Develop Talent

Identify your desired sustainability competencies

To bolster your sustainability efforts, first, identify the competencies your team members need, such as an understanding of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, lifecycle and systems thinking, supplier inclusion and diversity, and the capacity to communicate the value of sustainability to suppliers and internal business partners. Consider integrating these sustainability competencies into your existing competency matrix to build a sustainability-focused team that can contribute positively towards your procurement function. Ensure your job descriptions reflect the importance of these sustainability competencies and that progress toward these competencies becomes a key topic in feedback sessions, performance reviews, and promotion decisions.

EXAMPLE: HP's Eco-advocates program

HP drew on sustainability experts worldwide to craft its internal education platform, providing employees access to podcast and webcast modules on various subjects, including conflict minerals, greenwashing, and the circular economy. Employees, including customer-facing staff, learn to brief customers and broader audiences on these issues.¹

Create a development plan and allocate resources for targeted development

Establish a development plan to address competency gaps. This will include supporting the procurement and supply chain team to build their understanding of sustainability and supporting the sustainability team to improve their knowledge of procurement and supply chain.

Identify your procurement team's skills gaps and devise a strategic plan for sustainability-focused upskilling. Facilitate training opportunities and equip your team with communication tools to articulate sustainability's value when engaging with stakeholders. Allocate the necessary resources for this transition, including budget and release time.

EXAMPLE: Microsoft's Holistic Approach to Upskilling for Sustainability

Microsoft recognises the value of on-the-job training and promotes the growth of sustainable skills within its existing workforce.² It utilises a comprehensive strategy that includes setting sustainability training goals, promoting in-house academies and rotations, and employing an upskilling strategy to build a talent pipeline while also encouraging a broader, skills-focused approach to identifying potential talent, even from diverse backgrounds and unrelated previous roles.

EXAMPLE: Patagonia experiential learning tours

Patagonia attributes its adoption of organic cotton to employee farm tours that instilled deep and lasting support to drive its supply chain transition to organic. ³

EXAMPLE: Energy company cascades companywide sustainability direction down to the functional level

INNIO, a natural gas and hydrogen company, has created a "Sustainability Review Board" to coordinate procurement efforts on sustainability. It communicates the team's overall direction, shares trends, and raises awareness of regulations. To ensure everyone has the knowledge they need, it organises monthly training workshops and sends targeted communications to different roles.⁴

Provide opportunities for external learning

Leverage opportunities for experiential, cross-industry, and cross-sector networking activities to provide practitioners with new perspectives that help deepen their understanding of sustainability issues and galvanise their commitment to sustainability. These experiences may vary. For instance, you can tour supplier facilities or local communities to appreciate sustainability issues on the ground.⁵ Or you can invite guest speakers to share new ideas. Their insights and perspectives will be received more openly if you bring in peer experts with insider understanding they can trust.⁶ You can also start with a more straightforward approach by inviting external speakers and organising reflective exercises that allow employees to examine their thinking on sustainability topics.

EXAMPLE: Bringing community leaders and procurers together⁷ Belgian NGO CATAPA hosts speaker tours featuring Latin American activists discussing mining impacts, Indigenous rights, and environmental degradation. They connect with procurers, highlighting procurement's role in mitigating these impacts and providing insights on fostering sustainable practices through supplier and community collaboration.