Archive

March 13, 2023 In

IGM Financial

IGM Financial Embeds Sustainability in their Procurement Process 

IGM Financial is a leading wealth and asset management company supporting financial advisors and the clients they serve in Canada, and institutional investors throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Through its operating companies, IGM provides a broad range of financial planning and investment management services to support Canadian’s in meeting their lifelong financial goals.

In 2022, IGM Procurement identified a strategic opportunity to further embed the company’s top-level sustainability priorities within its procurement processes and hired Reeve to support them in developing a framework for internal capacity building on sustainable procurement for Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), and procurement operations.

Reeve engaged a multitude of key internal stakeholders in a series of formal interviews to inform a current state benchmarking assessment. This provided a snapshot of IGM’s baseline on sustainable procurement activity at the inception of the project. This internal current state exercise was followed by a similar external scan of industry competitors and similar organizations to summarize how IGM’s sustainable procurement processes compared to its financial sector peers. Upon the completion of the internal Current State and external Peer Review assessments, Reeve undertook the following:

  • Development of a strategic Learning and Development Plan to guide knowledge and capacity building within IGM’s various procurement teams (Strategic Sourcing, SRM, and Procurement Operations), complete with a schedule and library of key activities as well as various levels of engagement and corresponding desired learning outcomes.
  • Delivery of a 90-minute Training Session on the foundations of sustainable procurement, sharing case studies, and learning and development activities with over 30 stakeholders from Strategic Sourcing, SRM, and Procurement Operations
  • Development of a High Impact Procurement Opportunities List complete with 10-15 of IGM’s spend categories and their unique sustainability risks and opportunities
  • Creation of Key Performance Indicators and example targets for IGM to measure sustainable procurement activity and outcomes over time.
  • Delivery of an Executive Summary Presentation to provide an overview of the project and next steps to senior leadership.

At the completion of Reeve’s phase of work with IGM, the organization was well equipped with a comprehensive roadmap to guide their procurement teams’ learning and knowledge development on sustainability, of which several activities are already underway. Learning activities and internal capacity building is a key priority for IGM Procurement for 2023. The HIPO List has forecasted several key commodity categories that will be actioned on in 2023-2024, with outcomes and processes tracked by IGM’s set of Key Performance Indicators for sustainable procurement.

March 6, 2023 In

Ontario Society of Professional Engineers

OSPE Promotes Gender Equity in Engineering 

The engineering industry comprises approximately 14% practicing female engineers. One third of engineer graduates never enter the field due to their perceptions of the industry being inflexible and non-supportive of women, while one half of female engineers leave due to working conditions, lack of advancement, or low salary. On behalf of their members and in partnership with Women and Gender Equality Canada, Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) wanted to address this problem. OSPE established a project to improve equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) performance in engineering companies and support women to stay in the engineering field. Increasing gender equity in engineering not only addresses a shortage of workers but can also increase industry innovation due to more diverse views when tackling problems.

The focus of the project was influencing public sector buyers to increase EDI performance requirements in their public infrastructure projects. Public sector organizations are the largest spenders on infrastructure and, therefore, engineering services, so they are a powerful lever in the engineering industry. OSPE engaged Reeve Consulting as experts in public sector procurement to support them in their work to influence public sector procurement processes and increase EDI requirements in public projects.

Reeve provided in-depth training on public sector procurement processes, and the topics of EDI, then provided the staff with opportunities to implement their knowledge through activities, and an in-person workshop.

Reeve Consulting provided the following deliverables:

  1. eLearning program for OSPE team
  2. Webinar #1 Public sector procurement processes and how to implement EDI into procurement
  3. Webinar #2 – Skills for delivering an advocacy campaign with public sector organizations
  4. Half-day In-Person Workshop– Campaign strategy and implementation

The eLearning program provided OSPE staff with adequate background information regarding sustainable procurement. This information was provided through videos and reading materials to equip them for the webinars.

Webinar #1 dived into the world of procurement- understanding public sector procurement, and how sustainability is implemented specifically in construction service contracts. Webinar #2 allowed staff to learn more about the topics of EDI, specifically related to EDI performance in suppliers, how engineering firms could respond to procurement criteria, and how women would benefit from EDI policies, procedures and initiatives.

Through the in-person workshop in Toronto, Reeve Consulting ensured that the advocacy staff had a deep understanding of the procurement processes and were confident talking about equity, diversity, and inclusion in procurement. To build on this knowledge and to activate the learning, Reeve guided OSPE staff with activities to confidently deliver their value proposition and to be aware of potential public sector concerns. OSPE used stakeholder maps to prioritize advocacy engagements, drawing on Reeve’s established network of public sector clients.

Reeve Consulting concluded the project with OSPE advocacy staff feeling confident and well-prepared to engage with stakeholders after the delivery of the project.

October 10, 2018 In

City of Mississauga

Sustainable Purchasing Policy & Implementation Plan

Sustainable practices like minimizing waste, energy consumption and packaging is nothing new for the City of Mississauga; however, these practices are ad hoc, meaning it is not nearly as effective as it can be. In comparison to cities of comparable size, there was a lot of potential for improvement within the city’s Sustainable Purchasing practices.

Mississauga - Sustainable ProcurementReeve worked with the City of Mississauga to develop a sustainable purchasing policy and a three-year implementation plan. The project involved in-depth internal and external stakeholder consultation and a benchmarking exercise. The policy takes an inclusive approach to a range of key environmental, social and ethical objectives. The policy and the implementation plan encourages City staff to consider sustainability in the procurement process and to seek out opportunities for positive impact.

Reeve helped Mississauga embed sustainability in their procurement modernization process and apply it as part of the roll-out of their new online Enterprise Procurement Centre. We worked closely with the legal group and involved them in vetting the newly drafted policies and procedures.

At the conclusion of the project, Mississauga City Council approved the policy and the 3 Year Sustainable Procurement Strategy. This also inspired the city to put resources towards hiring a Program Coordinator to continue the Sustainable Purchasing movement by developing and rolling-out a training program for buyers, contract managers and client department teams.

“The breadth of experience and public-sector connections that Tim and the Reeve team have brought to the City’s Sustainable Procurement Initiative (SPI) has been invaluable. Their practical and proven approach gave our staff confidence that social and environmental procurement was attainable and aligned with our existing core priorities. The insights they facilitate through the CCSP Social Procurement Working Group has already allowed Mississauga to advance more effectively.” – Natalie Adams, Sustainable Purchasing Coordinator, City of Mississauga

 

Sustainable Procurement Explainer Video