Procuring for Impact with Beca
Image supplied by BECA
Social procurement, sustainable procurement, supplier diversity, broader outcomes–whatever you call it, using supply chains to create impact is now best practice. The Ākina social procurement programme is designed to increase the maturity and capability of buyers across the market.
Beca is an independent advisory, design and engineering consultancy employing more than 3,800 people in 25 offices around the world, Beca strives to ‘make everyday better’.
To progress Beca’s journey of implementing social procurement, Ākina conducted internal capability-building sessions, brainstorming how the organisation could implement practical actions to increase their impact.
With support from Ākina, Beca have taken an action learning approach, focusing on engaging with diverse suppliers through regional pilots and centres of excellence.
Beca also worked with Ākina to identify and understand the areas where they currently make an impact and how they can do more. Through this work, they can align their purpose with their procurement decisions.
“Ākina helped us in so many ways: their masterclasses and community of practice helped to grow the capacity of our team in regard to social procurement. They also helped us to understand the scale of the impact we were already having and how we could do more, faster. We now have a passionate group of champions who are leading the charge across the business”
Social procurement is now more widely understood at Beca, with a growing number of champions across a wide range of teams and an increase in the number of engagements with diverse suppliers.