Procurement for Equality

Gender Equality within Procurement is an element that, more often than not, gets lost within the discourse of ESG commitments and goals. To remedy this, Logitech, alongside their fellow members at The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement, hosted their very first supplier day, spotlighting the efforts organisations can and should be doing to establish gender parity as an industry standard within Procurement.

To enhance their efforts, Supplier Day introduced one of our most important and effective values, Strategic Empathy. Designed to hone the event’s audiences, messaging, and content, Supplier Day works closely with the Coalition to deliver a thought-provoking event, in an empathetic manner.
Coalition-poster

 

Often when we think about ESG, a big focus is placed on the Environment (E) – for obvious reasons. However, that can often mean that the Social (S) and Governance (G) aspects of ESG get less of a focus. But it does not mean it is less critical. 

Logitech has identified, human rights (specifically gender equality) as an aspect of the Social element of ESG, where they can make an impact. Therefore they, and other like-minded organisations, have established The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement which puts the powers of the world’s biggest spenders behind creating more gender-equal practices. 

Only 6.1% of the total corporate spending in the US goes to black, women, and other under-represented suppliers, which is not enough! Organisations need to tap into the remainder 94% and use their corporate spending as a lever for change, establishing gender parity as a firm industry standard.  

Supplier Day worked with Logitech to launch the Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement, alongside their founding members Gender Fair, Zeotis, and Andela, to advocate the purpose of the Coalition through their very own virtual event. Designed with gender equality at its core, this event provided attendees with rich discussions that would allow them to identify the very next steps they can take to be able to create their own impact on gender fairness within procurement. 

Find out more about The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement here.

 

Our bespoke events are designed to relay core messages to your select target audience. If you have an initiative that could use the development of clear and concise messaging, book a meeting with our sales team to find out more about how Supplier Day can help 

 

Procurement for Equality 

 

On the 5th October 2022, Logitech, with Gender Fair, Andela and Zoetis hosted their first event on behalf on The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement, titled “Procurement for Equality’. Held 100% virtually, with 154 attendees from 28 countries, this event was a platform to introduce the Coalition, and its goals of leveraging the power of corporate procurement to advance gender equality, in organisations across the world. 

With the ambition of creating “real measurable change towards gender equality”, this event was a gateway for organisations looking to actively contribute to achieving gender parity, not just within their own organisation, but also within their supply chains. Through their participation, attendees showcased their desire to invoke changes and were equipped with a chance to become members of the Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement themselves and become Gender Fair certified – a badge they can proudly wear amongst their peers.

This event showcased an array of elements designed to captivate their audience including a live panel discussion and Q&A between Coalition members David Latten (Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Logitech), James Nguyen, (Head of Indirect Procurement, Zoetis), Amy Cross, (Founder of Gender Fair) and Carly Lehner, (Senior Director, Revenue Operations & Enablement, Andela), a fireside chat with keynote speaker Mary Ann Sieghart (Journalist, Broadcaster, Author), and breakout sessions on “Stories from the Frontline: Getting Suppliers to Take Action” and “How to make your CEO give a $%@! about Procurement”. 

 

From Left to Right: Amy Cross (Founder of Gender Fair), Carly Lehner (Senior Director, Revenue Operations & Enablement, Andela), James Nguyen, (Head of Indirect Procurement, Zoetis) and David Latten (Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Logitech).

 

Typically, Supplier Day works with one customer to deliver an event dedicated to their procurement team and supplier chain network. However, this event saw us working with multiple organisations including Logitech, Gender Fair, Andela, and Zoetis to see the impact the Coalition is striving to make as a unit. Our focus was to effectively launch The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement and its commitments, throughout the Procurement industry. As a result, the value that Supplier Day brought to this event differed from our previous events.

Recognising the purpose of the event we sought to infuse Strategic Empathy, also referred to as Empathetic Communication, as our main value to this particular supplier day, designing all content and communications surrounding the event, to reflect this value.  Supplier Day are industry experts in communication between organisations, procurement professionals, and suppliers. We develop the best methods to effectively convey messages of strategic importance, with special care to its tone and target audience. 

 

Supplier Day’s key value 

 

Supplier Day worked closely with the Coalition to define what success would look like for them. From this, we were able to determine what they desired from this event. 

For the Coalition, their goal for this event was to:

 

  1. To advocate for the Coalition. 
  2. To connect with a variety of individuals and encourage the signing of member organisations 
  3. To equip existing and future members/champions with the knowledge and expertise they need and identify the immediate actions that they can take to achieve gender equality within their organisations. 

 

To achieve these goals, Supplier Day leveraged our acute knowledge of procurement and supply chains to deliver one of our greatest values, Empathetic Communication. In the face of tough and ambiguous times, communication with suppliers should not stop, but it can be curated to be more selective and empathetic. This helps balance the scale between communicating on negative topics, and the desire to be positive and optimistic for the future.

 

So how did we incorporate Empathetic Communication strategically within Logitech’s event?

 

Helped select the appropriate audience

 

To effectively curate your empathetic communication, it is crucial to choose the most appropriate audience for your event. They are the bedrock from which all agenda and communications surrounding the event is developed. Being strategic and selective is key! 

Not every supplier/company will hold the same focus as you, risking an event to fail in developing long-term impact. However, by selecting the correct audience, you can invite those who are more aligned with your purpose and are more inclined to actively engage with your core purpose, maximising ROI. 

For the case of the Coalition, with their goal being to raise awareness and encourage membership within the Coalition, their audience was defined as corporate decision-makers as well as mid-level procurement professionals.  The aim was to imbue such attendees with enough information and inspiration so they themselves could be champions for the Coalition and encourage their organisations (as well as their suppliers) to become Gender Fair. 

When it came to selecting organisations, Supplier Day helped the Coalition to refine their target audience to the companies, for whom focusing on diversity was a natural fit. Product manufacturing companies have a tendency to focus on the environmental side of ESG, while service-driven companies are finding that they can make a greater impact in the Social element of ESG. and would thus benefit greater by being certified as Gender Fair. As a result, we decided to target B-2-C companies with special and precise content that would resonate with such organisations’ goals and visions. 

 

Empathy Mapping for the audience

 

After selecting your audience, it is imperative to recognise any event, within the industry or globally, that may have impacted your audience in recent times. This is called Empathy Mapping, a process we go through with individual clients to dive deeper into the purpose of the event to ensure all messaging and communication, both internal and external, strikes the right tone 

Procurement is overwhelmed! From the supply chain crisis, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, and now the looming recession, procurement professionals are inundated with multiple scenarios that they must account for in their strategies. It is important to notice how priorities may have shifted due to such events and where the new industry focus lies. 

Tapping into the events of the wider community avoids the creation of tone-deaf/redundant conversations. By understanding the struggles of our target audiences, we can better define where our events stand in the midst of such troubling times, and how it can help. 

 

Paying attention to the language used

 

Finally, with the audience and Empathy Mapping in hand, Supplier Day helps to create the perfect narrative surrounding the event. We provide the guidance required to create a tone and messaging that has a lasting effect on its audiences. 

We worked closely with speakers on their individual sessions to ensure their content is in line with the narratives and clearly portrays the purpose of the event. This allows attendees to absorb the core value of the event no matter the sessions they attend. On average, attendees spend an average of 1 hour 39 minutes in the event sessions. 

We had the pleasure of working with many notable speakers on their sessions, including  Dawn Tiura (President & CEO, SIG), Clive Govender (CEO & Founder, CGC Consulting & BUCGC), Neha Shah (President & Co-Founder, GEP), Darren Woolley, (Founder & Global CEO, Trinity P3), Mory Ware (Procurement ESG Leader, at Cisco), and Deirdre Bradstock (Director, Indirect Procurement & Supplier Diversity, Zoetis).

Each session was enriched with our expertise in strategic empathy to ensure that key information is being relayed in an empathetic manner. Supplier Day strives to strike the right balance between acknowledging the tough experiences organisations/suppliers are going through whilst celebrating the overall successes and positive achievements. 

 

From Left to Right: David Latten (Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Logitech), Dawn Tiura (President & CEO, SIG), Clive Govender (CEO & Founder, CGC Consulting & BUCGC).

“The content grabbed people enough to attend [the event] and to hang around”   David Latten, Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Logitech

 

What success did we drive? 

 

After the completion of the event, Supplier Day measured the success of the event against 3 KPIs.

 

1)  Attendance: 

The number of people who attended vs the number of registrations received. 

Goal: To have 30% of registered individuals attend the event. 

Achieved: A 67% turn-out rate. 

Method: There was a great focus on delivering personalised follow-up communications with registered individuals, at regular intervals prior to the event. 

 

2)  Stickiness: 

The length of time attendees spent at the event.

Goal: To achieve a retention rate of 60% from the audience, from the beginning to the end of the event. 

Achieved: A 66% retention rate, with an average attendee time of 2 hours, 21 minutes spent at the event.

Method: Exclusive content was crafted to deliver the information attendees wished to see and hear. This coupled with the right speakers, who possess expert knowledge and insights, as well as effective session timings meant that informative yet engaging sessions were delivered across the events.   

 

3)  Audience Breakdown:

The percentage of attendees that fit the selected target audience of decision-makers and procurement professionals. 

Goal: To have 50% of attendees from our chosen target audience. 

Achieved: 70% fit the target profile. 

Method: To attract individuals of a specific persona to the event, targeted and personalised invitations were sent to notable decision-makers within procurement, with special care to target those who are actively engaged with ESG, Diversity, or Gender Equality within their organisations. 

 

These metrics allow us to accurately track the level of interaction the audiences had with each part of the event, which due to the effectiveness of the empathetic communication woven throughout the event, can safely be considered a success. 

In a post-event survey, 93% of attendees rated between 8-10 on a scale for how valuable they found the event for understanding what the coalition is all about. Further demonstrating, how the specially curated content and regular pre/post event communications, stood as pillars to the overall success of the event 

 

The importance of empathetic events

 

Events are a great way to start important and necessary conversations. After individuals, from a wide range of organisations, have gathered in one place, the spotlight can be directed to any number of pressing topics that are affecting Procurement in recent times. But to extract true value from your event, it is crucial to convey your key messages strategically and with empathy. Supplier Day leverages our value of Strategic Empathy to enhance the Coalition’s goal of increasing membership and leveraging the power of corporate procurement to instil gender equality as an industry standard. 

 

“[the event] has done a really good job at starting a number of conversations” – David Latten, Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Logitech

 

The impact such an event has on its audience is not only defined by the number of attendees, but more so by the long-term impact it has on its audiences and their organisations. 

Following the event, 80% of attendees felt very aligned with the Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement’s vision and mission, while 93% felt that they had a better understanding on how to take action on gender equality in procurement practices. 

Of course, an event must be as entertaining and engaging, as it is informative, which is why 93% of attendees rated between 7-10 on a scale of how much they enjoyed attending the event, and 100% stated that they would like to see an event like this at least once a year, with 87% believing there should be 2 such scheduled events per year. 

For Logitech and the Coalition, the engagement received via this event is a clear indication of the interest they exist around achieving gender parity within Procurement. And so with the use of our Strategic Empathy, Logitech and The Coalition for Gender Fair Procurement are well on their way to forming long-lasting relationships with like-minded organisations and delivering impactful and meaningful change. 

 

Our bespoke events are designed to relay core messages to your select target audience. If you have an initiative that could use the development of clear and concise messaging, book a meeting with our sales team to find out more about how Supplier Day can help

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