Diageo, a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, partnered with Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) to fund the training and certification in its sustainable procurement and supply chain sustainability teams.

The training and management course encompasses a diverse array of competencies, spanning environmental stewardship, sustainability practices, and governance principles. The IEMA’s Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management expands the team's understanding of the sustainability domain, equipping them with essential management skills and tools to effectively navigate this sphere.

Initially 45 team members were engaged in the strategy. Once the certification has been achieved, colleagues will also become IEMA Associate members which offers access to events, networking, news updates and resources. This ensures everyone working across sustainability is well informed and up to date on the latest sustainability-related developments, to deliver best in class work across the business.

We spoke to Andy Griffiths, Head of Sustainable Procurement at Diageo, and who has led on the IEMA partnership, about this collaboration which has received brilliant feedback from his  colleagues.

How Diageo is training staff with a sustainable focus

In 2023, the company began a first of its kind partnership with IEMA, and it looked to reshape the way people working in its procurement and supply chain departments have a keen focus on sustainability.

Across two years of training and development opportunities, employees were given the opportunity to put laser focus on environmental management and sustainability, as they worked towards the subsequent professional qualification from IEMA. 

Once certified, colleagues were able to access the wide range of events, resources and networking opportunities IEMA facilitates with other sustainability professionals.

Why focus on upskilling?

The value could also be seen due to the vast procurement operation it holds, with supporting over 200 brands, including Guinness, Johnnie Walker, and Ciroc, with sales in nearly 180 countries worldwide. 

To help their procurement and supply chain teams fulfil the wider company sustainability goals, they are following a strategy of up-skilling key staff in environmental management training. 

“The world around us is changing rapidly, as new research and technologies emerge to help us achieve our sustainability ambitions,” says Andy.

“That’s why it’s increasingly important that our colleagues in sustainability decision-making roles are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and tools to drive significant change in this area.”

IEMA collaboration

Sustainability initiatives are nothing new to the company, having been a top agenda item since 2008 - and its importance rising every year. Diageo has twined this with increasing the size of its team working on its sustainable efforts - as well as setting up new teams. 

“These teams are experts in their field across supply and procurement, and we felt it was important that everyone has the same baseline understanding of environmental management and sustainability,” Andy adds.

“With the new knowledge and skills they’re learning through the course, our teams are well-informed and up to date with the latest sustainability developments, so they can deliver best in class performance.

“Our teams across sustainable procurement and supply work directly on Diageo’s roadmap to address our Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon, water, and packaging goals. So their learnings are implemented every day.”

What does the programme feature?

The training and management course covers a broad range of skills, including environmental, sustainability and governance principles. IEMA’s Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management gives the team a wider knowledge of the sustainability landscape, and the key management skills and tools to work in the area.

“This enables our team members to evidence professional competence in sustainability as well as providing a springboard to deepening their expertise and professional application, in their own area of sustainability specialism,” Andy says.

“This is a two-year programme and we’ve had brilliant feedback from colleagues who are working through their certification.”

Award winning supply chain management

Not only does Diageo have one eye on its environmental impact, it's also been highlighted for its efforts by Supply Chain Excellence Awards. 

A Deloitte team from Risk Analytics, Financial Advisory and Consulting spent the two years working with Diageo on its commercial and supply chain programme, Project Ice Cap, a commercial and supply chain program aimed at smoothing out sales fluctuations and reducing costs. 

Over two years, they assessed Diageo's supply chain in key markets, modelling scenarios to optimise commercial decisions and improve efficiency. 

The project led to increased revenue growth, improved supply chain performance, and reduced working capital. 

The model allowed Diageo to run ‘what if’ scenarios to determine the impact of its commercial decisions – as well as changes in demand and production - across the entire value chain. 

It has also identified significant opportunities to increase revenue growth, improve the supply chain and reduce Diageo’s working capital. We’re now helping with an implementation process that will also benefit Diageo’s customers.

The foundation for the work was a project that garnered the prestigious ‘Supply Chain Strategy and Design’ award at Logistics & Supply Chain’s European Supply Chain Excellence Awards. 

This honour recognised Diageo’s achievements in transforming its supply chain, as well as its new approach to considering the entire value chain, rather than looking at everything in silos, allowing better decisions to be made for the business as a whole.

Sustainability training and progression

“Partnerships are vital as we all work to reach our sustainability goals. We need to partner with the experts in the field to fill our knowledge gaps, and it’s by sharing this knowledge and learnings across the company that we’ll all be able to make real progress on addressing our sustainability. For us, one of those partners is IEMA.”

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