Inclusive Sourcing has become a topic of interest as procurement activities and spend represent a significant opportunity for companies to promote inclusive practices and maximize their “inclusion footprint”.

Yet, understanding and assessing the impact of your suppliers’ operations and the challenges they are experiencing is a complex task , especially for global businesses. How can companies help support and empower vulnerable workers within their supply chains? How can companies ensure inclusive practices are adopted in their supply chains and leverage these to build resilience? And how can companies build capacity for more sustainable and inclusive practices among their suppliers and contractors?

To answer these questions and help members and the wider business community improve their social footprint by embedding inclusion in their supply chains, B4IG’s Inclusive Sourcing Methodology aims at equipping procurement teams with practical and operational tools to embed inclusive sourcing principles in their procurement practices.

We share this Methodology with a keen understanding of the challenges that businesses have faced and will face in the future. However, we hope that by fostering more open talks and knowledge transfers across the global business community, this guidance can help companies on their journey towards more inclusive supply chains.

Acting as a guide, the Methodology is divided into 3 development stages, broken down into tangible steps accompanied by links to useful existing tools, illustrations based on best practices, and practical tips to ensure effective implementation, including recommendations for effective human resources allocations.

• Stage 1: Engage your team and leadership on a common vision

How to engage your team and leadership on a common vision for tomorrow (understanding the current challenges, building a strong commitment from top management, and ensuring that the right resources are leveraged to move forward).

• Stage 2: Build your Inclusive Sourcing roadmap

How to develop an effective Inclusive Sourcing roadmap (setting priorities, assessing suppliers, identifying required partners, and building business cases while ensuring the proper monitoring of activities).

• Stage 3: Ensure your company is engaging in a transformational journey

How to ensure your company  sets out on a transformational journey (formalizing and communicating – both internally and externally – on commitments, adapting accordingly existing procurement processes and governance system).

In addition to the Methodology and its Appendix of examples, B4IG has developed a Self-Assessment tool to help companies measure their inclusive sourcing practices against a scale of basic to advanced measures.