Introduction

Soft skills contributed £88 billion to the UK economy in 2015 – and this is set to rise to £109 billion by 2020. With a greater focus from government and industry bodies on soft skills, chief procurement officers (CPOs) recognise the importance of soft skills on top of traditional procurement technical capabilities as a way to increase efficiency and take on the challenges of being value/innovation leaders for growth.

In this survey, we are looking to gather responses from procurement professionals – from those who are starting their careers to CPOs with over 20 years’ of experience – and investigate the current attitudes towards soft skills in complimenting traditional procurement skills.

The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete, click 'next' at the botttom of the page to start the survey. If you are interested in receiving the report produced from this survey, you will have the opportunity to enter your contact details at the end.
 
 
So what are soft skills and how are they relevant to procurement?

Oxford Dictionaries define soft skills as the personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.

In a professional context, soft skills are ones that compliment specific technical skills. Examples include:
• Written and oral communication skills
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Self-awareness – knowing and understanding what drives, angers, motivates, embarrasses, frustrates and inspires you
• Adaptability
• Conflict resolution
• Patience
• Skills in dealing with difficult personalities
• Influence/persuasion skills
• Negotiation skills
• Networking skills

Thank you in advance,
PA Consulting Group. 

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