Modern Slavery, Responsible Sourcing and Community Engagement have emerged as the issues on which greatest improvement is being made through leadership, learning and support across the construction industry in 2018 - according to sector-wide survey of built-environment contracting organisations and supply-chain companies, undertaken by the Supply Chain Sustainability School.
The School is clearly and consistently credited with having a significant positive impact on users tackling these key issues throughout the industry. In the survey, more than four in every five companies achieving improved understanding of both Modern Slavery (82%) and Responsible Sourcing (81%) state that the School has helped them achieve these results. Some two out of three (66%) also attributed their increased levels of Community Engagement to assistance received from the School.
For Dale Turner, Director of Procurement and Supply Chain at Skanska UK, the School continues to be the go-to resource for increasing Sustainability knowledge and competence: “One of the current key challenges in our industry is providing greater transparency through the tiers of our supply chain. The School’s resources are having a positive effect on Modern Slavery knowledge and increasing the focus on continuous improvement in this area. It’s also really encouraging to see improvement in Responsible Sourcing.”
The impact of the School is also highlighted for the same priority issues by Anne Smales, Head of Procurement and Supply Chain, London South East, Bouygues UK. She said: “The Supply Chain Sustainability School plays a key role in helping our supply chain to better understand major industry themes such as Modern Slavery and Responsible Sourcing, and as a Partner Member we are very pleased to support their work and continue to encourage our supply chain to use the plethora of great quality, free resources available.”
Alongside Modern Slavery and Responsible Sourcing, Community Engagement was the other topic most flagged as being of interest and impact for the School. In the case of Ground Control Ltd, who have attended many events through the School and been an active participant in leading initiatives, this proved an area of significant opportunity.
Keith Buckle, Client Relationship Manager said: “The School provided the perfect platform to discuss Community Engagement with one of our FM partners and as a result we are proud to say that we took steps to engage in, and subsequently became signatories to Ban The Box; a Business in the Community initiative which highlights how businesses can provide ex-offenders with the skills and employment opportunities that will help to turn their lives around.
“In a win-win for social and economic sustainability, supporting an initiative which hopefully may help to break the cycle of reoffending will also serve to provide our business with access to diverse, untapped talent,” Keith continued.
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