CSDP

SUPPLIER DIVERSITY DIALOGUE

Actionable Items

Describe Situation (Challenge/Issue) / Group Feedback / Action Items
Limited Budget /
  • Find ways to take out unnecessary expenditures
  • Partner with other departments and leverage relationships
  • Provide a WIIFT (What’s in it for them) analysis
/
  • Look internally for departments to partner with such as Sales and/or Marketing
  • Identify “mission critical” components of the organization and provide a WIIFT analysis to them
  • Know the “drivers” for your organization (what increases sales and revenue)
  • Assure your function is “integrated” with the mission critical strategic focus of the company
  • Focus on your customer’s survival – it will enhance the ability of your company to weather the economic downturn

Limited Support – how to manage reductions in staff and devise ways to maintain quality service /
  • Reality is that you will have to do more with less
  • Look for ways to utilize technology to provide support
/
  • Reach out to areas that would benefit from partnering with SD (i.e. trade fairs, networking opportunities, etc.)
  • Look to streamline activities while remaining faithful to the core responsibilities
  • Utilize IT support to automate various processes. If that is not available, reach out to CSDP members for ways to automate various SD processes

Describe Situation (Challenge/Issue) / Group Feedback / Action Items
The Value Proposition for Supplier Diversity during economic downturn /
  • JCI has just produced a “white paper” on the value of Supplier Diversity
  • Identify the emerging demographics (Hispanics, African Americans, American Asians)
  • Highlight supplier diversity ties to emerging markets and the cost savings/innovation that small suppliers can bring
/
  • Distribute a copy of the JCI White Paper on the value of SD
  • Demonstrate how SD impacts the “bottom line” (your SD ROI)
  • Vendor mentorship to create stronger diversity suppliers
  • Know your company’s minority/women/disabled veteran customer base (if no direct link – segue to indirect link)

Risk Management – from perspective of Supply Chain and loss of Employment /
  • Must have transferable skills
  • Have executive level stakeholders committed to SD
  • Learn all components of SD (government, public, private)
  • Must have visibility to more than internal company members
  • Know your vulnerabilities and try to mitigate them through partnerships and alliances
/
  • Create a Supplier Diversity Council for key stakeholders
  • CSDP will work to have speakers for cross training in all industry segments of SD
  • Create a quarterly update for employees and customers
  • Advertise any awards or recognitions received
  • Be very knowledgeable of your risks and take steps to mitigate them if possible

Update on the state of Supplier Diversity – is Corporate America holding onto these initiatives /
  • Two major studies show that corporate America is still committed to Supplier Diversity, however, the OEMs are downsizing SD operations and some of their prime suppliers are reducing staff or using SD in double duty
  • Part of the challenge is connecting SD to business results and sustaining buy-in for SD
/
  • Important to manage the SD information in a strategic manner
  • Paradigm has shifted to assurance of “inclusion” rather than mandates- highlight the successes of diversity suppliers (cost savings, innovation, etc.)
  • America is holding on to the initiatives associated with Supplier Diversity, but not with a large staff. Functions are being streamlined

How can SD be positioned as a revenue generating department? /
  • Construction has the best model where the SD professional is a key link in the sales/proposal phase for new opportunities for the firm this segues into revenue for the firm
/
  • Engage the sales staff to accompany you to Trade Fairs/Networking opportunities. Show them how to “work the fair”
  • Engage marketing staff in soliciting emerging markets

There will be increased Government spending, how do we as SD professionals assure that we know the reporting process /
  • Get training from someone
/
  • Have PTAC or SBA attend one of our meetings to provide training on reporting requirements
  • BCBSM may have a booklet that can be shared regarding government reporting requirements

Questions & Issues for Discussion

Questions from 1/31/2009 meeting

suggestions included:

  1. Budget (reductions and how to manage)
  2. Support (reductions in staff and maintaining quality services)
  3. The Value Proposition for Supplier Diversity during economic downturn – Mission Critical How to integrate revenue growth in your organization
  4. Sustainability of your MWBEs (what their customer bases look like)-How do you help your suppliers survive-Leveraging suppliers in creating opportunities
  5. Risk Management from perspective of supply chain and the risk of losing your job – what should you do; what should happen?
  6. What does this mean professionally for me?

Questions submitted by Kimberly Coffman

  1. Update on the state of supplier diversity, i.e., Is Corporate America holding onto these initiatives, getting rid of them, or changing their structure/role?
  2. What we've heard of our supplier diversity colleagues across the country and how they're coping? Still have a job, lost jobs, lost departments, etc.
  3. How can supplier diversity can be positioned as a revenue generating department, beyond the ROI story? Is it, possible to charge customers for doing supplier diversity spend reports? Or Divide supplier diversity salary across regional sales offices and Inclusiveness and Diversity, since it primarily supports these areas? When supplier diversity participates in responding to an RFP, or working with customers, can we charge the sales team/customer a consulting fee by project?
  4. How to raise the value/visibility of supplier diversity during an economic downturn.
  5. What supplier diversity best practices should we be focus on to continue to demonstrate our role/value within the company? What internal/external projects?
  6. What are other recommended career paths for former supplier diversity professionals? Where are the best job sites, and/or recruiters for supplier diversity professionals?
  7. Is this the beginning of the end of supplier diversity? Or will it be temporarily suspended till the economic crisis is over?