you might agree on the following steps:

• Attend a negotiation skills workshop within the next three months.
• Take on a leadership role in an upcoming procurement project.
• Schedule monthly check-ins with a senior procurement professional for mentorship.

Then, once your plan is in place, ensure that you schedule regular check-ins, just like you’d do for any other project, to review progress, share what you’ve learned, and explore further opportunities within your procurement team. 

How successful have your development conversations been in the past? What has worked for you and what hasn’t worked? Let us know in the comments below.