SMI Supplier Diversity Playbook
Chapter 2. Getting Started with Supplier Diversity Self-Assessment and Goal Setting
When starting a supplier diversity program, begin by evaluating current supplier diversity practices and use that evaluation to set goals for program growth. Seeking advice for getting started? Click the pop-out to view a few actions to take.
If you are further along in your journey, you can click the next pop-out to see additional examples to explore.
The components of a successful supplier diversity program include leadership engagement, program and data tracking infrastructure, staffing and interdepartmental infrastructure, partnership and community engagement, goal setting, and program marketing. The maturity model and scoring provide a measurable way for an institution to evaluate current performance of existing supplier diversity programming, benchmark efforts against industry best practice and support direction setting for future goals.
Leadership Engagement
Best practice includes an accountable executive and designated project manager or point of contact responsible for the stewardship of the supplier diversity program. While the role may vary across the organization, an accountable executive is a single, identifiable leader responsible for oversight of the supplier diversity program.
Program & Data Tracking Infrastructure
Success in this category includes regularly measuring spend with diverse businesses and developing a dashboard to visualize data. The types of data breakdown would include spend with diverse suppliers by purchasing category
and spend broken down by diverse-owned businesses. Sustaining your program requires developing a method
to track purchasing dollars spent with diverse suppliers and their certification information if third-party certified.
Staffing & Interdepartmental Infrastructure
Successful supplier diversity programs include a dedicated full-time employee responsible for supplier diversity. This individual is responsible for the daily duties to execute and measure the supplier diversity program. Collaboration and engagement across different areas
of expertise support the execution of a supplier diversity strategy, ownership over the work, and decision-making authority.
Partnerships & Community Engagement
Partnership engagement is essential for connecting with existing diverse suppliers and for the growth of diverse supplier relationships. Examples of Supply Chain Integrator
partners include chambers of commerce and supplier diversity organizations.
Goal Setting
Goal setting with key metrics
supports efforts to promote and showcase the success of your supplier diversity program and build and sustain momentum.
Introduction
Tools to Assess the Current Supplier Diversity Programming and How to Set Goals
This chapter’s main objective is to establish a deeper understanding of the components of supplier diversity, best practices, and goal setting. Click the pop-out for a quick guide to getting started.
If you’re seeking a deeper evaluation of your current supplier diversity efforts, continue to the supplier diversity self-assessment below.
Supplier Diversity Program Self-Assessment
The supplier diversity maturity model
is a tool to support the evaluation of an organization’s supplier diversity program.
Leverage the supplier diversity maturity model to assess your institution’s supplier diversity program and create a project plan. When utilizing the maturity model, review the six different focus areas of a supplier diversity program as defined in the executive summary.
Goal Setting, Getting Started
Establishing realistic and meaningful goals starts with understanding an organization’s capacity to shift spend towards the diverse business community. Moreover, it involves understanding who and what guides purchasing decisions across the organization and a clear definition of diverse spending so that metrics can be adequately tracked and reported. Below are considerations when cultivating your goals and measuring current purchasing practices.
One of the first steps in establishing supplier diversity goals is to understand the focus, priorities, and current state of purchasing within an organization. To achieve a clear baseline of your current spend, there are several recommended tactics:
- Define your program scope based upon specific priorities
and diverse communities the organization is aiming to impact. For example, the Healthcare Anchor Network Impact Purchasing Commitment is focused on doubling the spending of third-party women and minority-owned businesses explicitly. Leverage Chapter 1 to reflect on what supplier diversity strategies the organization is aligned with, such as health equity or supply chain resiliency.
- Understand your total addressable spend
. The Healthcare Anchor Network has developed a singular definition that its 70+ healthcare system membership adheres to. See Chapter 3 for more details on total addressable spend and how to cultivate a strong measurement process. Chapter 7 offers information about the various technologies that can support program measurement and tracking of goals.
With a clear understanding of your baseline spend, explore upcoming bids in the next calendar year to expand spend with new diverse suppliers. Meet with existing diverse suppliers to identify potential growth opportunities. With an understanding of potential purchasing efforts over the next 6-12 months, you and your organization can establish realistic goals for the program.
.
The tactics outlined above provide a roadmap for developing supplier diversity goals for the first time. The maturity model is a tool that can be used over time to identify an organization’s current supplier diversity program development and opportunities for progress. By reviewing each of the six key program areas
, an organization can choose which areas to celebrate and which need additional focus.
Successful supplier diversity programs include holding teams accountable to the goals. Examples of measurable supplier diversity goals focus on spend with diverse suppliers, the number of diverse suppliers an organization purchases from, and resources invested in the growth of the diverse business community. With clear goals and direction in place, in Chapter 3, we will review metrics in more detail to sustain a supplier diversity program.