Supplier Engagement HE Tool

Provide your own suppliers with modern slavery information or guidance and ask them about their own approach and any assurances they can provide. A good starting point for resources and best practice is the Ethical Trading Initiative website

A responsible business is transparent and understands that Modern Slavery is more than a compliance issue. Legislation has driven rapid progress in this area and best practice is developing quickly. Businesses obliged to produce a transparency statement are encouraged to provide evidence of their commitments including appropriate governance and reporting mechanisms

Businesses are encouraged to explore issues and challenges relating to Modern Slavery and embed meaningful responses within their existing process and practice. These should be communicated to customers to provide appropriate assurances. This could be a code of conduct or similar approach. You are encouraged to link to your own activity in this area in the evidence box provided. Here is an example of a Code of Conduct which covers Modern Slavery considerations

Training staff about issues relating to Modern Slavery including how to identify the signs of slavery and human trafficking will help reduce the risk of modern slavery occurring in your business. You may be the entire workforce in which case access some training yourself! A free, online course is offered by the Open University which might be helpful.

Modern slavery issues could be highlighted in your own operations or you could become aware of something concerning in your supply chain. You should have a response that is appropriate to the nature and size of your business and recognises the need to act swiftly (best practice is to inform stakeholders within 48 hours). Complex international businesses may need a dedicated incident plan but individuals should know how to access information, guidance or report Modern Slavery concerns

Those rescued from Modern Slavery often need help to rebuild their lives. Some employers have developed schemes to support these individuals to re-join the workforce. Your organisation may be in a position to provide similar access routes to employment. Have a look at this Co-op initiative

A simple sustainable procurement commitment (buying 'greener' or more ethical products or services ) can be used to communicate what is important to your business. You may use certified products or services or choose to have your own certified. A public commitment demonstrates to your customers how you consider and address the impacts within your supply chain. Include them as part of your sustainability approach and report on progress accordingly.

There is a business risk attached to not having any understanding of your supply chain. There may also be opportunities to source more ethical or environmentally sound alternatives (those which produce less waste, have a lower carbon footprint, use less raw materials or are produced with less damage to the environment, and where good labour practices are followed). The starting point is understanding where the products your business depends upon come from and how they are made and transported. Don't be afraid to ask questions of your own suppliers.

Customers respect businesses who are willing to admit their mistakes; it demonstrates honesty and an eagerness to improve customer experience. They are also encouraged by positive feedback provided by others. Having a transparent approach to managing your feedback as part of your communications can therefore be a great way to enhance your reputation.

A meaningful process for dealing with customer feedback will be clear and transparent for your customers as well as your staff. It will be clear what actions and responses have been provided and there will be a culture of learning from negative feedback as well as sharing positive feedback broadly.

Inviting an expert speaker into your workplace can be an easy way to keep yourself up-to-date on what is important with regards to diversity. These can be linked to your industry and also support staff cohesion more generally.

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Consider if your recruitment process and practice could be improved to help you employ more people from disadvantaged groups. You may be able to provide support that improves the chances of care-leavers, ex-offenders or long-term unemployed to access opportunities.

Your business might be able to make a real difference locally by participating in work-experience schemes with more challenging audiences. These might equip young people, ex-offenders or other disadvantaged groups with new skills at the same time as improving the local area. Both the Princes Trust and the Career Transition Partnership have information to explore this.

From careers fairs to work experience placements there are likely to be a range of ways you can support skills developments in conjunction with local schools and colleges. The Young Enterprise Scheme is a well-established example.

Low-carbon skills across the whole of society are essential to meet the ambition of a zero-carbon future. A significant social value contribution your organisation can make is via outreach programmes and partnering locally to support skills development around carbon literacy. Consider if this is relevant to your organisation and how you could provide access to low-carbon training and/or development for the communities where you operate.

Businesses tend to struggle with similar issues. Explore ways to learn from the lessons of others, network to build a support mechanism and consider how partnerships or collaborations could support business resiliance. You (or your staff) might consider mentoring as a useful starting point.

The beauty of a small business is that it can be really responsive to changes in circumstances. Make sure you are using your size to full effect by accessing business support that is specifically tailored to your context, especially if you have ideas for growth or innovation. Here might be a good place to start.

Being pro-active about positioning your business to respond to tenders with fast turnaround times can be especially important to smaller organisations. The good news is there is help you can access to make this happen for your business.

Businesses should make an effort to seek out new innovations within their sector, especially in relation to resource or process efficiency. Are there new options that can future-proof your company from rising costs? Are your customers keen that you offer new and improved products and services. Keeping up-to-date can be crucial.

The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. They will impact on business practice over the next decade at least as governments are challenged to demonstrate progress against the targets within them.

Identify how your business activities contribute to the global goals or how they could contribute. A mapping exercise may be needed to identify both risks and opportunities from the SDGs for your business operations.

The SDGs could be at the heart of your sustainability activity with targets and evidence of progress part of your journey. Have a look at the South Yorkshire Police Sustainability Strategy to see how they have included the SDGs in the strategy.

Your staff are often at the front-line when it comes to communicating with your customers. Make sure that communications messages are disseminated clearly and effectively so that messages are consistent no matter which messenger is used. Training for front-line staff is likely to be essential to ensure this happens consistently.

Find ways to ensure your customers can communicate with you and respond to the stories you are sharing with them. Social media can be a great way to establish dialigue with your clients but an old-fashioned feedback form can be just as effective. Think about what will work for you and your customers.

All businesses rely on natural resources to keep them running. Whether you are boiling a single kettle, running a factory or managing a fleet there are ways to minimise environmental impacts and save money. Examine your business processes to see where you can be more efficient and make a plan to do more with less.

If you are committing to reducing your energy, water or other natural resources you will need to measure changes in usage over time to engage your staff and also communicate with your customers. Ensure your plans include details of how you measure and monitor your progress over time.

Reporting your approach to resource efficiency should be part of your communications with customers and other stakeholders. You could make this Action Plan publicly available by clicking the 'share' button to generate a link to you plan you could add to your website.

Using fewer resources is often something that relies on everyone adapting their approach. Ensure you communicate the importance of resource efficiency by providing staff with access to training. Remember that your staff are usually best placed to help you identify efficiencies - and save you money! If you are a team of one then tell your customers about how you work to reduce your environmental impacts.

Even the simplest audit will help you identify the things your business uses so you can consider if you can use less or buy more responsibly. For some things you may need a little help; a smart meter for example could help monitor energy use, tackle consumption and help you save money.

Even the smallest teams should find time to talk about how resources could be saved and how to work in the most efficient ways. If you are a team of one then tell your customers about how you work to reduce your environmental impacts.

At least one of your customers has encouraged you to use this tool to generate an Action Plan. The simplest way to keep them informed is to update it regularly with your progress. You can also use the 'EXPORT PLAN' button at the bottom of the page to send it directly to individuals, such as potential new customers. You could also add it to your website, if you have one, to make a more public statement.

A policy is a simply written statement outlining your organisation's commitment to managing environmental or sustainability impacts. It outlines the key areas of your business you hope to improve and so can include environmental, social and/or economic considerations and targets. You could use this Action Plan as the basis of your policy as it provides an overview of sustainability areas for you to focus on.

A simple blog post, a conversation with your customers or an update on your website is enough to share your progress, large or small. Think about developing a case study to showcase your work. Even the smallest initiative can be an excuse to tell a positive story about your business.

Even the smallest site (including the garden of a humble home office) can offer refuge to wildlife. There are lots of resources available to help you start thinking about how best to encourage biodiversity but the Wildlife Trust is a great place to start. If you have large or multiple sites you could be providing both a habitat for wildlife and creating spaces that benefit the wellbeing of your staff, customers or visitors. There may also be compliance issues you should be aware of as a minimum. If you are developing plans for your business ensure they are aligned with regional or national Biodiversity Action Planning initiatives that may be in place.

The products and services central to your business operations are likely to impact on biodiversity across the globe and well beyond your direct control. Ensure your procurement processes consider biodiversity as part of your commitments to ethical or responsible purchasing. Make commitments that relate to protecting ecologically sensitive habitats part of your approach to sustainability and reporting if appropriate.

There may be opportunities to support local biodiversity or ecological restoration projects in the local area using staff volunteering initiatives. Consider how you can support staff to contribute to this type of project in your area.

Your governance structure will depend not only on the size and scale of your business but also how it is structured. Governance can range from a small group of staff to external committees with dedicated staff. It is also acceptable to embed sustainability into existing governance structures. Consider diversity and inclusion as part of developing your governance structures to ensure a range of voices are heard and scrutiny comes from a range of perspectives.