A well-oiled team of translators is the driving force of every translation provider. To make sure we can provide the right translation professional for each job, Yamagata Europe has put a thorough vendor management program in place, including strict selection and continuous training of our team.

Today Yamagata Europe relies on a global network of almost 2,000 translation professionals. Each new team member is thoroughly tested, evaluated and supported by Yamagata Europe’s dedicated vendor management team. “We consider each freelancer as part of the team and we always strive for long-term relationships,” says Kathleen Van Der Vennet, Vendor Management Team Leader at Yamagata Europe. “Our quality standards may be high, but we also take pride in treating our translators with fairness and respect.”

How we select our translators

In order to grow our translation team, we have a 5-step selection process in place:

1. Recruitment: We recruit our translators at conferences, job fairs or industry meetings, via references from fellow translators or via application on our website.
2. Selection: Our vendor management team makes sure that all selected translators have the required certifications and experience to do the job. Yamagata Europe works exclusively with native speakers of the target language. On top of that, we even prefer to work with native speakers living in the country where the target language is actively spoken. In some cases, however, we might choose to work with translators in different time zones to enable a faster turnaround.
3. Evaluation: Before we take anyone on board, we ask them to take a translation test. This allows us to determine whether the candidate’s technical and linguistic skills meet our standards. We also evaluate the candidate’s responsiveness and communication skills during this step.
4. Allocation: We maintain a fixed pool of translators per customer, or even per customer division, to ensure language consistency and sufficient capacity. Translators are allocated to a specific assignment based on their expertise in the customer’s subject matter and their ability to comply with the customer’s requirements and guidelines. “I like to describe my job as ‘connecting people’,” says Ivy, Vendor Manager at Yamagata Europe.“Translators, project managers and customers: I’m constantly looking for the person for the job.”
5. Retention: We invest heavily in quality evaluation and translator training.

How we evaluate our translators

Our translators are continuously checked and evaluated to ensure consistent translation quality and to define additional training needs:

1. Permanent evaluation through QA: Yamagata Europe has an internal team of linguists and layout specialists who monitor the quality of every translation job. Based on these internal QA evaluations, translators receive frequent feedback on their work.
2. Permanent evaluation through revision: For projects following the ISO 17100 process, a second translator will check the accuracy of the translated work. Also here, feedback is shared with the original translators.
3. Customer feedback: At the start of a cooperation with a new customer, we make sure to create a style guide and/or organize a translator training about the customer’s guidelines and preferred workflows. Whenever a customer shares project specific feedback, we also report the relevant topics to the translation team.
4. Monthly and yearly evaluation: We evaluate our translators every month based on a number of objective criteria, such as processed volumes and evaluations. Poor performers receive additional feedback and together we will the map out an improvement plan.

Measured quality

Our entire vendor management program is based on Japanese quality standards, in accordance with the Kaizen principle. Kaizen is a quality approach promoting continuous improvement and relies heavily on data. That’s why we keep a record of all quality-related data in our quality care system and transfer this data to business intelligence dashboards that give our vendor management team quick and easy access to the team’s performance.

Looking for the right translator for your project?

We have set the bar high for our translators. By following a thorough selection and evaluation process, we make sure to work with only the best of the best translators. Be it for technical or marketing translations, we have the right translation professional for you.