Do you know what percent of your suppliers are owned by BIPOC or women, and how much you spend with them? If not, get that breakdown, analyze if you are where you want to be and, if not, set goals and adjust your procurement processes so you can meet your goals. You should also have your Procurement Department review your internal policies to identify any that prevent small, diverse businesses from supplying your company and eliminate them. Finally, review the types of services you procure and target a change in those with robust local suppliers.
*Small Business Pro Tip: Evaluate your supply chain. Make sure to include where you get your office supplies, catering, gifts, etc.
Resources
Have your procurement team:
- Review these best practices from the Washington State Office of Minority & Women’s Business (article, < 10 minutes).
- Think through the services you procure and search through resources like the Minority Business Directory of Colorado to see the different categories of services available to you. Identify a few services currently provided by non-diverse suppliers that could be moved to diverse suppliers and start the process to make a change. Think outside of the box, such as with janitorial, security, client gifts or catering services.
- Review the Supplier Diversity Impact Indicator from Hootology for best practices and enhancements for tracking results and identify your current supplier diversity metrics.