Suppliers
EDI action should look not only at your policies and practices for your own workforce but also how you select and collaborate with your suppliers. In your procurement, you can take simple steps like encouraging existing suppliers to engage with EDI and incorporating EDI requirements into your contracts. Large organisation can take steps to make their procurement process as transparent and accessible for small ethnic-minority-owned businesses.
This section of the toolkit offers recommendations on how to foster diverse supply chains and use your purchasing power to boost collaboration on EDI in the digital and tech sector.
Incorporate EDI as part of your contract requirements for procurement
Being intentional about EDI means recognising the value that it can bring to every aspect of your business, including procurement. Making this a pre-qualification requirement will ensure that all suppliers appointed are equally committed to diversity and inclusion. Taking a stance against working with organisations that do not demonstrate a commitment to EDI helps to ensure that your organisation’s actions align with its words, and you are making a positive contribution to a fairer society.
You may wish to set out a supplier diversity charter that outlines the types of businesses that you want to work with. See an example of a supplier diversity charter from Capita.
Consider developing a supplier diversity policy to ensure your procurement team complies with your EDI commitment. This policy should clearly outline how contractors will be assessed in their approach to EDI, both in the initial tendering process and throughout the length of the contract. This policy should appear as an appendix to all procurement documents, including invitations to tender and requests for proposals.
Make a proactive effort to seek out and work with diverse suppliers
When using external suppliers, the overall responsibility for EDI remains with the business instructing those suppliers. It is crucial that each business makes a proactive effort to seek out and use diverse suppliers. Asking organisations about their understanding of and commitment to EDI can help you work out whether you would like to engage further with them or not.
It is important that procurement managers have an understanding and belief in the business EDI strategy, to ensure and encourage a diverse supply chain.
An organisation’s choice of suppliers has a direct and significant impact on its own workforce, and highlights its commitment to EDI. By making it clear that your business partnerships are rooted in a core set of shared values like EDI commitment, you will be able to better identify suitable organisations.
Big companies need to make their supply chain and opportunities much more attractive to small businesses.
Simplification is the way forward. There needs to be realistic definitions to make procurement processes simpler for onboarding suppliers because that is making doing business with large corporates very unattractive.