EcoVadis training is aimed at organizations that have received an EcoVadis assessment request from their customer and will be running the process for the first time.
EcoVadis is a rating platform that assesses an organization’s sustainability management system from a supply-chain perspective. A large number of major buyers worldwide request an EcoVadis score from their suppliers.
The assessment is not a certification audit: no on-site audit is carried out, it is conducted entirely through documents. This defines the critical point of the process — what determines the score is not what you do, but what evidence you can show for what you do.
This training addresses the logic of the assessment, the evidence expectations and where points are typically lost, in a hands-on way.
How does EcoVadis work?
The assessment is carried out across four main themes: Environment, Labor and Human Rights, Ethics and Sustainable Procurement.
Each theme is examined across three management layers: Policies, Actions and Results. This approach separately questions whether a commitment is documented, whether it has been implemented, and whether it is measured.
The question set is organization-specific; it is shaped according to the organization’s sector, country and size. In other words, no two firms’ questionnaires are identical, and another firm’s answer set cannot be used directly for yours.
The result is given as a score out of 100 and a scorecard by theme. Organizations exceeding certain thresholds qualify for a medal level; the medal thresholds are reviewed periodically by EcoVadis. The assessment is renewed annually.
There is also a monitoring component (360° Watch) that tracks information coming from external sources, which can affect the result.
Why does the score come out low?
A policy exists but there is no evidence. If a practice runs on the ground but is not tied to a written policy, it has no counterpart in the assessment.
A document exists but the scope is unclear. If it is not written down which locations, which employee groups and which suppliers the policy covers, full points are not obtained.
An action exists but there is no result. When the commitment and the procedure exist but there is no indicator, target or measurement result, the third layer stays empty.
The sustainable procurement theme gets neglected. Firms focus on their own environmental and labour practices and leave their supplier-facing requirements blank. A low score on this theme directly affects the overall result.
Documents are not in the appropriate format. Documents without a date, signature or validity information may not be taken into account in the assessment.
Who should attend?
- Officers who will run the process at organizations that have received an EcoVadis request from a customer
- Quality, environment and sustainability managers
- Human resources and occupational health and safety officers
- Purchasing and supply chain teams
- Ethics and compliance officers
- Project teams at organizations wanting to raise their existing score
There are no prerequisites.
Training Content
Introduction to the platform and the methodology
- EcoVadis’s role in the supply chain and buyer expectations
- The difference between the assessment and a certification audit
- The steps: registration, invitation, questionnaire, expert review, scorecard
- The process timeline and the renewal cycle
The four themes and the criteria
- Environment: energy, emissions, waste, water, product-related impacts
- Labor and Human Rights: working conditions, health and safety, social dialogue, discrimination
- Ethics: anti-corruption, competitive practices, information security
- Sustainable Procurement: supplier environmental and social practices
The Policy – Actions – Results logic
- Assessing the three layers separately
- Commitment, scope, certificate, reporting and indicator expectations
- Which evidence corresponds to which layer
- Frequently made evidence mistakes
Building the evidence file
- Preparing the document inventory and identifying the gaps
- Structuring the policy and procedure set
- Linking existing management system documents to the assessment
- Managing document format, validity and currency
- Setting up a file structure ready for annual renewal
Filling in the questionnaire
- Interpreting the questions and defining the scope
- The right approach when a practice is missing
- The risks of misstatement
- Document upload and matching practice
Reading the scorecard and improving
- Interpreting strengths and improvement areas
- Setting priorities by theme
- Designing an improvement plan for the next assessment
- Applying corrective action logic to the score
Practical exercises
Participants evaluate evidence against sample questions, discuss document adequacy and build a gap list. In in-house programmes the work is carried out using your own documents.
Learning Outcomes
- Understanding the EcoVadis methodology and scoring logic
- Assessing the organization’s current state across the four themes
- Producing the right evidence for the policy, action and result layers
- Filling in the questionnaire with the correct scope and wording
- Reading the scorecard and preparing an improvement plan
- Managing the annual renewal process sustainably
Duration and Participation Options
Duration: 1 day in open-enrolment programmes. In in-house programmes, planned as 1–2 days including a review of the existing document set.
Level: Practitioner.
Participation type: Open enrolment or in-house. Group programmes for the suppliers of a main industry organization can be arranged.
Training method: In person, live online, on-demand recording.
Dates: Set according to demand.
Certificate of Attendance
Participants who complete the training receive a certificate of attendance. The certificate includes the participant’s name, training scope, date and duration.
Note: Norma Systems is an independent training and consulting organization. It is not EcoVadis’s authorized representative, business partner or approved training provider. This programme is an independent training prepared for the purpose of preparing for an EcoVadis assessment; the certificate of attendance issued does not constitute an EcoVadis score or medal.
- SAQ / S-Rating Preparation Training
- Sustainability and ESG Fundamentals Training
- Corporate Carbon Footprint — ISO 14064-1 Training
- SA 8000 Social Accountability Training
- ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Training
- ISO 27001 Information Security Training
Beyond Training: Implementation Support
- Theme-based gap analysis of the existing document set
- Preparing the missing policies and procedures
- Building the evidence file and setting up the document structure
- One-on-one support during the questionnaire process
- Preparing the post-score improvement plan and getting ready for renewal
For details, see our EcoVadis / SAQ S-Rating Corporate Preparation Consulting page.
Frequently Asked Questions About EcoVadis Training
Is EcoVadis a certification? No. EcoVadis is a rating assessment; its result is a score and a scorecard. It does not replace the management system certificates issued by certification bodies.
Is an on-site audit carried out? No. The assessment is conducted entirely through uploaded documents. This is why evidence quality directly determines the result.
How long is our score valid? The assessment is renewed on an annual cycle. Renewal is required to keep the score current.
Will our ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certificates raise our score? Valid management system certificates constitute strong evidence in the relevant themes. On their own, however, they are not sufficient; the scope of the certificates needs to match the scope you declare, and result indicators also need to be provided.
Can we fill in the questionnaire ourselves? You can. The difficulty is not in the questions themselves but in identifying the right evidence and producing documents that do not yet exist. The training clarifies this distinction.
We got a low score — what should we do? A plan is built by prioritizing the improvement areas on the scorecard. Producing missing documents, clarifying scope and defining indicators are the three headings that give the fastest results.
Do you guarantee a specific score at the end of the training? No. What determines the score is the organization’s practices and the evidence it presents; the methodology and thresholds are set by EcoVadis. The training and consulting are aimed at raising the quality of your preparation.