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What supplier diversity brings to your business:
A diverse supplier base encourages the understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizes our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. Often overlooked, diverse suppliers provide high quality and adaptable solutions at competitive prices. Hiring such business suppliers not only allows you to add talent to your procurement base, but also encourages the growth of these smaller businesses. Supplier diversity increases your procurement pool, drives competition between potential vendors, and increases the quality of the goods and services procured, subsequently adding value to your business.
Supplier diversity is more than a requirement:
Mandated as a compliance commitment, Marc Goldberg, Head of Global Sourcing and Procurement at D&B, explains that supplier diversity is not about checking a box to see if there are any POC suppliers. Nor is it about hiring a vendor simply because they are diverse. But rather, it's about "giving small businesses a seat at the table" and the opportunity to win a business deal that they might not have access to. It's about "[putting] people in at the right place, so they can compete for real business". Expressing this in an analogy, Marc explains now that American sports incorporates athletes from various backgrounds and are spread all over the world, the quality and competition levels have drastically increased. SimilarlyIn addition, supplier diversity gives you more talent and higher quality products.
Diverse supplier onboarding is not a singular event:
Marc further explained that a diverse vendor base is a process that builds on itself. It must be included in RFP and idea phases, rather than later on. For example, if you have a diverse vendor approved in your RFP tool, they are easier to onboard from a compliance and risk standpoint in the future. A diverse supplier base should a be a continuous process.
How does Certa facilitate a diverse supplier base?
Certa enables this process by verifying vendor status through its multiple integrations. Certa's system, which is constantly updated on a real-time basis, is able to instantly confirm whether vendors truly hold diversity certifications or not. In addition, Certa is live in over 120 countries with 50+ languages which further facilitate the onboarding of vendors from various backgrounds.
