In 2020, Augment Resources was engaged by Westpac Technology Sourcing to deliver a commercial analyst program comprised of recent graduates. After it had become apparent that a reliance on third party services to manage day-to-day operational procurement activities had resulted in significant process inefficiency, Westpac’s aim was to move its procurement operations back onshore, with an explicit focus on developing future procurement professionals.

 The program’s objective was to offer an entry level career pathway for a team with limited procurement experience, along with building foundation skills through entry level procurement operations tasks specifically aligned to each major expenditure category. 

The vocational training was combined with a formal mentoring program, whereby each analyst was matched with a senior procurement professional from Augment Resources who worked with their mentees on personal and skills development, assessing specific work challenges and providing general support outside their Westpac reporting structure. 

The team commenced training in mid-January 2020, six weeks prior to offshore delivery ceasing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This was exceptionally challenging for the graduates, this being their first full-time professional job. However, the success of the project and the challenges it had to overcome has ultimately delivered bottom-line savings of close to $22 million through improved contract outcomes.