Why Clear Sustainable Procurement Goals are Key to Reaching Today's Management Business Objectives

May 3, 2021 EcoVadis EN

Innovative leaders like Firmenich have already been making measurable sustainability a part of their business objectives through product level, the people level, and the corporate level.  As a leader in actionable sustainable procurement, they have shown that although sustainability is a marathon not a sprint, it still provides important drivers towards today’s business management objectives. Having clear KPIs, goals, and targets along the way are key to moving and motivating  your team and trading partners towards the sustainability maturity that can drive innovation as well as value for your customers and stakeholders. 

Here are some best practices for utilizing sustainable procurement goals for maximizing impact: 

  • Goals should be clear, concrete and quantitative (KPIs),
  • Show the big picture: how sustainable procurement goals are part of bigger sustainability goals, and how defined results add up to impact,
  • Break goals and KPIs down according to program initiatives or CSS guidelines: they could be People, Planet, Profit, with associated KPIs , or departmental initiatives,
  • Require that suppliers provide a CSR assessment (EV score or equivalent) and identify acceptability standards , as an example suppliers embracing ISO 26000 guidelines,
  • Publish progress internally and externally over periods of time and progress towards achievement of the goals,
  • Make goals and progress publicly available on the company’s website.
     
Watch the short video with Firmenich on how to use sustainable procurement goals across departments to reach management business objectives here

About the Author

EcoVadis EN

EcoVadis is a purpose-driven company whose mission is to provide the world's most trusted business sustainability ratings. Businesses of all sizes rely on EcoVadis’ expert intelligence and evidence-based ratings to manage risk and compliance, drive decarbonization, and improve the sustainability performance of their business and value chain. Its AI-powered risk mapping, actionable scorecards, benchmarks, carbon action tools, and insights guide a resilience and improvement journey for environmental, social and ethical practices across 200 industry categories and 175 countries.

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