A ban on the word ‘procurement’
Procurement has made it into a top 200 list – but before you start to celebrate, take note: it’s a top 200 list of words the powers at be believe should be banned.
The Local Government Association this week issued a list of “council speak” phrases it wants members to ban, so the public can understand what they’re on about.
“The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases,” said LGA chairman Margaret Eaton. “Why do we have to have ‘coterminous, stakeholder engagement’ when we could just ‘talk to people’ instead?”
Procure and procurement both made it onto the hit list. The suggested alternatives? Buy or buying. Simple enough.
But is a ban on the word procurement really needed? Do you get quizzical looks when you throw it into conversation?
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Lets continue to simplify and change Finance to Accounts – doesn’t matter if its receivable or payable.
The word procurement should not be banned.
By making it “simple”, it assumes to make simple the process and takes away from what Procurement really is and the effort that goes into the total procurement activity as opposed to just buying.
It downgrades the overall professional and the effort that goes in to the process.
Obviously ‘Procurement’ should be banned from public documents.
Where ‘buying’ is an over-simplification, explain the complication – don’t hide behind ‘procurement’.
BTW, Id restrict the label ‘Finance’ to the CFO-type only. The beancounters are ‘Accounts’.
Sad procurement is being considered a bad word when it is at the top of the most useful words. When you think of procurement or see the word, just think in terms of the value added to the spend.
Limiting to buying makes me think of walking in a supermarket or an off licence to buy a salad dressing because I have run out.
Procurement and “buying” are two different things. Procurement involves lease/hire/disposal/re-sale/demand management functions amongst many others, buying being the simple activity that we all do in the supermarket.
I agree “procurement” as a word is sometimes used incorrectly by people not in that profession when the term bought, or buying etc should have been used, however an outright ban on any word is too ridiculous for me to contemplate anyway. We’ll all soon wake up in the same position as the Chinese media…
I just wish I was the consultant on that one, another example of a blatant waste of public funds… I wonder if they bought or procured a consultants services in that instance…? hmm…