D & I
HOW DO YOU FIND THAT UNCONSCIOUS BIAS CAN AFFECT ENVIRONMENTAL AND BUSINESS DECISIONS ?
Javette With respect to bias , it can make a difference in terms of how decisions are made . There can be considerations based on situations that impact one economically . It could be an underserved community versus a community that is , perhaps , well off . So if a decision is made to provide more focus on one versus the other , that certainly is an example where bias could come into play .
Peter If I look at supplier diversity , there ’ s definitely a bias around having a supplier diversity programme .
I ’ m in Amsterdam in Europe , so supplier diversity is not as mature yet as , for instance , in the US . People still have the misconception about hiring businesses because they ’ re diverse . And of course , that ’ s not the case — it ’ s more about creating access and more of an equal playing field or equally level playing field so that companies that are otherwise not on our radar have an opportunity to bid for work .
At the end of the day , they still have to bid for the work — they still have to be the entrepreneur and bring the right solution . You constantly have to explain that there ’ s also a bias around diverse suppliers themselves that are small and they ’ re not ready to supply to our company .
That ’ s where we , as leaders of supplier diversity programmes come into play , because we help them to be ready for that , making sure that they can really bring their innovative solutions to our supply chain and are ready to be a good , strong supplier to us .
I had a conversation last time when I went to a diverse supplier and they said , when we come in to support our clients , they expect us to be all diverse . And I said the fact that I ’ m a diverse person in business doesn ’ t mean that I only have people from my own community working for me .
I myself am an inclusive business as well . So there ’ s a lot of those kinds of concessions that we have to demystify as well . WATCH NOW
The Diversity & Inclusion Forum at Sustainability Live D & I 2024
98 February 2025