There is no universal list of ten actions guaranteed to add points. EcoVadis customizes assessments by company size, industry and location, and your scorecard identifies the strengths and improvement areas found in your own evidence.
The defensible improvement process starts there. Fix the underlying practice or reporting gap, keep evidence produced through normal business, and submit it in a future reassessment. Do not create paperwork solely to satisfy the questionnaire: EcoVadis says it will not credit documents created for that purpose.
Platform details and links checked 13 September 2026.
1. Clarify the customer's requirement
Before chasing a medal, ask what the customer actually requires: a current scorecard, a minimum overall score, a medal, progress on specific improvement areas, or reassessment by a certain date.
EcoVadis provides the rating. The customer decides how it is used in procurement. A generic article cannot tell you the threshold in your contract.
2. Read the scorecard before choosing projects
Review the score by theme and management indicator, then read every strength and improvement area. EcoVadis says its newer scorecards provide increasingly specific diagnostic feedback about the evidence or practice that was not identified.
For each improvement area, record:
| Field | Question to answer |
|---|---|
| Finding | What exactly does the scorecard say was missing or inconclusive? |
| Evidence submitted | Which file and passage did you expect to support it? |
| Reality | Does the practice exist in the assessed scope? |
| Owner | Who controls the process or information? |
| Action | Retrieve evidence, improve a real process, begin measurement, or accept that it is not currently done |
| Reassessment evidence | What normal operating record will demonstrate the change? |
Do not infer the cause from the overall number alone.
3. Separate an evidence problem from a practice problem
An improvement area can mean different things:
- the practice exists, but the relevant evidence was not submitted;
- the evidence was submitted but did not match the assessed entity, period or option;
- the document was not current, readable or complete enough;
- the company has a commitment but cannot show implementation;
- the practice or measurement genuinely does not exist.
Each requires a different response. Finding an existing training record is not the same project as establishing a training program. Reformatting a claim does not fix an absent process.
4. Use the scoring view for your assessment
EcoVadis directs rated companies to the scorecard's “Visualize your score” section to see how themes and indicators affect their result and which improvement areas have priority. Use that company-specific view instead of generic scoring weights published on a blog.
Prioritize high-priority findings, requirements from the requesting customer, and changes your company can genuinely operate and evidence. Do not assume Environment, Sustainable Procurement or any other theme has one universal weight across suppliers.
5. Improve the operation, then preserve its evidence
A real improvement produces records as it operates. Depending on the finding, these may include approved procedures, training attendance, incident logs, supplier reviews, invoices, meeting records, KPI reports, audit findings or corrective-action records.
Evidence should show the assessed company, relevant scope, period and actual implementation. Keep the source material and make the supporting passage easy to locate.
A policy copied from a template does not prove implementation. If your company decides that a new policy is appropriate, approve it, communicate it, operate it and retain the resulting records. The goal is not a document-shaped answer; it is a management practice that can be evidenced.
6. Treat reporting as a method, not a decorative number
When an improvement area concerns results, define:
- what is measured;
- which entity, sites or activities are included;
- the reporting period;
- units and calculation method;
- the source records;
- who reviews the result.
Keep zero, not measured, unavailable and not applicable separate. A percentage without its denominator and scope is difficult to verify. An illustrative target from another company is not your evidence.
7. Use the Corrective Action Plan for communication
EcoVadis' Corrective Action Plan lets rated companies manage actions, share progress and communicate with trading partners. EcoVadis also states that CAP content is not reviewed for the current score and does not change the current scorecard. Updating the score requires reassessment.
Use the CAP to show honest progress, not to imply that marking an item complete has already increased the rating.
8. Reassess when the evidence is ready
EcoVadis says its scorecards remain valid for 12 months from publication, but a customer may request reassessment earlier. Start a reassessment when you have addressed the relevant findings and can provide additional, eligible evidence, or when a requesting customer requires it.
A reassessment uses the methodology and questionnaire current at that time. Recheck EcoVadis guidance instead of assuming last year's options or recognition rules still apply.
If the customer is concerned about the result
A low score or no medal does not determine the commercial outcome by itself. Ask the requesting customer whether it requires a particular score or medal, progress on named findings, a corrective action plan, or reassessment by a specified date.
Respond with the scorecard facts and actions your company controls:
We reviewed the scorecard and confirmed the main improvement areas are [findings]. The responsible owners are addressing [specific actions], with evidence expected by [dates]. We will update the Corrective Action Plan where appropriate and reassess when the relevant work can be evidenced.
Do not promise a future medal or point increase. If you believe the scorecard contains a factual error, use the review or support process shown in your EcoVadis account. A disagreement about methodology is not the same as a factual correction.
What to record in the Corrective Action Plan
For each action, name the scorecard finding, operational owner, actual change, target date and evidence that normal operation will create. EcoVadis says CAP information is visible to trading partners, while uploaded documents are private by default unless their sharing setting is changed.
Status labels communicate progress; they do not verify it. Documents added through the CAP enter the Document Library for potential use in reassessment, but they must still satisfy the evidence requirements and support the selected answer.
What not to do
- Do not promise yourself or a customer a specific point increase.
- Do not use generic theme weights to allocate effort.
- Do not copy policies, objectives or reports from another organization.
- Do not create documents solely for the assessment.
- Do not describe planned work as already implemented.
- Do not submit a figure without its source, scope, period and method.
- Do not assume CAP status changes the current score.
- Do not chase a medal before confirming what the customer requires.
The useful outcome
The aim is not to make the questionnaire sound better. It is to ensure the next assessment accurately reflects improvements your company has actually implemented.
If you are preparing the reassessment questionnaire now, use the EcoVadis response workflow to map each proposed answer to its evidence before submission.