32. Contractors responding to the NAO survey highlighted the need for authorities to understand the operations of commercial organisations.55 The OGC agreed that departments had to respond to the business needs that they faced and the market conditions at the time they are doing business. It was looking at a range of factors that were necessary to ensure the successful management of the whole life cycle of a project. These included the need for specialists in procurement, project management, contract management and other key disciplines. It wanted greater professionalism and stronger capability on the part of practitioners who were involved in these disciplines, and to build up a network of people involved in contract management. Recruitment and retention of staff were affected by the fact that in a number of key skills areas there were wide pay differentials between what the private and public sectors paid for certain skills. There were also some pay differentials between departments.56
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