By Daryle Johnson, Manager of Strategic Business Development and Data Management and Visualization

You know your work has value and you’re very familiar with the tangible business benefits of supplier diversity programs, even if your wider organization isn’t familiar with them quite yet. Here are a few ways you could get more visibility into your program and more interest in the story you have to tell:

1. Track and measure more effectively. When you speak with leadership about your supplier diversity story, your data analytics should make it easy to tell the story you want to tell. This starts with effective and accurate tracking of your suppliers. If possible, track more than just the top few diverse suppliers you spend with. Work with your direct Tier 1 suppliers to get data about indirect Tier 2 suppliers impacting your business.

2. Study the top performers. Figure out which organizations’ programs mirror the results you’d like to see in your program, and study how they’ve achieved it. Share the results with leadership to show them the possibilities of a well-supported and powerful program, especially focusing on tangible impacts like revenue saved. Share exciting results that other programs have achieved with a message like ‘I’d love to see us reach these heights, and I think we could get there if…’

4. Highlight the benefits to the supply chain holistically. Especially when seeking investment in systems or processes to improve your program, even if it’s just an investment of time, showing how the entire supply chain will benefit may help justify the investment and add allies to your cause. The supplier diversity linkage to the supply chain is really a linkage to the true business results of your program. Small and diverse suppliers are often at the forefront of innovating their delivery model to meet customer needs above and beyond larger suppliers. They frequently have more flexibility and speed to achieve the unique results you need, keeping you on board as an impressed and loyal customer by keeping your business moving quickly in response to whatever comes your way.

5. Create more compelling data visualizations. Stay tuned for a Onebridge e-book coming out this week around how to create compelling data visualizations, the correct ways to use graphs, etc. To start, focus on fully understanding the data visualization tools you have at hand so you can use them as effectively as you can.

As you know, the ability to quantify program results is essential for proving your program’s success to internal stakeholders. Onebridge is here to help you turn the data that is essential to quantifying those results into an asset you can use to your advantage. As an MBE-certified and woman-owned business, data analytics services for supplier diversity programs is an intuitive part of our DNA because we understand both perspectives in a way that sets us apart--contact us now to find out more.