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Improve your social procurement outcomes

By Kate Burrows, Managing Director, Tender Training College

Many of my tendering clients, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are struggling with how to meet social procurement targets and respond effectively to these questions in tenders.

Social procurement is now a common feature of almost all government tenders and often a highly weighted component in the evaluation. It follows the development of social procurement as an international standard (ISO 20400:2017) to integrate sustainability and transparency into the procurement process.

What is social procurement?

The Queensland Government defines social procurement as: Using the government’s purchasing power to generate social benefits, adding value to procurement outcomes and supporting supplier and workforce diversity.

Governments at all levels have specific targets and objectives that influence their respective social procurement requirements. These aim to be proportionate to the size and value of the contract being tendered.

These objectives focus on inclusion and equity in the supply chain and the workplace, promoting opportunities for disadvantaged individuals, groups and communities. This could include First Nations Australians, SMEs, local and regional businesses, people with disability, long-term unemployed, disadvantaged youth, and refugees, and supporting the safety and equality of women.

Generally, the social procurement questions in tenders are focused on how respondents will deliver their own social value through economic development, positive social outcomes and sustainability over the contract term. Basically, how are you going to make the world a better place for everyone through your buying power.

What does ‘good’ look like’?

I’ve had recent experience answering social procurement questions on a number of complex and high-value projects. It can be challenging even for businesses that have mature social procurement policies, initiatives and resources to know the best approach to meet the government targets and objectives.

This is particularly so for SMEs. There is limited information or guidance available to small business on what best practice is, or what good looks like in social procurement – and how they achieve the outcomes required.

And it is somewhat ironic that social procurement policies are designed to support SMEs and regional businesses on one hand, while also making it challenging for them to effectively improve their own outcomes at the same time.

It requires companies to re-think the way they do business and their corporate social responsibility approach for the long-term, as this is very much ‘business as usual’ from hereon in. For example, companies might need to review their practices regarding:

Who they employ
How they recruit
How they spend money
What they purchase and who they purchase from
Which organisations they support.

Importantly, companies also need to be able to effectively measure their actions in terms of the social benefits they produce.

Suggestions and tips to improve social outcomes

When responding to a government tender, visit the client’s procurement website for specific guidance about its social procurement objectives. This will give you an understanding of what it is looking for in its tender responses.

The following are ideas I’ve taken from various government websites, along with my own recent experience, for how to improve your social and sustainability outcomes. Note, this isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach – you need to apply what is relevant for the tenders you complete.

1. Demonstrate organisational commitment and action

This could be in the form of targets, plans, policies and practices, including:

A Reconciliation Action Plan for how you will employ First Nations Australians and purchase from businesses owned by First Nations Australians.
A diversity and inclusion policy/strategy for fair, inclusive and equitable employment.
Ensuring compliance with the Modern Slavery Act.
Performance standards and targets for social positive outcomes, and a measurement system.
Have staff volunteer at social enterprises or provide pro bono services for not-for-profits.
Partner or joint venture with a business owned by First Nations Australians or an Australian Disability Enterprise.
Provide sponsorship for events, teams, schools, groups and/or companies that are a social enterprise or deliver a positive social benefit.

Tip: You can engage Reconciliation Australia to help develop your RAP – https://rap.reconciliation.org.au/s/

2. Develop sustainable procurement guidelines

These should aim to:

Source goods and services from ethical and environmentally sustainable sources that comply with industrial relations laws and promote secure employment.
Prioritise goods and services from local and regional SMEs, businesses owned by First Nations Australians, social enterprises or Australian Disability Enterprises. As well as larger suppliers, think about the small entities that do your office cleaning, catering or landscaping, for example.
Implement quick payment policies for SMEs in line with the Business Council of Australia’s Supplier Code.

Tip: During a tender, seek information from your supply chain about its ability to contribute to your social procurement requirements if you win the contract. This will help you meet the targets required.

3. Join networks and industry peak bodies, and employ intermediaries

These include organisations that can help with employment and supply chain outcomes, such as:

Australian Network on Disability
Employment Service Providers
Disability Employment Service
National Disability Services – BuyAbility
Social Traders
Social Ventures Australia
Supply Nation
Industry Capability Network
Business chambers (First Nations and otherwise).

Tip: Employment Service Providers are located across Australia (including in regional areas) and help businesses to connect with vulnerable jobseekers. They provide a range of support services to help achieve sustainable employment outcomes for all parties.

4. Promote employment, education and training opportunities

These may include direct and indirect opportunities through your business or your supply chain. Consider work experience, training, mentoring, pre-employment programs, traineeships, apprenticeships, and graduate and scholarship programs for First Nations Australians, local and regional businesses, SMEs, people with disability, long-term unemployed, disadvantaged youth, refugees and women.

Tip: Consider cultural awareness training and disability confidence training for your employees to help with sustainable employment outcomes.

5. Sustainability and environment initiatives

These may include:

Reduce office energy consumption
Use video conferencing to reduce flights and commuting
Increase use of non-toxic materials
Encourage flexible working to reduce office footprint
Bicycle storage facilities and or assist employees to buy bicycles
Reimbursement of public transport fares
Carbon neutral status by offsetting activities.

Tip: There are a number of organisations that will help you to measure your footprint, and reduce and offset your emissions.

If you need assistance to improve your social procurement outcomes relating to tenders, please contact me on kate@tendertrainingcollege.com.au, or 1300 414 000.

Mastering the project plan

By Kate Burrows, Managing Director, Tender Training College

If you are in the business of tenders, you may have been required to write a project plan or several in your time.

Most often, the party who has issued the tender requires a suite of plans to be provided that are specific to the contract being tendered.

The purpose of this is so they can see how you will apply your approach to doing business to meet the specific requirements of the contract.

I certainly have written my fair share of management plans for tenders, and I have also been on the other side of delivering upon the plan commitments following a successful bid.

I wanted to share with you some best practice elements for writing project plans that will stand the test of time – for the tender phase and if you are the winning proponent.

Tip 1: Consistent format and structure

Management plans are by nature formal documents. They often form part of an organisation’s quality or overarching management system, and therefore are generally similar in appearance.

A consistent format and structure for your plans helps to show your company has a standard, systematic and quality assured approach to the way it does business.

I recommend setting up a template for your plans with a cover page, table of contents and other standard sections, including an introduction, purpose and objectives, background and context, and approach.

Consider adding a document control table at the front of the plan that shows it is a ‘live’ document and will be updated.

Additionally, a compliance table at the front of the document is a handy tool for the evaluators (and you) to see that you have answered all the requirements called for and in which section of the plan these answers appear.

Tip 2: Essential information to include

I like this definition of the purpose of a project plan:

“To capture the current status of the reserve, to establish goals and objectives for the future, and to articulate how those goals and objectives are prioritised and how they will be met.”

An introduction or executive summary to your plan should capture the key elements of your approach and really ‘sell’ your capability in line with your win themes.

Consider adding a section early in the plan that draws out your experience and performance specific to the plan subject matter – i.e. show your safety management experience and performance in a safety management plan.

It is important your plan details your understanding of the current environment, and what the gaps are for improvement and delivering better outcomes for the client. This will require you to do an analysis of the current environment.

In the section that details your approach, you want to describe how you will meet any objectives outlined in the plan and the tender requirements, and how you will deliver any improved outcomes identified from your earlier analysis.

You should also reference the people that we will be responsible for implementing the activities in the plan, and your company’s supportive systems and processes.

Don’t forget to highlight the initiatives or unique features of your approach that will provide value for the client!

Tip 3: Make sure you can you deliver on your commitments

Expect that the client will hold you to account to deliver upon what is contained in the plan if you are the successful bidder.

In many instances, the plan will form part of the contractual documentation so is legally binding on contract award.

So, it is worthwhile being mindful when writing the plan that you can actually deliver on what you are committing to.

Consider including an action plan or table that gives you and the client a clear picture of what you are going to do, by when, by whom and how you are going to measure and improve your performance.

It is helpful to see all your commitments in an easy-to-read format, and provides a good baseline for your own internal benchmarking and progress meetings with the client.

Importantly, remember to include all the elements in your plan in the tender price so it is all accounted for and there no hidden costly surprises when you are delivering the contract.

For more information on how to apply these tips to writing a project plan, please don’t hesitate to contact me at kate@tendertrainingcollege.com.au

Tips to prevent your tenders from falling into the ‘generic zone’

By Kate Burrows, Managing Director, Tender Training College

Mediocrity and tender writing are two concepts that don’t fit well together. If you are serious about winning the bid, your response needs to go above and beyond the business as usual.

I have had several clients share with me recently about how they have accidentally fallen into the generic zone with their tender writing.

They are writing to answer the question – often copying and pasting from previous submissions – but with little application to the contract they are bidding to win and the client they are hoping to impress.

The result is a generic response that isn’t likely to differentiate them from the competition and score them top marks.

However, I can understand how it happens – when you are juggling multiple priorities and focused on getting the job done, or struggling to get the information from colleagues to write a differentiated response.

So, how do you avoid or escape the generic zone when it comes to writing a tender response?

Here’s a few tips to take your response from mediocre, to meaningful and relevant.

Tip 1: Understand and address the tender requirements in your response

The questions in the tender document are designed so that you can show the client that you can deliver upon the requirements of the contract if you are the successful proponent.

It is tempting to copy and paste from previous submissions – particularly when the tender might be for the same client, or the question is similar to one you have answered before.

But that also increases the risk of missing the specific requirements and nuances of that tender.

Every tender is different, so you must take the time to read, understand and address the requirements you will need to deliver upon when you are writing your proposal.

Otherwise, your response could be for any tender or for any client.

Tip 2: Customise your delivery strategy to meet the tender requirements and objectives

Most companies have a standard approach for how they do business.

But you need to consider how you will customise this approach to:

Meet the specific tender requirements
Achieve the outcomes the client has set, i.e. the contractual performance measures and the procurement objectives.

To get into the top scoring zone – and out of the generic zone – you need tell the client how you will meet their specific requirements, and detail any unique features of this approach that will benefit them.

This is what differentiates you from the competition and makes you eligible to score top marks.

Tip 3: Clearly explain the benefits of your approach

Often when we are writing about a topic we are familiar with, such as the experience of a company, we might assume the evaluator already has knowledge about the business and its past performance.

This can result in providing insufficient information to thoroughly detail your experience and explain the benefits of what this experience means for the client.

The evaluators can only score what is written in your response. We need to go the extra mile and join the dots – telling them the benefits of our proposal, or in this case the benefits of our experience.

For example, if you are referring to your company’s 25-years’ experience in the construction industry, tell the evaluators what this means for them. That is: “Our experience means we understand the key risks of this contract, and we have managed these risks effectively for other clients. As such, we provide you with greater assurance we can meet the requirements for this contract.”

Join me for a Tender Writing Masterclass starting in June: more details on the website: https://tendertrainingcollege.com.au/upcoming-events/

Key steps to prepare your business for tendering – Part 1

key steps and tips to organise your business to save you valuable time and money when responding to tenders and to increase your chances of success

By Kate Burrows, Managing Director, Tender Training College

The Tender Training College is joining the fight to give SMEs a larger piece of the procurement pie, calling on governments at all levels to increase the tender participation rates of small and medium sized businesses, and to make the process easier and more accessible for all.

Kate Burrows, Managing Director of the Tender Training College, has helped business owners win more than $25 billion worth of new contracts over the past 15 years and believes SME tendering is key to giving the Australian economy the kick start it needs in a post COVID era.

“We have seen a 30 per cent increase in SMEs looking to improve their tendering skills in recent months so they can compete for government contracts, as they find new ways to survive during this tumultuous time. That’s because government contracts offer good tenures, clear payment terms, defined deliverables and reliable income streams for SMEs to grow their businesses securely.

“However, many small businesses simply don’t know where to start with tendering often because of the highly complex nature of the tenders themselves and the formalities of the process. Tendering is like learning a new language!

“Time and time again I witness how SMEs are unfairly disadvantaged in the process compared to big business because tendering requires significant time, effort and resources to be successful. It’s imperative SMEs educate themselves with the fundamentals of tendering to put themselves in the best possible position to tender, but also for governments at all levels to make the process more equitable and accessible,” explained Ms Burrows.

The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said small businesses will play a critical role in the post COVID economic recovery, calling on the Federal Government to offer contracts, with a value of up to $10 million, to small businesses before they are opened to the wider market.^[1]

In the 2018-19 financial year, the Federal Government awarded 78,150 contracts, with 53% going to SMEs totalling $16.7 billion^[2] in value. This represented an 18.2% increase^[3] in the number of Federal Government contracts awarded to SMEs compared to the previous period.

Tender Training College has developed a FREE eBook specifically for SMEs with 10 strategies to help them avoid costly mistakes and to give them the best chance to win government and/or private sector tenders. DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY OF THE EBOOK NOW!

Some of these strategies include:

Thoroughly review the tender: Read all parts of the tender closely to get a complete picture of what you are bidding for. Failure to do so means you are tendering blindly.
Conduct a go/no-go process: Do the analysis when receiving a tender to determine your chances of success and whether or not you should actually bid for the work. Otherwise, bidding could be a waste of time, cost and effort.
Offer the best value for money: Develop a competitive price and identify areas of opportunity that differentiate your tender response and provide value to the client. Put your bid on a superior footing.

[1] https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/news/news-articles/small-business-procurement-panel-essential-economic-recovery

[2] https://www.financeminister.gov.au/media-release/2019/11/21/procurement-contract-targets-exceeded-small-and-medium-businesses

[3] https://www.financeminister.gov.au/media-release/2019/11/21/procurement-contract-targets-exceeded-small-and-medium-businesses