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5
Workforce and Culture
B
ehind the ecolabels, standards, tools, and technology are the pro-
curement professionals and other staff who make the decisions to
move sustainable procurement programs forward. Alicia Culver
from the Responsible Purchasing Network noted that one best practice
organizations can use is to institutionalize sustainable procurement,
which ensures top-level support. Procurement professionals do not want
to make decisions for end users unless the policy is clear to all stakehold-
ers, Ms. Culver noted. Organizations need to determine a process for
collaboration among different parts of the organization, adopt a policy
with clear goals and reporting requirements, and establish communica-
tion and outreach strategies. Collecting baseline data at the beginning of a
program is important for demonstrating the success of a program, show-
ing improvement over time, and identifying cost impacts and savings, all
of which could help demonstrate the case for a responsible purchasing
program.
Also, Ms. Culver commented, there seems to be a movement toward
decentralization of purchasing, which can pose challenges to sustainable
procurement. When the decision-making process is centralized around
green and sustainable products and services, an organization can often
negotiate better prices. It is harder to aggregate demand when each
agency or department is ordering on its own. Also, when purchasing is
centralized, it is easier to control and monitor purchases, which simplifies
the education and training process.
Participants discussed needs for training in the workforce, and one
29
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30 SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Best Practices for Instilling Sustainable Procurement
in an Organization and Workforce:
Determine a process for collaboration within an organization
ü
Adopt a policy with clear goals and reporting requirements
ü
Establish communication and outreach strategies
ü
Track information and establish a baseline at the beginning of a program
ü
Centralize procurement activities in the organization
ü
Alicia Culver, Sustainable Purchasing Network, December 7, 2011.
participant noted that the roles and responsibilities for different workers
need to be clearly identified so that the proper level of training can be
targeted to that group for best results. Another aspect of this, said another
participant, is that a culture change is needed in addition to training. One
solution is to have a pilot-scale project in order to foster buy-in from some,
and then expand the effort to all, a participant suggested. Once a small
example is out there, another participant added, it could lead to larger
efforts and eventually to buy-in from leadership.
Training should be presented and viewed as education, and it should
be a two-way activity, commented one participant. Receiving feedback,
both data-driven and qualitative, helps point out opportunities for
improvement and reveals whether the training had the right focus. One
participant urged that culture change, especially empowering procure-
ment professionals to make more informed choices and provide guidance,
should be incorporated into the strategic vision of organizations; instilling
sustainability principles will not be successful unless it is connected to the
vision of the organization. Also important are promoting proper practices
and giving recognition to the people who are doing things the right way,
some participants noted.
Jonathan Rifkin from the District of Columbia’s Office of Contracting
and Procurement presented the case for an interagency, jurisdiction-wide
team capable of addressing issues around sustainable procurement. The
team should include a procurement professional who can move the pro-
cess forward and who understands how to write contract language that
can be readily applied. An environmental expert will also be needed,
such as a representative from the jurisdiction’s environmental unit. Such
expertise would help inform the purchaser, who may not be able to make
environmental value judgments for that particular jurisdiction. Mr. Rifkin
also said that people from budget and finance would be needed on the
team to overcome the notion that sustainable products are more expen-
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31
WORKFORCE AND CULTURE
sive. Also important are people who could help recognize when a product
with higher initial costs would result in savings over time. Such sav-
ings, he noted, could possibly fund this type of program in a way that it
becomes a self-funding mechanism. In Mr. Rifkin’s view, another impor-
tant member of team would be someone from the office of the mayor (or
city administrator or governor), to make clear to everyone that leadership
supports the new approach.
Finally, having someone from the supplier community can be benefi-
cial. This allows local businesses to be apprised of sustainable initiatives
and any new requirements when it is time for a bid for particular types
of products, Mr. Rifkin added; such information helps them prepare and
be ready with any needed specifications. Pulling together this team ulti-
mately gains an element of buy-in from this very politically powerful
group of people, and turns into allies a group of individuals who before
may have resisted sustainability initiatives. Such an effort would have
many benefits, such as streamlining the sustainable purchasing process
by giving procurement professionals clear and precise guidance about
the process and making them a partner in it. This type of program could
also make tracking purchases easier, Mr. Rifkin said; effectively tracking
purchases is difficult, and without tracking it is hard to measure progress.
Such programs would also allow jurisdictions to be creative, he said;
states and local communities are the laboratories of the country, and giv-
ing them the tools and infrastructure to make decisions could allow for
them to come up with distinctive solutions that will help everybody. Mr.
Rifkin concluded that at the end of the day, bringing this group to the
table and asking them to speak to these issues builds buy-in, which is
probably the most difficult thing to achieve because of different priorities,
needs, and other pressures.
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