How can you ensure that your contracts promote diversity and inclusion?

1 Define diversity and inclusion

Before you draft or negotiate a contract with a vendor, you need to define what diversity and inclusion mean for your organization and your project. Diversity and inclusion are not one-size-fits-all concepts, but rather depend on your industry, location, culture, and goals. For example, you may want to consider aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, and more. You also need to clarify how you measure and evaluate diversity and inclusion, and what criteria and indicators you use to identify and select diverse and inclusive vendors.

2 Set clear and realistic goals

Once you have defined diversity and inclusion, you need to set clear and realistic goals for your vendor network. These goals should be aligned with your overall business strategy, values, and vision, and reflect the needs and expectations of your stakeholders, customers, and employees. You also need to ensure that your goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, you may want to set a percentage of your total spend or number of contracts that should go to diverse and inclusive vendors, or a target for improving the diversity and inclusion performance of your existing vendors.

3 Incorporate diversity and inclusion clauses

The next step is to incorporate diversity and inclusion clauses in your contracts with your vendors. These clauses should specify the expectations, obligations, and incentives for both parties regarding diversity and inclusion, such as requiring vendors to comply with relevant laws and regulations on diversity and inclusion, adopting and implementing policies and practices that align with yours, reporting on their performance regularly, collaborating on initiatives, and providing opportunities for subcontracting or partnering with other diverse and inclusive vendors. Additionally, you may want to reward or penalize your vendors depending on if they meet or fail to meet your diversity and inclusion standards.

4 Monitor and evaluate diversity and inclusion outcomes

The final step is to monitor and evaluate the diversity and inclusion outcomes of your contracts with your vendors. You need to track and measure the performance, impact, and value of your vendor network in terms of diversity and inclusion, using the criteria and indicators that you agreed upon in your contracts. You also need to collect and analyze feedback from your vendors, your internal teams, and your external stakeholders, such as customers and regulators, on how they perceive and experience diversity and inclusion in your vendor relationships. Based on the results, you need to identify and address any gaps, issues, or risks, and celebrate and share any successes, best practices, or lessons learned.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your contracts promote diversity and inclusion in your vendor management, and reap the benefits of a diverse and inclusive vendor network.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?