How do I prioritize my trading partners’ improvement areas based on the scorecard?

Your trading partners’ EcoVadis Scorecard will help you understand their level of sustainability commitment. The EcoVadis assessment isn't a label or certification. It is an actionable tool that enables you to drive sustainability improvement throughout your supply chain:

As a requesting company, you can:

1. Set a minimum score expected from your rated trading partners, aligned with your company's sustainable procurement goals,
2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your trading partners based on the sustainability evidence in the scorecard,
3. Work on a customized corrective action plan for trading partners with low scores that do not meet your requirements.

Companies with an advanced sustainability management system and a high score can use their EcoVadis assessment to demonstrate their sustainability maturity level to their business network and prospects.

To convince your trading partners to collaborate and improve their sustainability performance, here are some best practices on how to prioritize the possible actions:

1st level: by sustainability themes, according to:

• Theme score
• Trend arrow of each theme
• Weight of each theme

2nd level: by benchmark, according to:

• Same industry (ISIC category)
• Give priority to the themes where the rated company seems to perform below-average

3rd level: by theme score benchmark, according to:

• Performance compared to the industry average
• Theme score distribution
• Weight of theme scores in the overall score
• Gap to best performers

4th level: detailed theme analysis, according to:

• Improvement areas (High, Medium, Low)
• Management layers: Policies, Actions, Results

Understanding the scoring scale

The scoring scale includes five sustainability performance levels:

• Outstanding (score 85-100);
• Advanced (score 65-84);
• Good (score 45-64);
• Partial (score 25-44);
• Insufficient (score 0-24).

Each level can be associated with an opportunity or risk for the assessed trading partner and the requesting company.

For instance, a score of >85 points (Outstanding) indicates a very high level of sustainability maturity, including:

• a structured and proactive sustainability approach;
• policies and tangible actions on all topics;
• advanced sustainability reporting on actions and KPIs;
• innovative practices and external recognition.

The advanced sustainability maturity of your trading partner bares rich opportunities for collaboration on product/service innovation, market differentiation and value creation beneficial to all parties.

On the other hand, a score of <25 points (Insufficient) reveals potential risks for business partners. A poor score can indicate, e.g.:

• a lack of sustainability engagements and an absence of measurable actions;
• evidence of cases of misconduct (e.g. pollution, corruption).

The impact on business partners can be severe, including failure to comply with regulations, negative brand reputation, supply disruption, etc.

This video gives step-by-step instructions for reading a scorecard from your supplier or trading partner.