Procuring goods and services responsibly: a guide to creating LGBTQ+ inclusive supply chains

Inclusive procurement is an essential part of creating LGBTQ+ inclusive workplaces.

Your purchasing power can provide unique opportunities to drive forwards LGBTQ+ inclusion beyond your four walls; and your partnerships with suppliers are a chance for you to create lasting change in the UK workforce and beyond.  

But inclusive procurement practices often come as an afterthought. Responsibility for supply chain management is often spread across many parts of an organisation, making it difficult to embed inclusivity in policy, process and practice.  

This guide is designed to introduce you to the value of inclusive procurement, how it can benefit your organisation, and how you can make it happen. It will cover key considerations to help you assess your current procurement processes.  

Further bitesized guides will explore three key steps: building inclusivity into the tendering process; holding suppliers to account; and collaborating with suppliers to share and develop good practice. 

You can use these together as a step-by-step guide for getting started on making your supply chains as inclusive as possible.

Why are inclusive supply chains important?

Your suppliers represent your organisation when they are contracted to work for you. Ensuring that their behaviour aligns with your company values will help ensure positive representation for your organisation, both inside and outside your workplace. 

By introducing your LGBTQ+ inclusion work to your suppliers, you can help support their LGBTQ+ workforce as well. In sharing your internal good practice regarding your employee policies, for example, you may positively influence your supplier to assess their own policies. Collaborative working to support your supplier’s recruitment teams or Equality and Diversity staff can also help foster a stronger working relationship between your organisations. 

The direct interactions your employees have with supplier staff can positively affect their wellbeing and ability to feel free to be themselves. Your efforts to create an LGBTQ+ inclusive culture internally can be bolstered by your supplier staff, to ensure a more supportive working environment for everyone. 

Conversely, if an employee is being harassed at work or a client or customer feels they are being discriminated against when using your organisation’s services, this may reflect on you directly instead of your supplier. Even if your own employees are given LGBTQ+ inclusive training, inappropriate behaviour coming from your supplier’s employees could negatively impact your LGBTQ+ employees, customers, or clients.

What’s in it for you? 

An inclusive procurement process helps your organisation demonstrate a visible commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion. This can benefit your organisation in a number of ways: 

• Recruiting diverse talent – Outlining your inclusive procurement processes will help show that inclusion is one of your core company values in all areas of your work. By sharing details of your inclusive procurement practices on your recruitment adverts or on your website, you may encourage more LGBTQ+ applicants to consider working for your organisation.
• Promoting better working relations with your supply chain – Sharing good practice can help foster stronger communication and create a more collaborative relationship with your suppliers. This may benefit your organisation long-term – for example, when working contracts are up for renewal.
• Ensuring consistent messaging within your organisation – When inclusion is a core value that is visible in all business areas, you’re sending a clear signal to everyone in and outside of your organisation. Your communication will be more authentic and more impactful. 
• Supporting your internal LGBTQ+ workforce – You may have LGBTQ+ employees that work directly with your suppliers. By working to improve your procurement processes, you may help your LGBTQ+ workforce feel safer and more included at work. 

Want to advance your work even further by developing your procurement team’s inclusivity?  

We run 90-minute Empowerment workshops on embedding LGBTQ+ inclusion in your supply chain. You can find more information here, or reach out to prospect@stonewall.org.uk now to book your session.