Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is at a critical juncture. DEI work in the US is subject to an assault by far-right forces, providing a groundswell for the Trump administration’s implementation of a range of measures impacting multiple marginalised communities: migrants, People of Colour, Trans and Non-Binary people, Disabled folks, Women and others. Due to the US’ economic and cultural influence, the assault on DEI in private companies is having global ripples.
However, for those of us outside of the US, we must delink what is happening specifically in that context with what we can do across the rest of the world. Especially here in the UK where our legal and cultural context is distinct.
This false positioning of DEI as somehow unfair to White people, non-Disabled people and Men among other groups is clearly unfounded when we look at the data across company contexts and society more widely. As such, equity and inclusion work remain crucial for companies that value fairness and want all staff to thrive. Instead of retreating in the face of critique, this moment demands that we strengthen our methods: shifting away from symbolic gestures toward structural redesign.
For Chief Procurement Officers and procurement professionals, this means being more discerning about who and what is brought into the organisation to support DEI. When you procure DEI services, you are not just commissioning a programme. You are setting the standard for how your company approaches equity. The stakes are high.
Here is how to do it with rigour.
1. Structural Interventions Over Individualised Responses
A common trap is to invest in individualised responses, like unconscious bias style training, and expect systemic outcomes. Research has shown this type of training is limited in effect based on the fact it misdiagnoses the nature of inequities. Effective DEI interventions to deliver resource efficiency – a priority of procurement leaders – should target the design of your policies, processes and practices as these have scaled impact across the organisation.
If your data shows disabled staff are less likely to be promoted, for example, your colleagues’ first instinct might be to deliver disability inclusion training to line managers. However, a more scaled and cost-effective initial step would be to procure an audit of your promotion policies and role evaluation processes. What rubrics are being used? How is work allocated? How are promotion decisions made? Who makes them? Removing these and other barriers within your promotion processes that hinder equitable progression will permit more equitable outcomes irrespective of the trainability of the person in the process.
An impactful DEI supplier will help you diagnose root causes rather than simply deliver a solution based on potentially faulty assumptions. It is to redesign the structures that drive inequity at scale. So, seek people who will challenge you to do this.
2. Intersectional and Issue-Led Approaches
DEI work must reflect the reality of how systems of inequities operate in people’s lives and through organisational structures. That means investing in work that is grounded in intersectionality.
Look for suppliers who help you understand how issues show up for multiple marginalised groups in your data, processes and culture.
This is what we call an “issue-led approach” in our recent White Paper, DEI Disrupted. This involves shifting the starting point of DEI work from individual identity groups to systemic issues. The power of this approach lies in enabling us to effectively address points of inequity that affect multiple marginalised communities, whilst also attending to the specific barriers a particular group may face. It also helps build coalitions across marginalised communities, as it doesn’t ask any group to wait their turn.
This method is also aligned with the priorities of a procurement leader: ensuring you do as much as possible for as many, efficiently. The benefit with this pivot to mainstream approaches is that it also ensures that inclusion is not superficial or siloed but centred on redistributing access, opportunity and influence at scale.
3. Rigorous Evaluation of Assumptions and Outcomes
DEI is not a hunch. It is a technical change and must be measurable, just like any other core business function. This requires clarity on what success looks like and which outcomes you are seeking. A credible supplier will interrogate your assumptions. They will not accept your hypotheses as a given. They will ask: what data supports this diagnosis? What change are you trying to achieve?
Measurement should focus on outcomes, not just inputs. It is not enough to count how many attended a training, if training is a responsive and valuable solution. What is meant to change as a result? Are more marginalised people to be promoted? Is attrition decreasing for underrepresented groups? These are the markers of impact.
Effective DEI suppliers will guide you to test and iterate your approaches based on data, theory and sound frameworks that do not trend or intuition.
4. Resilience Over Reaction
In DEI Disrupted, we outline how many organisations have relied on reactive and disconnected strategies. These scattergun efforts often appear responsive in the short term but rarely hold up over time.
At a time when DEI is increasingly scrutinised, companies need more than good intentions. They need principled and resilient strategies. Procurement is one of the most powerful accountability measures for ensuring that your DEI work is embedded, rigorous and protected from reputational risk.
The suppliers you engage with signal your values. Are you selecting partners who reinforce shallow narratives or those who support your organisation to build systems-level change? Are you investing in work that is cosmetic or in work that withstands challenge because it is grounded in equity and evidence?
Final Reflections
Procurement is not neutral. It reflects your organisation’s priorities, strategies and theories of change. It is a way of articulating what matters and what does not.
In the current climate, there may be pressure to retreat from DEI. But equity work is not a trend. It is a necessary commitment to fairness and dignity in the workplace. It is not a project that exists outside core business functions. Far from it; it’s central to how you design policies, shape culture and meet your responsibilities as an employer.
When you engage suppliers for DEI work, you are not only making a purchasing decision. You are choosing what kind of organisation you want to be.
Choose the partners who help you ask better questions, uncover deeper truths and build something more enduring than a one-off tick box.
Because equity, when taken seriously, is not fragile. It is foundational.
You can download the Fearless Futures whitepaper here: DEI Disrupted: The Blueprint for DEI Worth Doing.
