Include your sustainability expectations in your solicitation documents
Incorporate a sustainability section in the solicitation documents (Rfx – Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Tender (RFT), Invitation to Tender (ITT)). This will demonstrate your commitment to sustainability and set clear expectations for bidders in terms of sustainability practices and requirements.
To better define these expectations use the outcomes-based and technical specifications developed in the PRE-QUALIFY practice. You can also outline specific sustainability standards, certification, labels, and eco-material, that you are looking for.
It is important to also be mindful of the bidders’ time and resources and try not to repeat questions already asked at the pre-qualification stage. Instead focus on additional sustainability criteria. And make sure to avoid using criteria that cannot be assessed and verified.
EXAMPLE: Telecom company signals climate commitment expectations to suppliers
The telecommunications company, Ericsson, clearly articulates to all suppliers that the issue of climate is a priority by sharing a Supply Chain Climate Action letter which states that the company “is working in alignment with the 1.5°C ambition, and we expect our suppliers to join us on this crucial journey.”¹
EXAMPLE: Unfair bidding process leads to labour exploitation
A Human Rights Impact Assessment of Italian tomato supply chains found that retailers were encouraging suppliers to undercut each other through a time-limited electronic bidding process that rewards the lowest bid. The resulting price pressure was identified as the root cause of low wages, excessive working hours, and unsafe conditions further down the supply chain. To prevent price competition the assessment finds "it is essential that only suppliers that have been pre-qualified through, for example, meeting quality and sustainability requirements can participate in the tender. The criteria are same for all and suppliers are assessed before tendering."
Clarify the information you seek and your evidence requirements
In the RFx, clearly and transparently outline the information and evidence you will accept and count toward your selection criteria. This can include, external standards, policies, publicly available goals, life cycle assessment results, or other performance data.
Make sure supporting documentation requirements are specified and clarify the consequences of non-compliance with the documentation requirements, such as disqualification. But, be mindful that demands for documentation and verification, such as ecolabels, can crowd out SMEs and diverse suppliers. To help address this consider providing smaller suppliers with access to verification experts who can answer questions and guide the process, or identify possible equivalencies and exemptions.
Transparently outline the sustainability criteria you will use to evaluate bids
Provide bidders with guidance on how sustainability will be evaluated. Clearly and transparently outline how you will evaluate the submitted evidence, including your scoring rubric and your award criteria weightings so bidders know how much effort to put into meeting each sustainable criterion. This transparency will help bidders understand the evaluation process and prepare bids that more clearly demonstrate their sustainability credentials.
Help ensure your procurement is accessible to diverse suppliers
Make sure to understand your supplier diversity baseline and targets, such as a spending threshold for diverse suppliers, so that you can appropriately target the right suppliers in your RFx. This begins with defining small and diverse suppliers in the tender documents (e.g., BIPOC majority ownership or a social enterprise). And making solicitations accessible to diverse suppliers.
If expecting smaller bidders consider, modifying your communications to attract them, simplifying documents and selection criteria, and allowing joint tenders.
If dealing with larger bidders, consider including requirements, evaluation criteria, or contract clauses that require the primary supplier to subcontract a percentage of the procurement to smaller or diverse suppliers; or provide a supplier diversity plan in the proposal.
EXAMPLE: Vancouver's social value business exploration
The City of Vancouver is actively reaching out to social value businesses to understand their capabilities and promote diversity. Businesses can share insights about their goods and services through a brief questionnaire, contributing to the city's inclusive approach.²
EXAMPLE: CBRE’s supplier diversity program
CBRE's global supplier diversity, social and economic development program includes a commitment to create an equitable procurement and contracting process. It encourages diverse supplier participation and the growth of underrepresented groups in CBRE's procurement process.³
