Supplier Diversity Program Best Practices

Diversity in higher education is more than just students and staff.  There is a third piece to the diversity and inclusion puzzle that is equally important for colleges and universities: supplier diversity. 

Supplier diversity is a program which encourages the use of traditionally underrepresented or underserved groups as suppliers, such as small-business enterprises (SBEs), minority-owned business enterprises (MBEs), woman-owned business enterprises (WBEs) and more, and as many universities and colleges across the US have learned, there are numerous benefits to implementing and prioritizing a supplier diversity strategy.  

However, the tricky part these days lies in prioritizing supplier diversity while still grappling with the effects of the global pandemic. For example, many higher education institutions have turned their focus to financial issues, enrollment rates, budget cuts, reopening campuses, and more. Among all of the competing priorities, how can supplier diversity program managers at colleges and universities help to keep supplier diversity initiatives top of mind for the institution and its leadership?

 4 Tips for Prioritizing Supplier Diversity in Higher Education

We’ve compiled 4 tips that supplier diversity professionals can execute now to better support prioritizing supplier diversity in higher education:

1. Focus on the economic impact:

Colleges and universities across the US have incredible buying power and spend millions of dollars each year. By implementing a supplier diversity strategy it dramatically increases the number of potential suppliers and promotes competition, which can improve product quality and drive down costs. After all, more sourcing options equate to a more resilient and agile supply chain. Prioritizing a supplier diversity strategy supports growth and jobs, and the ripple effect of that on the local communities that universities and colleges operate in can be profound. 

 

2. Get buy-in from senior leaders:

In order for any supplier diversity program to be successful it’s not enough to have the buy-in from only a select few in the university.  It’s critical to have backing from senior leaders across the institution, such as: presidents, chancellors, and system governing boards. Oftentimes what is helpful in this approach is breaking-down the big picture and focusing on what each department or role may view as highly important, such as: emphasizing the economic benefits, impacts to the university’s bottom line, reduction in supply chain risk, supporting compliance, and improving reputation.  

 

3. Equip staff and spread the word:

Outside of your department, employees may not be up-to-speed on the university’s supplier diversity program.  Don’t be shy when it comes to sharing your goals and purpose in internal marketing programs to help spread the word – for instance communicating information about the program within your organization’s intranet, newsletter or other internal channels. Outside of your organization, participate in local supplier diversity councils, conferences, networking events and other outreach opportunities. Clearly promote opportunities on how to execute business with your college or university.  Reach out to other supplier diversity professionals to network and share insights and best practices. Celebrate your wins and promote what you are doing by applying for awards related to working with diverse suppliers, put out press releases and share your wins on social media. 

 

4. Get the right tools in place:

Without a way to effectively streamline and automate data gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management and administrative processes, your supplier diversity program can only go so far.  If you’re ready to prioritize supplier diversity and take your program to the next level, it’s time to say goodbye to manually tracking diverse suppliers and certifications, dealing with questionable data accuracy and multi-system chaos, having limited or no visibility into multi-tier diverse spend, or working until the eleventh hour to create and submit critical reports. Higher education institutions like University of Houston, Eastern Washington University, University of Texas System, University of Chicago and hundreds of others, are turning to the powerful capabilities of supplier diversity management software, like B2Gnow, to support their diversity goals.  From diverse vendor search access to the largest certified supplier database in the world, to data enhancement tools that qualify and quantify current supplier data, to spend analysis capabilities that go deeper to understand diverse supplier data, to construction contract compliance that easily track and report supplier diversity on capital construction contracts, B2Gnow allows supplier diversity professionals to focus on meeting diversity goals, not chasing paper. Learn more about B2Gnow and request a demo. 

If you’re exploring the benefits of  increasing your annual spend with diverse suppliers, where do you start? 

One word: Data. 

Data, and how good that data is, is arguably one of the key pillars of a successful supplier diversity program. If your data is inaccurate or messy everything will suffer. 

You likely miss your diversity goals, account for diverse spend that shouldn’t be, miss a chance to showcase additional diverse spend your organization has influenced. You’ll also waste your time and resources, miss an opportunity to demonstrate value and economic impact to your community, as well as deal with potential repercussions for federal funding repayment, and the list goes on…and on. 

The good news is that there are tools and approaches that organizations can adopt to improve the integrity of their data, how they view and report on that data, and ultimately positively influence the success of their supplier diversity program and the communities they serve:

Move to Digital 

If you’re sacrificing hours upon hours of manually sifting through the data, living in spreadsheets or toggling between several different tools or directories, chances are there are more than a few data errors that you’d feel comfortable to admit. If this sounds familiar, it may be a sign it’s time to go digital and leverage the power of a supplier diversity software system that automates many of these tedious, manual processes. A robust supplier diversity software system, like B2Gnow, automates and streamlines time-consuming data processes with a click-of-a-button.  In turn drastically increasing data accuracy as well as reducing time and effort necessary to successfully manage a diversity program. Oftentimes the result is that organizations are saving 60%-80% of time spent on administrative and clerical activities, while at the same time enhancing impact and reach.

Invest in Data Match and Enrichment

How confident are you that you have the latest, most accurate information on your suppliers? Could it be out of date?  Who is even verifying the information is correct? Bottom line is, if your supplier data is not accurate, your small and diverse business spend is probably flat-out wrong. Many leading organizations have seen the writing on the wall when it comes to the importance of the latest, most accurate supplier data and have turned to supplier diversity software systems for their comprehensive and trusted data scrub and data enrichment services.  B2Gnow supplier diversity management software hosts the largest certified diverse business database in the world – from directories to local and state certifying agencies – to match all listed vendors to the certifications available for such vendors. In addition, the company enriches the data by providing additional information for each matched vendor. The result is the rapid ability to qualify and quantify your current supplier data to maximize current goals. No more redundant or inaccurate data. 

Go Deeper with Spend Analysis

Various organizations, such as government agencies, corporations, healthcare, and higher education, have unique needs when it comes to data and how they are tracking spend. For instance, many spend a significant amount of money on purchase orders or credit cards across a large number of vendors.  The issue is that this data on potential small and diverse business spend is lost when these dollars aren’t tracked and attributed. Software like B2Gnow’s Spend Analysis module allows organizations to quickly and easily capture and report on this important diverse spend data across their credit card and purchase order expenditures. The payment data is merged with B2Gnow’s extensive recognized certification and registry data, resulting in a complete spend analysis that allows the spend data to be visualized and utilized to granularly evaluate diverse supplier programs.  

Multi Tier Tracking and Reporting

Your program might track and report on Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers; however, your subs may also subcontract with certified businesses. This shallow visibility results in inaccurate reporting on your entire small/diverse vendor utilization, significantly understating your organization’s efforts. Effectively tracking and reporting on those deeper tiers may seem impossible; however, comprehensive supplier diversity management platforms can track goals and record diverse spend up to tier 10, all while ensuring compliance.

Ready to get a handle on your data and grow your supplier diversity program?

Say goodbye to tedious, manual processes, and go deeper into your data. Benefit from a robust supplier diversity software solution that streamlines and automates data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes, resulting in a significant reduction in staff time and cost – allowing you to focus on meeting diversity goals, not on chasing paper. Learn more about B2Gnow and request a demo. 

You’ve periodically thought about how supplier diversity software could not only positively impact your supplier diversity program, but… it would also make your life a heck of a lot easier.  Afterall, you have important community and diversity goals to meet, and you’re simply tired of chasing paper.  Moreover, you’re becoming keenly aware of the projects you could accomplish if you didn’t have to spend your time manually tracking payments, working until the eleventh hour to create and submit critical reports, running in circles with multi-system chaos, and spending way too many hours sifting through various sources of certified directories.

Not sure if you’re ready to take the plunge? We’ve compiled the 7 Signs it’s time to Invest in Supplier Diversity Software:

 

You spend countless hours searching and sifting through various sources of certified directories to find certified diverse suppliers.

After all that effort and time searching, you typically end up short of potential suppliers to fit your needs.  Plus, you’re not exactly confident in whether or not the data you found is up-to-date and accurate. You often think to yourself how nice it would be to have a one-stop-shop database filled with millions of certified diverse suppliers that you could filter and sort to match your needs – all with the click of a button.

You’re struggling with multitier tracking and reporting.

If you’re only successfully tracking and reporting on Tier 1 or prime suppliers that are diverse-owned, you know you’re missing out on the opportunity to improve your supplier diversity program and boost diverse spend because your primes may already be working with several diverse-owned businesses. The problem is effectively tracking and reporting on this, whether manually or through a multitude of different systems, seems like an impossible task.

 

You have critical, timely reports you need to produce.

Depending upon your industry and supplier diversity program goals, there are likely specific compliance goals, internal requirements, or mandated reports that you need to produce.  In order to generate these reports, you realize you need a consistent and efficient way to collect and accurately report on this data.  How you’re doing it currently isn’t going to cut it in the long-term.

You want your weekends back.

If you’re sacrificing your weekends to manually sift through the data, sending late-night emails, living in Excel sheets, and bouncing through a myriad of different tools to keep your supplier diversity program flourishing, chances are you might benefit from a supplier diversity software system that automates and streamlines many of these processes.

You’re not confident in your data.

If you’re leveraging manual processes toggling between a number of different systems or spreadsheets, or relying on a directory that isn’t exactly reliable, there is a high probability that there are more than a few data errors that you’d feel comfortable to admit. The problem is, you know you’re going to have a hard time meeting your supplier diversity goals if you’re questioning data integrity. Furthermore, you fundamentally understand that accurate data on diverse suppliers and spend can be the cornerstone of your organization’s success, contributing to both improving the economy, supporting the community, and encouraging innovation.

 

You’re tired of the multi-system chaos.

You have the process of toggling between software systems and spending time fixing the data field nuances down pat.  The issue is, generating a simple report, cross-referencing data, or importing or formatting specific figures from one system to the next is extremely time-consuming. You’ve often thought about how nice it would be, and how much time and effort it would save you, to have all of the features, functionality and data that you need in one system.

 

You want a better way to track payments.

The ability to track payments and report on diverse spend is crucial for meeting supplier diversity program objectives. Manually tracking as well as pain-stakingly managing the reporting framework and guidelines not only breeds error and inconsistencies, but it is not scalable. Leading agencies, organizations, and businesses understand that the ability to efficiently track payments in a streamlined and automated manner is pivotal to achieving diversity goals and growing their supplier diversity programs.

Do these 7 signs sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in good company with the thousands of leading government and public sector organizations, corporations, contractors and institutions who were tired of inefficiencies. They needed a better way to meet their important diversity goals – whether that be mandated compliance requirements by federal, state, municipalities, school districts and more, or supplier diversity program initiatives with goals focused on supporting the community, committing to high ethical standard, or encouraging innovation –  they turned to the powerful capabilities of B2Gnow, the leading provider of supplier diversity and compliance software solutions.

Benefit from a robust solution that streamlines and automates data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes, resulting in a significant reduction in staff time and cost – allowing you to focus on meeting diversity goals, not on chasing paper. Learn more about B2Gnow and request a demo.

The city of Houston is home to a vibrant economy, beautiful surroundings, and a population full of optimism and spirit, so it’s no wonder the city is one of the dynamic frontiers on the world stage. With its proximity to the Southern Hemisphere and having the infrastructure to accommodate the growing needs of numerous global interests, Houston has become an international destination and one of the world’s great cities.

Overview

In this case study, Velma Laws, Director of Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance for the City of Houston, details her struggles of manually managing data while tasked with simultaneously monitoring, tracking, and reporting on a variety of local programs.  In order to overcome these challenges, Laws and her team ultimately implemented B2Gnow Diversity Management Software in order to streamline and automate data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes of their Supplier Diversity program.

 

Grappling with Multisystem Chaos and Time-Consuming Manual Processes

Velma Laws, Director of Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance for the city of Houston, has to deal with an overwhelming array of data. She is responsible for ensuring contractor certification, compliance, minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) participation and payments for hundreds of contracts in the sprawling Texas city. That never was an easy task and was complicated by the previous method of data collection and analysis.

“We had four separate systems that we used to collect data, such as tracking status of certification applications, producing a printed directory and monitoring MBE participation,” Laws said. “Not only that, but our prime contractors had to submit hard copies that we had to manually enter every month. In fact, everything had to be manually entered.”

Then there were other staggering costs. Laws’ office had to print 800 directories a month for all city departments and prime contractors that needed the information, plus more printing of letters to contractors on subjects such as certification, compliance or payments to MWBEs – all performed manually.

To make matters worse, Houston’s last disparity report was completed in 1994 and Laws knew it had to be updated – another cost issue.

Houston We’ve Corrected a Problem – Finding a Better Way with B2GNow Diversity Management Software

In 2004, Laws decided there had to be a better way to bring the data, reports, contractor contacts, and notifications under control. She switched to B2Gnow, the nation’s leading diversity management software, and results were immediate. Laws said that the system eliminated a significant amount of manual entry and saved the city “thousands and thousands of dollars.”

The program contains all the contact information for prime contractors and MWBE vendors. Any data that a prime contractor input becomes part of the system, and because it is web-based, it is accessible to appropriate personnel such as other city departments concerned about specific contracts.

Another function that Laws consider time and cost-saving is its capability of sending fax and e-mail notifications about payments to contractors. All information is then routed automatically to the directories. For MWBE certification, the software follows the status of each application.

“It gives us a myriad of reports about certification, demographics, our MWBE database, and which companies aren’t reporting,” Laws said. “It’s excellent in terms of our monitoring efforts.  ”That is especially important because the city must oversee more than 600 contracts and the system clearly pinpoints who needs additional attention. As for notifications to those companies that may be out of compliance, the days of manually sent individual letters are over. Instead, the system is programmed to notify contractors and vendors in groups whether the issue involves payments, failure to report or falling short of contract goals.

“It saves us a great deal of money because it generates thousands of faxes and emails,” Laws said. “If we were to match that annually, it would require a great deal of human resources and postage costs.” For data-besieged compliance officers, Laws offers this advice: “Carefully analyze what your data gathering and reporting needs are and put those into your specifications because a well-crafted RFP or RFQ is the only way you’ll have a system designed to meet your needs.”

Ready to reclaim your time and ditch your multisystem chaos and time-consuming manual processes?

Let us take you on a tour of  B2Gnow Diversity Management Software – a robust, cost-effective solution that streamlines and automates data-gathering, tracking, reporting, vendor management, and administrative processes, resulting in a significant reduction in staff time and cost – allowing you to focus on meeting diversity goals, not on chasing paper. Learn more about B2Gnow and request a demo.