Case Study:

Elevating Procurement Business Partner Capabilities

Our Client

The procurement function within a leading long-term savings and retirement business.

Their challenge

To elevate the teams’ business partnering and stakeholder management skills and approach to support the functions new operating model framework.

Why they engaged us

Our proven expertise in business partnering and extensive experience in designing bespoke programmes to help subject matter experts broaden their consulting and engagement skills made us the natural choice.

Our Solution

We engaged with senior stakeholders and team members to identify five critical skills gaps:

Developing a business partner mindset and strategic approach
Strengthening stakeholder management and communication
Applying influencing strategies to achieve results
Building an external focus and networks to broaden perspective and add value
Embedding a consistent, shared approach across the function

Business Partner Consulting Excellence programme

We designed a blended learning programme designed to build the skills, behaviours, and confidence needed for effective stakeholder engagement and business partnering. The programme included:

A one-day in-person workshop covering behavioural preferences (using Insights Explore), stakeholder meetings, and core business partnering principles
Three online learning modules covering stakeholder analysis, influencing strategies, defining and communicating value, building trust, networking, and developing a business partnering framework
Active senior leader participation to reinforce learning and ensure workplace application
Practical, interactive exercises to embed skills and support real-world application
A shared language and frameworks to encourage consistent business partnering across the function

To maximise learning outcomes, participants accessed our SMART Action Planning guides to develop personal action plans.

Evaluating outcomes

We evaluated the programme’s impact and ROI, through:

Immediate feedback – capturing participant satisfaction, content relevance, and engagement
Long-term impact assessment – evaluating the programme’s effectiveness over time

Our Impact

Nearly 40 procurement professionals attended the programme, achieving the following outcomes:

Increased self-awareness of different behavioural preferences and how to adapt effectively
Enhanced questioning and listening skills to uncover stakeholder needs and build rapport
Improved ability to build trust and credibility quickly
Strengthened capability to anticipate and manage stakeholder expectations
More effective strategies for stakeholder engagement and influence
Clearer ability to define and communicate value from the stakeholder’s perspective
Broader external focus, using networks to generate insights, drive innovation, and enhance professional visibility

Delivering results and sustainable change

The programme boosted the team’s capability and confidence in business partnering. They are now engaging stakeholders consistently, taking ownership of relationships, and building trust-based partnerships that drive strategic impact.