Having the full support of senior management and the board is vital, but knowing as an organization why a supplier diversity program is right for you is crucial to keep everyone on track. Then to successfully implement a program, a person or team will need to be hired or designated to oversee the program. A strategic plan will need to be developed along with a working action plan that will require updating as the program is developed.
These documents will lay out the mission, objective, first steps, and maintenance plan for the program. You also will have to conduct internal staff training on the policies and expectations for the new supplier diversity program.
Some other key components of implementing a supplier diversity program are setting expectations with senior leadership on realistic goals and targets and what can be accomplished on an agreed-upon timeline.
Make sure the personnel responsible for the program get training in diversity and exposure to other professionals. Reporting will be vital to the success of the program. Calculate diverse spend based on the established targets on an annual basis to see if progress is being made, and make adjustments to the program as needed.
Barry Swanson Chief Procurement Officer. This team will also consider similar opportunities around Kentucky and throughout the country. Responsibility was assigned to a staff member who also was responsible for numerous other duties. This allowed for reactive services to be provided that were responsive to requests for assistance but did not allow for proactive activities. To expand our supplier diversity expenditures, it was immediately clear to all involved that a completely different approach would be required.
Proactive efforts that were prioritized, intentional and impactful would need to be implemented to achieve success. That transformation is underway as is evidenced by the below detailed activities.
Much progress has been made through the good work of many. What we have built to date is solid, it is sustainable and most importantly it is impactful. The spring semester project activities, goals and implementation plans are described below. To operate an intentional, sustainable, and impactful Supplier Diversity Program a dedicated resource is required.
A national search was conducted to recruit candidates for consideration to serve as the UK Supplier Diversity Manager. Upon completion of the national search, UK hired Marilyn Clark to serve in the position. Marilyn brings years of experience and relationships to the UK program and immediately resolved a credibility and trust deficit that was present with the Diverse Business Enterprise DBE community previously. This is important because building credibility and trust with the community is critical for our success.
George Brown, who previously served in a supplier diversity role in UK Facilities on a part-time basis, was moved from Facilities to the Purchasing Division to work with Marilyn. George also has a wealth of knowledge, credibility and trust with the DBE community gained through his years of service working in supplier diversity and in his role as a representative in the Kentucky General Assembly.
To achieve intentional, sustainable, and impactful success, it is important to collaborate both internally and externally. Monthly Zoom meetings to discuss supplier diversity issues were held with interested members of the campus community.
During the Fall Semester of the meetings were held weekly but switched to monthly for the spring semester. This committee will continue to meet in perpetuity. External — UK is part of an extremely productive Community Partners collaboration. The shared information and on-going collaboration are an amazing opportunity not only for UK, but for the community as well. This activity is a continuation from the Fall semester. UK has also joined several organizations that will assist us in growing our Supplier Diversity Program.
They also advertise our competitive bids and RFPs on their websites, thus increasing the exposure of our bid opportunities to the diverse business community. These groups offer significant access to information, networking opportunities and lists of suppliers. They also advertise our competitive bids and RFPs on their websites thus increasing the exposure of our bid opportunities to the diverse business community.
During the fall semester the project lead often referred to our fledgling Supplier Diversity Program as a four 4 legged stool consisting of the components listed below:. During the Spring semester it became obvious to me that a four 4 legged stool was accurate but incomplete.
To increase our expenditures with Diverse Business Enterprises an obvious initial requirement is to locate them so they can be contacted and made aware of opportunities.
This has been one of the hardest parts of the initiative to date. I am happy to report progress is being made. Activities in this area include the following:. This part of the project is key to growing our program and helping the DBE community. By working with DBE suppliers to prepare them to do business with UK we also prepare them to pursue other non-UK business opportunities. Activities in this area during the Spring Semester included the following:. UK participated in similar outreach events in May and will participate in additional events in June, July, and August.
The plan is for a 5-week program with an October start. Activities in this area included the following:. UK is looking at the above referenced areas to streamline and simplify its business requirements and to ensure we are not using requirements that are excessive.
PurchTips edition Here are four reasons why others do: Their organizations have a diverse customer base. By showing support for the demographic groups of its customers, an organization hopes to strengthen its appeal to them. Their organizations serve customers that support supplier diversity. They require their suppliers to support supplier diversity.
The government may require it. When an organization accepts a grant or contract from the government, that organization may be required to subcontract a portion of the award to diverse suppliers. Their organizations want to demonstrate social responsibility. Many organizations voluntarily utilize a diverse supplier base because the leadership feels that it is the right thing to do for society and the community.
Though it is a welcome approach, starting a supplier diversity program has its challenges. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
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