Responsible for an L&D Procurement process? Tips here!

Joanna Smith
Feb 17
5 min read

When you’re responsible for learning and development, a new project often starts with excitement… and then runs straight into some classic procurement doubts.

“Do we need three quotes?”

“Do we already have preferred suppliers?

“How do we engage a new supplier?”

“How do I show value for money?”

Government staff are expected to follow a process that feels robust, fair and defensible. In New Zealand, the Government Procurement Rules and Guide to Procurement set out what good practice looks like. In Australia, the Commonwealth Procurement Rules do the same. Large corporates also typically have procurement rules in place.

But what if you’re working in a smaller company? How can you be sure you’re on the right track when it comes to partnering with an L&D provider like Pukeko Learning Solutions?

Below are some tips for developing a robust Request for Proposal (RFP) that aligns with these best practices, and that your manager will love signing off on. It also helps suppliers like us provide a crystal-clear proposal that will meet your needs.

1. Start with the business problem

Before you mention eLearning, workshops or platforms, anchor your RFP in a clear business need.

Ask yourself:

What’s happening that makes this important?
Are there errors, rework, complaints, safety incidents, audit findings, system changes, customer feedback?
Who is affected?
Which roles, teams or locations show inconsistent performance or behaviour?
What outcomes are you aiming for?
What should people do differently afterwards, and how will you know?

This is exactly how bodies like CIPD describe effective L&D: an enabler of organisational strategy and performance, not a list of courses.

A tight problem statement (two or three paragraphs) becomes the backbone of your business case, your RFP and your conversations with suppliers.

2. Give a clear picture of your learners and context

Suppliers design better solutions when they understand your learners’ reality.

Capture the essentials:

Roles, experience levels and locations.
Work patterns (shifts, remote, field‑based).
Access to devices, systems and bandwidth.
Any cultural, language or regional considerations.
High‑level tech assumptions (for example, “we have an LMS and prefer SCORM”, or “must work on locked‑down devices”).

This helps you avoid asking for something that can’t work in practice, and it reassures your manager that you’ve thought beyond “generic training”.

3. Define what you’re actually buying

From a procurement point of view, “some training” is far too vague. Break the work into components so everyone can see what’s in scope.

For example:

Needs analysis and discovery.
Learning design (experience design, storyboards, assessment design).
Content development (eLearning, video, scenarios, job aids, facilitator guides).
Technology integration and testing.
Pilot, refinement and roll‑out support.
Evaluation and follow‑up.

Being explicit makes it easier to choose the right procurement route and approval level, compare proposals fairly and manage scope once the project starts.

4. Check your internal rules before you ask for quotes

Recently, a client sent us a fairly vague RFP. We spent time unpacking their needs and shaping a sensible solution to quote on. Only then did they realise they needed two more quotes.

After they received ours, they refined their ideas, improved the brief, and produced a beautifully sharp RFP for the next two providers. Unsurprisingly, one of those providers won the work, largely because the early thinking we’d contributed made the brief so strong.

They did end up with a great solution, but they missed out on getting three equally strong proposals to choose from.

You can avoid this by confirming early:

How many quotes are required at each threshold.
When you must use existing panels or preferred suppliers.
Who needs to sign off the plan before you go to market.

Once you know the rules, you can bring us in to help shape a robust RFP that works for everyone.

5. Choose the right route to market

Depending on your organisation, you might:

buy through an approved panel or supplier list
invite a handful of known suppliers to quote
run an open RFP or tender.

Panels are increasingly common. In Australia, for example, the Department of Finance’s guidance on panels explains that each purchase from a panel is still a separate procurement, but much of the heavy lifting on due diligence has already been done. New Zealand’s government procurement framework uses similar ideas with its collaborative and AoG contracts.

Pukeko Learning Solutions already works inside these kinds of arrangements:

We’re on the New Zealand’s All‑of‑Government panel for learning services.
We’re on the DFAT panel in Australia.
We’re on a local council panel in New Zealand.

When you have an approved panel to work with, approvals are often faster, risk checks are already done, and you can focus your energy on shaping the right solution rather than wrestling with process.

6. Decide how you’ll evaluate responses

To keep your decision defensible, be clear about what “good” looks like. Typical evaluation criteria for L&D projects include:

Understanding of your context and business problem.
Quality and suitability of the proposed learning approach.
Experience with similar audiences or sectors.
Accessibility, inclusion and cultural responsiveness.
Project management and delivery capability.
Price and overall value for money.

You can then assign simple weightings (for example, 40% solution quality, 30% experience, 20% price, 10% ways of working).

Both New Zealand and Australian guidance emphasise that value for money is about balancing cost, quality and risk over the whole life of the contract – not just choosing the cheapest bid.

Agree your criteria internally, keep a basic scoring sheet, and you’ll have a clear audit trail if anyone later asks “why this supplier?”.

7. Plan governance, SMEs and risk upfront

Before you go to market, decide:

Who sponsors the project and owns the budget.
Who will be your day‑to‑day contact with the supplier.
Which subject-matter-experts (SMEs) you’ll involve, and how available they’ll realistically be.
How reviews and sign‑off will work (rounds, timeframes, decision‑makers).
Any key risks (legal, privacy, safety, reputation) that suppliers must manage.

8. Make it easy for your manager to say “yes”

By the time you’re ready to approach suppliers, you’ll want a short, sharp pack that shows your manager you’ve done a proper job:

✔ A clear problem statement and desired outcomes.

✔ A snapshot of learners and context.

✔ A defined scope of what you’re buying.

✔ Your chosen route to market (panel, RFQ, RFP) and why.

✔ Your evaluation criteria and weightings.

✔ A quick overview of governance, SMEs and key risks.

When those pieces are in place, your procurement looks professional, your process is easier to defend, and suppliers are set up to deliver learning that actually shifts behaviour.

A practical tool to help shape your RFP or brief

To make this easier, you can use our checklist “How to Brief an eLearning Partner” as you put together your procurement pack.

It walks you through:

clarifying objectives and the bigger picture
describing your learners and SMEs
surfacing non‑negotiables, tone and style
planning feedback and sign‑off
signalling that you’re open to transformation, not just content conversion

A clear, well-designed RFP gives suppliers a good understanding of your world, and it shows your manager that you’ve gone well beyond “just getting a quote” to designing a process that will deliver real impact.