To create a more inclusive and diverse work environment, organizations across various industries are taking measures to remove unconscious bias from their recruitment process. However, many of these same organizations fail to consider the impact that unconscious bias can have on their procurement process.
Unconscious bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our decisions and actions without us even realizing it. Within procurement, unconscious bias can lead to suppliers being selected based on factors such as personal relationships or past experiences rather than their qualifications and ability to deliver the needed goods or services. This can be detrimental to a business, as it could result in the selection of subpar suppliers, damage the overall success of a project, and simultaneously limit opportunities for minority-owned or women-owned businesses.
Various types of unconscious bias can occur within procurement. The most common types are:
- Familiarity bias: Where individuals prefer to work with suppliers they have had positive past experiences with, even if those suppliers may not be the most qualified for the current project.
- Availability bias: Where individuals tend to favor suppliers who are more easily accessible or top-of-mind.
- Confirmation bias: Where individuals seek out information that confirms their pre-existing beliefs or opinions about a supplier, rather than objectively evaluating all potential options.
- Anchoring: Where individuals may base their perception of a supplier’s value solely on the initial information presented or the first impression, without fully exploring other options.
The good news is that there are ways organizations can minimize the impact of unconscious bias in procurement by implementing best practices and strategies such as:
- Establishing clear and objective criteria for supplier selection
- Implementing blind evaluations in the procurement process
- Providing diversity training to procurement teams and regularly reviewing
- Updating vendor lists to ensure a diverse range of suppliers.
Furthermore, organizations can leverage the combination of spend analytics and eSourcing technology to improve supplier diversity initiatives by providing data-driven insights into procurement processes. Spend analytics help identify patterns of bias in procurement decisions by analyzing supplier selection data and identifying any disparities, while eSourcing technology streamlines the procurement process to enable better supplier evaluation by providing a centralized platform for managing information about potential suppliers, including certifications, performance data, and references.
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Simfoni’s Strategic Spend Terminal is a great example of an innovative eSourcing and analytics platform that can help organizations drive supplier diversity initiatives. Through its powerful analytics capabilities, the Strategic Spend Terminal provides organizations with a comprehensive view of spend and supplier diversity initiatives to help identify areas for improvement. By providing objective performance data, the Strategic Spend Terminal helps procurement teams make more informed decisions based on facts rather than personal biases or assumptions. Moreover, this powerful combination of spend analytics and eSourcing technology can also help drive supplier diversity initiatives by providing insights into the diversity of a potential vendor’s supply chain.
Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a diverse and inclusive supplier base that reflects the values and goals of your organization. It’s imperative for businesses to recognize the harm caused by unconscious bias in procurement and take proactive measures to address it. By doing so, organizations can ensure that their procurement processes are fair and inclusive, ultimately leading to better business outcomes and a stronger supply chain.
Build a strong and diverse supplier base with Simfoni’s powerful Strategic Spend Terminal. Contact us to schedule a demo today!