Posts tagged ‘customer importance’
According to the EEOC website:
- An employer may not base a decision on an employee’s foreign accent unless the accent materially interferes with job performance.
- A fluency requirement is only permissible if required for the effective performance of the position for which it is imposed.
- English-only rules must be adopted for nondiscriminatory reasons. An English-only rule may be used if it is needed to promote the safe or efficient operation of the employer’s business.
Instead of asking employees to speak English Only, why not offer tools that can help strengthen their English skills, like ESL training. www.englishsolutions.biz
Suit Accuses Hotel at Disney World of ‘English Only’ Policies
October 13 1994, the teamsters union filed civil-rights charges against a Walt Disney World, contending that its “English only” policies discriminated against the hotel’s Hispanic housekeeping and laundry workers.
The hotel knew that many employees spoke no English but offered them a training manual that was printed in English Only. One sentence in Spanish was placed at the end of the job manual, saying that the employee acknowledged receipt of the handbook, and responsibility for the information included.
A spokesman for the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel said yesterday that it had no “English only” policy.
He acknowledged, however, that the job manual as well as many safety warnings that manufacturers post on hazardous products were in English only.
Many companies use ESL training to avoid these types of controversies.
English as a Second Language (ESL) training could have fully eliminated these complaints.
ESL services include translation of safety material as well as implementation of English classes geared towards improving communication and safety. Many hotels have benefited from this type of training because on- the- job ESL has proven to increase communication, customer service, retention, safety, and morale.
Got ESL? Check out www.englishsolutions.biz
Many companies are now hiring people from different ethnic backgrounds and languages. In result, communication is often difficult for both the employers and the employees.
The employees who are having a hard time communicating clearly in English have difficulty presenting their ideas effectively. Unable to fully participate in the workplace leaves workers who speak limited English feeling depressed and frustrated.
Poor communication can lead to inefficient production. Employers have to take the time to explain and possibly re-explain how things are supposed to be done.
Another problem that employers face is difficulty promoting employees that speak limited English even if employees are highly skilled in other areas. This directly affects company morale and retention. If employees do not receive recognition for their achievements or do not see a clear career pathway for them to move forward, they often leave, or they simply stop caring.
Without ESL training, employers are receiving a negative return on their investment, actually costing them time and money.
Limited English – Motivation= Less Profits
One of the best things that employers can do is incorporate an ESL training program. Ultimately ESL training will improve English communication. Improved communication will enhance company efficiency. Employees will be able to communicate their ideas better, and employers will not have to re-explain their ideas.
ESL training has also been proven to improve employee retention. If employees find a pathway to reach set goals within the company, they are more likely to stay and increase in their overall value for the company.
Promotions will be easier for employers because there will be an increase in the pool of suitable candidates.
With ESL training, employers are receiving higher return for their investment.
More English + Motivation= More Profit
www.englishsolutions.biz is the number 1 recommended resource for workplace ESL.
On October 26, 2009, The Paragon Inn was an unsuccessful hotel that Larry Whitten bought, hoping to turn it around. He thought that in order to improve things, he needed to create some “new rules,” for his majority Hispanic service staff.
Research has proven that by offering English as a Second Language ESL classes/ training, your company will improve, customer service, communication, retention, safety, and morale.
Got ESL? Check out our website at www.englishsolutions.biz
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There are 30 states in the United States that have chosen English as the official language either in their state constitutions or by adopting a law. None of those states, prohibits the state government involved from using other languages for common sense, non-official reasons that serve the public interest. Typically those reasons are to protect public health and public safety, promote tourism, teach foreign languages, administer justice, handle emergencies, and similar needs. In fact, there are 53 nations that have made English their official languages, and none of them can accurately be described as “English-only” in the sense that their laws would make it illegal to use other languages under any or all circumstances.
In today’s world, it is plainly an asset and sometimes a necessity to speak a second language, and it is strongly recommended that people learn another language if they can. It is also very important for people who are struggling to preserve their native language and traditions. But to promote the use of English to allow communication, understanding, and empathy between different groups of people who share a common citizenship and territory is not anti-anything. It is false to pretend otherwise.
So why do opponents of official English continue to use “English-only”? Because it is a loaded term that conveys exclusivity and an implied feeling of linguistic superiority. For that reason it is divisive and can be upsetting to people whose native language is not English. Its misuse is intended to provoke an emotional reaction and subtly demonize anyone who favors making English our official language, as well as those who simply want to protect its role as the common language of the United States.
So, if all this is true what does the term “official English” mean? It means that a government has decided that in order for its actions, laws, and business to be considered authoritative, they must be communicated in the English language. It means that there can be no disagreement about which language is the controlling one for discerning the meaning that government intends. And it means that absent a broad, public interest reason for using another language, the default language of government operations is English.
Official English also has a symbolic meaning, which is very important. It sends a message to all those who want to participate as citizens in this great nation, that there are responsibilities as well as benefits for being here. And one of those responsibilities is learning to speak the language of our country–English. There is no reason why our expectations for non-English speaking immigrants today should be less than our expectations for the generations of immigrants that preceded them.
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Though ESL teachers are perceived mainly as educators and linguists, they are also service providers. ESL teachers have a number of fundamental roles in common with front-line customer service trainers in a range of service industries, namely
- participant
- translator
- event organizer
- manager
- trainer
- and resource/ consultant adviser.
They also share a number of essential communicative, interpersonal and reflective/analytical skills. An ESL teacher work is therefore seen to fit comfortably within the dimensions of classical services theory and practice.
ESL teachers as service providers are largely responsible for the generation of functional quality and, create considerable competitive advantage for their firms. The implications are that ESL teacher training and professional development should not be confined to such subjects as pedagogy alone but should also include elements of services theory and practice.
Studies have shown; that customer satisfaction improves as service employee communication skill levels increase.
Among the key skills found to be necessary are active listening and a non-threatening communication style as a key skill for service providers. Further, companies that have established abilities of interpreting nonverbal cues from their customers have the highest levels of sales. Non verbal cues include
- eye contact,
- gesture,
- facial expression
- and posture,
- proactive dialogue, as well as active listening
Research has proven that by offering English as a Second Language ESL classes/ training, your company will improve, customer service, communication, retention, safety, and morale. http://www.englishsolutions.biz
After serving in the Marine Core, the Virginia-born Larry Whitten had spent 40 years in the hotel business, successfully turning around more than 20 hotels in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and South Carolina, before moving with his wife to Taos New Mexico. On October 26, 2009, The Paragon Inn was an unsuccessful hotel that he bought, hoping to turn it around. He thought that in order to improve things, he needed to create some “new rules,” for his majority Hispanic service staff.
Among them, he disallowed his Hispanic workers from speaking Spanish and ordered them to Anglicize their names.
Many people were fired and later complained, causing several civil rights activist groups to become involved. After being interviewed, Whitten said that he was sorry, and that he was not against culture.
A protester outside the rally stated that Whitten was not a racist, but a racist out of ignorance. By definition, ignorance is stemmed from the word ignore, to refrain from noticing. Many managers and Human Resource specialists in the industries that hire Hispanics often ignore the issues of segregation, employee demobilization, and lack of communication. They then ask themselves, why is there such a large turnover? Why do we receive so many customer complaints? Why so many injuries?
Obviously, Larry Whitten took an extreme course by firing all of his employees and requiring and English Only environment. His course of action was inflexible and rigid, but I am sure there are differing opinions. Some employees may have liked his managerial style, and even benefitted from working in an English Immersion work environment, after all, many specialists say that immersion is the best strategy for learning language.
The real question is… what were his options? Did he have to take an aggressive approach to assimilate his workforce, or could have he followed a more tolerant approach.
Do you work with Limited English Proficient employees? What should your business be focusing on?
In a culturally and linguistically diverse environment, it is necessary for one’s workforce to speak English in order to have stable communication, productivity, safety, retention, customer service and morale.
In order to benefit from a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce, one must recognize the role of culture. For example, individuals from different national origins may have varying beliefs around health, safety, and social relations.
Consequently, it may take time training to acculturate some employees to American safety standards and customer service practices. Also to take in account are that some cultures have norms that discourage challenging authority, and some cultures favor less direct communication styles. In order to best understand your employees, you must respect diversity, and in turn, educate others of the common values and norms of their new home country, the United States.
To start out with, here are some strategies to avoid when working in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment. The first is using a Limited English Proficient (LEP) employee with the “best” English for relaying messages. For example, Howdy Inn just hired a new housekeeping supervisor, Lupita, who is from Mexico. She speaks the best English of the group, but her English is sometimes hard to understand, leaving room for many inaccuracies. A guest asked Lupita for the plunger, and she told the manager that the customer needed an iron, because, in Spanish, Iron is “plancha.” Similarly, get- buy Spanish, may also cause problems in communication.
Some people depend upon online translations and using their own assumptions to help them handle the issues of communication and diversity. This is dangerous, and can cause problems, as in the case of owner Larry Whitten from New Mexico.
The new trend is for companies to outsource for expensive products or “take home” models. The problem with these models is that they may teach some language, but they do not teach communication. The solution should be handled through a more direct approach that includes: live role play, a well developed plan, that includes, of course, an element of human interaction.
If you want to train your workforce to speak English and handle customers respectfully and culturally appropriate, you should implement the following training modalities:
- Provide written training materials with high pictorial content
- Role play
- Involve, if possible, multimedia and technology
- If you can afford it, you should consult a professional ESL trainer who can provide a comprehensive plan, including knowledge training and skill training.
We can learn from stories like that of Larry Whitten so that we can avoid making similar mistakes, but the worst thing that you can do is ignore the issue. What you want to do, is become proactive; so if you are reading this, and you are a manager of Limited English Proficient LEP employees, take a risk, and do something now!
If you want more information on how to implement this strategy, you may contact me, and I can provide more detail wyatt@englishsolutions.biz
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