Why get support with your EcoVadis assessment?

“The companies that achieve the best results in their EcoVadis assessments are those where sustainability isn’t an isolated part of the organisation, but a key strategic driver.”

The EcoVadis assessment is widely recognised as the industry gold standard for evaluating corporate sustainability management systems. This reputation is largely due to its rigorous and comprehensive expert-assessed process.

However, this also means that it’s necessary to implement a number of measures within your company to successfully complete the assessment and improve your score year after year.

This can be challenging for many organisations, especially given the green skills shortage that continues to be a challenge across many industries.

So, whether you’re just starting on your EcoVadis journey or you’re looking to take the next steps, it may be time to consider working with a professional partner to guide your company’s EcoVadis journey.

Read on to find out more about getting expert help with your EcoVadis assessment.

What steps are necessary to complete the EcoVadis assessment?

Completing your EcoVadis assessment – and achieving the best possible result – is all about the details. From ensuring complete coverage of all your company’s ‘activated criteria’ (see our recent blog for more information) to meeting the EcoVadis document standards, there are many areas to consider. And having dedicated support from an expert consultant can be the catalyst you need to improve your company’s rating.

Why work with an expert partner to power your EcoVadis journey?

When deciding who to work with on your EcoVadis assessment, it’s important to be clear about both your current level of sustainability maturity and your EcoVadis goals.

The EcoVadis assessment is known for being wide-ranging, covering issues from biodiversity to product end-of-life. This means it’s vital to have a strong sustainability management system, your organisation’s framework for driving progress towards a positive social and environmental impact.

Working with an expert partner who has experience in defining and reporting on sustainability management systems can therefore be a huge advantage.

What are the common challenges of the EcoVadis assessment?

Without in-house expertise, completing the EcoVadis assessment can be a very complex process, especially for companies undertaking it for the first time.

A common challenge is to understand and evaluate your organisation’s level of sustainability maturity. This means how well the company is set up to balance making a profit with making a positive impact on the environment and communities.

The concept of sustainability maturity covers a wide range of factors, including certifications, governance structures, employee training and engagement with stakeholders such as suppliers and customers.

The EcoVadis assessment rewards companies with a high level of sustainability maturity.

However, if your sustainability maturity level is lower, or if you don’t have a dedicated sustainability team, it can be difficult to know how to go about evaluating your sustainability performance. That’s where working with a specialist EcoVadis consultant such as Nexio Projects can be invaluable. They can provide a comprehensive assessment of your sustainability management practices, as well as suggestions on how to improve.

What are the benefits of an EcoVadis gap analysis?

One of the main ways in which a dedicated EcoVadis consultant can help you is through a detailed organisational gap analysis. This involves a full evaluation of your organisation’s current sustainability management system and the documentation that you already have available.

It’s important to remember that the EcoVadis assessment does not measure your company’s sustainability progress in terms of results (e.g. emission reductions), but rather the quality of the management system in place.

The gap analysis will allow you to identify which areas of this system are set up for success and where further work is required. This will give you a realistic indication of what rating you can expect to achieve in the assessment without any organisational changes.

However, a thorough gap analysis should also provide strategic advice, delivering a roadmap to help your company achieve the highest possible score. This should cover all areas of your organisation’s sustainability management system, such as governance and target setting, policies and procedures, and KPI measurement and reporting.

Optimising your sustainability strategy for EcoVadis excellence

Once the gap analysis has been completed, your EcoVadis assessment partner can help you compile all the necessary documents for a successful submission.

These must meet the EcoVadis document standards, which include criteria for relevance and recency. They can also help you to develop, document, organise and share relevant policies.

By working closely with your company’s teams to tailor the submission, your EcoVadis partner can give you the best chance of achieving a high rating. But your collaboration doesn’t have to end once the assessment is complete. Indeed, the evaluation process can be a powerful catalyst for progress in your organisation’s sustainability strategy.

Why is this? When you receive your EcoVadis Scorecard, you’ll not only be able to view your performance across the various sustainability themes covered by the assessment.

You’ll also receive tailored suggestions for improvements to be made within your organisation to build on your score in each of these areas. These suggestions can range from implementing sustainability initiatives to updating policies and procedures to proactively engaging with suppliers to achieve long-term sustainability progress in your supply chain.

A specialist partner can help you to ensure that your organisation delivers these changes effectively, in line with the criteria of the EcoVadis assessment.

Taking a holistic approach to achieving your EcoVadis goals

One of the keys to EcoVadis’ success is building alignment across your organisation. This can be achieved through targeted training programmes to both educate key stakeholders and secure buy-in from senior management.

Your dedicated EcoVadis consultant can create a programme that’s designed to take your company’s knowledge and skills to the next level. This will help to create a ‘common sustainability language’, ensuring that sustainability thinking is well embedded across different areas of the business.

It’s also essential to have a clear vision of your organisation’s sustainability goals so that you can develop a more holistic approach to sustainability management. This is because the EcoVadis assessment doesn’t just cover environmental topics such as greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

It also covers a range of social and ethical issues, including working conditions and diversity. This makes it essential to involve as many stakeholders as possible in the data collection, assessment and improvement processes.

However, given the complexity of bringing together so many different perspectives, it helps to have someone on your team who’s been through the process before.

As experts in EcoVadis assessment support, Nexio Projects can help you create a unified strategy for improving your EcoVadis rating – enabling you to streamline your progress and ensure an accurate and complete representation of your organisation’s sustainability management performance.

And because demonstrating continuous improvement is critical to improving your score year after year, we can also offer longer-term support.

The EcoVadis assessment: A key strategic driver

The EcoVadis assessment can be much more than a reflection of your current sustainability management system.

In fact, when used well, it’s a powerful tool for developing the maturity of your company’s sustainability management system.

After all, the companies that achieve the best results in their EcoVadis assessments are those where sustainability isn’t an isolated part of the organisation, but a key strategic driver.

Achieving this can take time and effort, and an expert perspective is often valuable to help you ensure that your next steps have the maximum positive impact – both in terms of improving your EcoVadis score and driving progress on your sustainability strategy.

Want to find out more about our expert EcoVadis services? Visit our dedicated EcoVadis assessment solution page for more information.

[1] Green job vacancies are on the rise – but workers with green skills are in short supply (2024) World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2024/02/green-jobs-green-skills-growth/ (Accessed: 01 October 2024).

[2] Ecovadis Document Guide (2024) EcoVadis. Available at: https://resources.ecovadis.com/ecovadis-solution-materials/ecovadis-document-guide (Accessed: 30 September 2024).