Why Include EDI Questions in Your RFP/RFQ?

It's clear that, in today's competitive market, the success of your business relies on the strength of your supply chain. By evaluating potential suppliers' commitment to EDI, you can gain valuable insights into their corporate culture and values. Here are some key reasons why including EDI questions in your RFPs/RFQs is beneficial:

• Identifying Shared Values : In my experience, the most important consideration when selecting suppliers is "cultural compatibility". Including EDI questions allows you to select suppliers whose values align with your company's; ensuring a harmonious relationship and more effective collaboration and innovation. Including EDI questions signals to potential suppliers that these values are crucial to your organization, encouraging those who share your commitment to apply.
• Mitigating Risks : EDI considerations help identify potential risks associated with a supplier's operations. A lack of diversity or inclusion initiatives could indicate potential blind spots or biases that may negatively impact their services and, by extension, introduce reputational risk into your own business.
• Promoting Accountability : By asking these questions, you encourage suppliers to reflect on their current practices and potentially identify areas for improvement. This promotes accountability and may even inspire positive changes within their organization and, by extension, throughout your value chain.
• Improving Brand Reputation : Consumers are increasingly conscious of the brands they support. Demonstrating a commitment to EDI throughout your supply chain can enhance your brand reputation and appeal to socially responsible consumers.
• Compliance and Regulation : Depending on the industry and geographic location, there may be legal requirements and regulations around DEI. Including DEI questions in RFPs/RFQs helps organizations ensure compliance and avoid potential legal repercussions.
• Drive Innovation: Diverse perspectives lead to richer ideas and more innovative solutions.

But... Shouldn't We Focus on Core Capabilities?

While price and core capabilities remain important, overlooking EDI can be a missed opportunity. A supplier excelling in their field may still lack the inclusive culture necessary for long-term success and collaboration.

Why Not Include EDI Questions?

Some organizations might hesitate to include EDI questions in their RFP/RFQ process due to concerns about:

1. Perception of Extra Burden and/or complexity: Suppliers might perceive EDI questions as an additional burden, potentially deterring them from bidding.
2. Fear of Legal Challenges: Some organizations may worry about potential legal issues or accusations of discrimination based on their EDI evaluations.
3. Subjectivity : Evaluating suppliers' responses may be subjective, leading to inconsistent scoring or biases.
4. EDI is not a core competency : Companies with limited resources or expertise in this area might feel it's not essential to their procurement process.
5. Other evaluation criteria take precedence : Organizations may prioritize other factors, such as price, quality, or delivery time.
6. Confidentiality and Sensitivity : DEI data is often sensitive and confidential. Organizations must ensure they have the necessary security measures in place to protect this data and respect the privacy of their suppliers.
7. Contextual Understanding : It is important to understand the context of suppliers' DEI practices. Small businesses or those operating in specific industries may face unique challenges, and a one-size-fits-all approach to DEI questions may not be appropriate.

Crafting Effective DEI Questions:

Avoid tokenistic questions. Instead, focus on understanding:

• Supplier's DEI Commitment: Do they have a written policy? What are their goals and initiatives?
• Representation & Inclusion: How diverse is their workforce at different levels? What measures do they take to foster inclusion?
• Data-driven Approach: Are their responses hand-wavy, or do they include hard data on the lived experience of different communitiies in their organisation. Having an organisation that is 50% female is great, but not if the female employers are consistently biased against in promotion, representation, and pay.
• Accessibility: Are their products/services accessible to diverse communities?

Using Divrsity to help your suppliers respond to EDI RFPs/RFQs:

As mentioned above, the EDI questions in your RFP/RFQ require more than just words - suppliers need data-driven insights and actionable plans. This is where the Divrsity platform comes in, enabling your suppliers to respond confidently with robust Diversity and Inclusion metrics and initiatives; and enabling you to generate a holistic view of EDI across your supply chain. Here's how Divrsity can help:

• Anonymous and Secure Surveys : The Divrsity platform allows suppliers to quickly launch an anonymous survey, ensuring your employees feel comfortable providing honest feedback without fear of retaliation or bias. This is crucial for gaining accurate insights into their employees experiences regarding EDI in the workplace.
• Automated Results Analysis : Our AI-powered platform provides rapid analysis of survey results, generating detailed insights on various EDI metrics such as diversity representation, inclusion perceptions, and potential biases within your organization. These data-driven insights are essential for responding to RFPs/RFQs with confidence.
• Action Plan Generation : Beyond just providing data, Divrsity automatically generates a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan based on the survey results. This action plan outlines specific initiatives tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities within the suppliers organization, demonstrating their measurable commitment to continuous improvement in EDI.
• Collaborative Results Viewing and Editing : We understand that responding to an RFP/RFQ is a team effort. That's why Divrsity supports collaborative editing of EDI Questions and viewing of results. As a procurement team, you can analyze EDI survey responses, discuss findings, and collaborate on action plans together. This ensures a comprehensive response that enables your team to the insights gained from the survey. Imagine a situation where you can constantly view the latest EDI results and plans from your top-20 suppliers.

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Conclusion

Including EDI questions in RFPs/RFQs is a critical step towards promoting diversity and inclusion throughout your supply chain, and creating a more inclusive and responsible business ecosystem.

By demonstrating your commitment, and evaluating potential suppliers' commitment to these values, you encourage accountability, mitigate risks, and foster innovation. The Divrsity platform provides an efficient and effective way to respond to these inquiries with confidence, offering anonymous surveys, automated results analysis, and collaborative viewing and editing of EDI data.

Let Divrsity empower your organization to lead with Diversity and Inclusion, both internally and throughout your supply chain network. Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you respond to EDI RFPs/RFQs and drive positive change.

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• Or explore one of the articles in our Diversity Dictionary Series: Intersectionality, Ableism, Transgender, Allyship, Performative DEI and Anti-racist.