Diverse suppliers are businesses that are at least 51% owned and operated by either an individual or a group that belongs to a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group. These groups can include minority-owned enterprises (MBEs), woman-owned enterprises (WBEs), and businesses owned by minority groups such as LGBQT individuals and veterans. Hiring diverse suppliers provides businesses with a lot of benefits that many people may not be aware of. Let’s take a closer look at what the advantages of working with diverse vendors are.
Allows for More Innovation
The more diverse a team is, the more access to varying perspectives and backgrounds you’ll gain. When you’re looking for creativity and problem-solving abilities, working with experts that stem from different cultures or who have unique outlooks can be invaluable.
Alongside the benefits that come along with hiring a team that has varied experiences under their belts, diverse vendors have the potential to deliver a highly effective client experience. Because diverse suppliers tend to be smaller in size, they are often more innovative, agile, and responsive than their larger competitors.
Illustrates Your Business Values to Clients
If diversity and inclusion are important values to your company, when you hire diverse suppliers, you are not only putting action behind your words, you’re signaling to your clients what your true priorities are. Diversity is a sign of a healthy and inclusive culture, which can be very appealing to both prospective clients and employees alike.
Thanks to increased access to information via the internet and social media, it’s easy for potential clients and customers to learn if you truly put your money where your mouth is. While you shouldn’t only hire diverse vendors to prove to outsiders that you practice ethically, support diversity, and champion sustainable practices, doing so does benefit your branding and reputation.
Economic Benefits
There are financial benefits associated with hiring diverse vendors. A study from the Hackett Group found that 20% of spending directed toward diverse suppliers delivers at least 10% to 15% of annual sales.
Once again, because diverse suppliers tend to be smaller businesses, the businesses that hire them can benefit from their size. Smaller businesses usually have less overhead than larger businesses do and can be more competitive with their pricing and more flexible with their services and product offerings.
It’s also important to remember that diverse suppliers have influence in the communities that they represent and working with them may open up new market shares in their communities.
Insight from a Diverse Supplier
Terra Translations is proud to be a diverse supplier and to be committed to diversity and inclusion. At Terra, we believe that diversity is not the goal, but is the means to a more inclusive and just workplace that has the ability to perform better than less diverse competitors.
According to Terra Translations’ CEO, Marina Ilari, there is very little diversity in top management in the translation industry as a whole. From the top twenty largest language service companies, there is only one female CEO. “What is more surprising is the fact that the majority of translators, interpreters, and linguists that perform the linguistic tasks within the industry are close to 70% women,” Marina explained, “In some regions of the world, such as in South America, 94% of graduates of translation degrees are women. It has always surprised me that this women-driven industry would not see more diversity at the top. It’s important to bring more diversity to leadership roles in the industry, and I would like Terra’s inclusive and diverse team to help bridge that gap.”
As a women-owned translation company that employs workers from around the world that come from a variety of backgrounds, we’ve found we can provide better client services because we’re a diverse supplier.
