The Brief
The Compass Group European buying team wanted to reaffirm its commitment to ethical business and ethical supply chain management by reviewing its code of conduct for purchasing professionals and suppliers. First&42nd was appointed to review and rewrite the existing code of conduct, get buy in from purchasing teams and suppliers, and foster a culture of ethical and professional business practice.
Strategic Approach
- Benchmark existing code of conduct against sector peers/competitors, other companies that have established a particularly strong reputation in this area and standards set by industry organisations and investment benchmarks
- Review new code of conduct with employees and suppliers to get buy-in
- Run an internal training programme for all European purchasing employees to discuss difficult ethical scenarios, launch the new code of conduct and ask them to sign up to it.
Results
- Two separate codes have been developed – a code of conduct for purchasing employees and a supplier relationship guide
- A training programme was rolled out across Europe to introduce purchasing employees to the code of conduct and discuss grey areas. The programme received positive feedback
- Expected results are a better culture of ethical behaviour amongst purchasing employees; greater knowledge on how to handle difficult situations; greater awareness of internal and external reporting procedures; improved relations with suppliers; improved reputation for commitment to ethical business practice.