"Don't speak Spanish, don't speak English. Speak the company culture."
This is how Angelo Mino, president, Summit: The Professional Network for Your Hispanic Workforce Needs, Lenexa, Kan., advised a room full of Green Industry Expo (GIE) attendees to begin understanding how to motivate Hispanic employees.
Mino, a native of Ecuador, came to America as an illegal alien about eight years ago speaking no English. He was able to learn English, become an American citizen and work his way up in the green industry because his employer was interested in his personal development, he related. If supervisors want to motivate their own Hispanic labor to move up within the organization, following a few simple steps will help you get started.
First, get to know your employees. Create a candidate profile form and request basic information from your potential employees, Mino advised. Collecting this information will help you generate a great individual training process and will help you learn about the employee's culture.
For example, finding out what kind of work these employees did in their home countries can benefit your business. If you have a Hispanic worker who was a mechanic in his native country, he could save your company money on equipment repairs. This is important information that employers should know, Mino asserted. In addition it will help you to know that most Hispanics are generally hard laborers who take pride in their work, but are often too proud to ask for help, especially if they have a language barrier.
"The fear of being misunderstood can lead to reluctance to take responsibility, which is often misinterpreted as indifference," Mino explained.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some Hispanics might be reluctant to move into a position of authority or leadership because of how those positions are perceived in their native countries.
"In most Hispanic cultures, a dictator is seen as a leader," Mino remarked. "Therefore you have to explain to them that being a leader is a good thing.
Second, provide training. Mino suggested offering a comprehensive orientation class for all new employees that will explain the company's goals, business approach to clients and employees, strengths and weaknesses and general American culture will go a long way in helping to motivate these employees.
"The orientation class is where the new employee will see that there is a chance for him to make a difference in the organization," he stated. "This is where you can sell yourself and your ideas to the employees."
The orientation session is also the time to go over safety issues, disciplinary actions, and benefits.
For those who don't have a formal orientation program, adding this type of class might seem like a burden, but Mino warns that you could lose more if you don't invest in this approach.
"Don't worry about the cost of training employees and watching some of them leave," he stressed. "Worry about training none of them and watching them all stay."