1. How to access the BRM?
As a first step to starting the Higg BRM, ensure that each of the following tasks has been completed before starting the assessment.
- Add any colleagues or team members who will assist in the module completion process. This can be done from the ‘My Team’ tab in your Higg account. Review full guidance here.
- Purchase an All Access subscription level that meets your organization’s needs, or a BRM annual subscription. Review full guidance here.
2. How to prepare for the BRM?
Once the account is fully set up, the next step is to prepare to complete the module. This includes understanding timelines, estimating capacity requirements, engaging with employees, and collecting data to ensure that you are prepared to answer all the questions in the BRM.
Before you begin there are three things to consider:
a. Know the timeline including deadlines and key dates
b. Understand the questions to plan resource and time required
c. Allocate resource by considering who in your organization can support you
a. Know the Timeline
Before you begin completing the BRM it’s important to understand the annual cadence dates:
BRM 2022 Self-Assessment Opens – 1 March, 2023
BRM 2022 Self Assessment Closes – 30 June, 2023
BRM 2022 Verification Period Begins – N/A 2023
BRM 2022 Verification Period Closes – N/A 2023
b. Understand the Questions
In order to complete the BRM and receive an assessment score, 100% of the questions must be completed. Therefore, it’s important to begin by reviewing all the questions so that you can prepare the relevant answers and material to complete the BRM.
An Excel export of the BRM is available on the Higg.org platform. This feature enables the project manager overseeing the BRM assessment to review and assign questions to different teams offline and then collect and input the answers in the platform online, maintaining the integrity of the assessment.
For more information on the question content please go to Complete the BRM.
c. Allocate Resource
Knowing how much time to allocate towards the BRM varies from company to company, depending on your complexity, structure and current activity. If you have already completed previous ESG assessments you may already have materials available to use, but for some companies starting out there may be more documentation to prepare.
We would suggest you allocate a minimum of four (4) weeks to gather materials and enter the information into the platform. If this is the first time you have completed any ESG assessment, your organization is in the early stages of its sustainability journey, or you are a small company, we recommend approximately six (6) weeks in order to prepare the necessary material.
To progress rapidly and depending on the size of your ESG team, we recommend that you engage with different specialists within your organization to gather data. For example:
| Pillars | Impacts | Recommended departments / areas for support outside ESG teams |
|---|---|---|
|
Environment |
General |
— |
|
Climate |
Facilities management, sourcing, products distribution and logistics, accounting and finance |
|
|
Water |
Facilities management, sourcing, product distribution and logistics, accounting and finance |
|
|
Waste |
Design, product, sourcing, facilities management |
|
|
Chemicals |
Sourcing, Quality |
|
|
Biodiversity |
Sourcing, Product |
|
|
Social |
General |
HR, legal |
|
Workers |
Sourcing, product, buyers |
|
|
Employees |
Human resources, legal, health and safety |
|
|
Consumers |
Marketing, customer service, product |
|
|
Communities |
Sourcing, foundation representatives, HR |
|
|
Governance |
General |
Legal, compliance |
|
Structure and Management |
Legal, compliance, senior management representative |
|
|
Ethics and Behavior |
Legal, compliance, sourcing |
|