While supplier diversity programs have historically focused on the diversity of a company’s ownership, this is not the only way to influence diversity in the supply chain. Corporations with significant procurement budgets now realize that they can use their purchasing power to influence workforce diversity in much the same way that they have historically worked to increase expenditures with traditionally underrepresented suppliers. This realization has led to the new and growing trend of companies measuring, tracking, and reporting supplier workforce and Board-level diversity as an additional – and scalable - value creation exercise.  

As your supplier diversity program matures, you will likely begin looking at how to expand and be more aggressive toward meeting your organization’s goals around diverse spend. The most powerful way to do that is through multi-tier diverse spend reporting, or the practice of tracking and reporting money spent with diverse suppliers further down your supply chain.

When your supplier diversity program has been established and Tier 1 reporting is well underway, it's time to expand into tracking and reporting Tier 2 spend. 

This blog was originally published on 6/1/2013 and updated on 12/30/2019.

When considering strategies to increase engagement and spend with diverse suppliers, supplier diversity programs must be willing to be moved to tiers. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist the obvious pun!) Tier 1 and Tier 2 are important terms to know when describing suppliers, especially diverse suppliers, and the supplier diversity Tier goals that companies set and strive to meet. Tier 2 suppliers are of special note because these businesses offer the potential to partner with more diverse suppliers and grow your diversity initiatives.

This blog was originally published on 2/8/2018 and updated on 12/22/21.

What is the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier diversity spend?

Every company is part of a larger supply chain that includes third party product and service providers. Some of those suppliers, known as prime suppliers, work directly with the company and others are one or more steps – or tiers – away in the supply chain. Although prime suppliers are the top priority for supplier diversity programs, you will quickly find that the potential for impact scales quickly when you consider tier 2 and beyond.