How should requesting companies support their trading partners during the assessment?

To promote a seamless assessment process, the contact at the requesting company that manages the Sustainable Procurement program typically has four main expected actions. They are: 

1. Provide correct mandatory information about the trading partners being invited for the assessment
   • For effective supplier onboarding, we ask that you provide the following accurate information about the invited company
     1. Full name of the contact person
     2. Phone number
     3. Email address
     4. Job Title 
   • We also ask that you update the correct Requesting contact within your organization who holds the responsibility for that supplier. 

This information helps us to engage the company through the assessment process and provide the necessary assistance at each stage of its assessment journey. This also ensures the speedy registration of the trading partner on the EcoVadis platform. 

2. Inform your trading partners in advance of sending out the assessment request. 
   • Informing your trading partners upfront that EcoVadis will reach out to them with a request to register on your platform and start the assessment questionnaire is one of the key success factors for increasing the overall campaign response rate.
   • We recommend having your buyers or account managers inform your trading partners about your Sustainable Procurement initiative, your goals and the role EcoVadis has as an external partner in performing the assessment on your behalf. 
     
     
3. Monitor your trading partners' assessment progress and be reactive to requests for assistance from both your trading partners and the EcoVadis Network Growth Team.
   • On occasion, we may need your support and quick action in one of the following scenarios
     1. Your trading partner does not wish to participate or asks for your confirmation before participating
     2. Your trading partner requests for us to change the scope of their assessment
     3. Your trading partners’ contact phone number is incorrect or the emails are bouncing back
     4. Your trading partner has already missed several deadlines despite the best efforts to engage them from our Network Growth Team. In this case, we would need you to directly reach out to your trading partner.
        
        
4. Review the EcoVadis Sustainability Scorecards once published
   • Assessment requestors should regularly review the scorecards of their trading partners in order to compare the results with their overall sustainable procurement goals, define improvement areas and collaborate with the trading partner via the Corrective Action Plan tool.