Beware of the Latino that says: "Yes, yes, I understand..."
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That Latino employee that nods his head up and down and says: “Yes, yes, I understand…” may not really understand what is being said and that can be a real problem for your operation.
So what’s the big deal, you might ask?
If it has to do with bringing out the wrong cow to be bred or feeding that extra pound of feed to the wrong group of sows, or reporting to work on the wrong day, it can be annoying and disrupting to be sure, but something that most probably could be addressed with no major consequences.
But, what if it has to do with something a little more serious like using the wrong dosage of medication when treating animals, or moving the wrong pen of animals to be slaughtered, possibly compromising food safety? What if the mistake is even more serious? Serious to the degree, that it could potentially be fatal?
What then?
According to a recent report from the National Council of La Raza http://www.nclr.org, Latino workers are more likely to die from an injury at work than White and African American workers. In 2007, 937 Latino workers were fatally injured while at work.
The occupational fatality rate for Latinos has remained the highest in the nation for the last 15 years. The NCLR report notes that the Latino worker death rate - 4.6 for every 100,000 workers – is higher than the fatality rate in the US and in many third world countries.
Understanding that a lack of language and communication skills could contribute to these fatal statistics, what can employers and managers do to help ensure that effective communication takes place and that safety procedures are followed?
- Realize that miscommunication happens all too often and it can happen at any time and in any language
- Make safety a priority in your operation. Communicate clear expectations to your employees and monitor that these are followed
- When training, ask the employee to show you or try to tell you what they learned during the training session. Specifically, ask the employee to explain the safety hazards involved
- Avoid closed ended questions that would result in “yes” or “no” answers. Instead, use open-ended questions that require the employee to explain the procedure. Questions that start with “what, why and how” work well for this purpose
- Having translated documents or using an interpreter when dealing with a multicultural workforce can certainly be a plus, but not enough to ensure total understanding. Observing and monitoring employees while they perform procedures will reveal their level of understanding and how effective you were as a communicator. Their actions will show you how well trained they are
For yours and your employees’ sake, please beware of the Latino employee that nods his head up and down and says: “Yes, yes, I understand”. Maybe he doesn’t, and that can be a real problem for you, your employees and your operation.
I thank you for reading, and for your comments.
Orlando Gil
Training Connections-Translation Services
“Helping Bridge the Gap with The Latino Workforce in the Agricultural Industry”
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Unfortunately, I've wittnessed the very type of thing Orlando is pointing out. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of product were wasted and a job was terminated (and, in a worse case scenerio, the situatation had the potential to be more severe by potentially presenting a food safety risk to the general public). Why did it occur? The perfect combination of several related factors came together and things went from normalacy to borderline crisis in the blink of an eye: First and foremost, there was a failure of communication.
This failure was the result of a language barrier that had not properly addressed and also insuffient trainning programs. The individual that committed the costly error (and was subsequently terminated) was a solid employee, hard working and dedicated. And guess what? He was also Latino, of immigrant status and quite limited in his english language skills. He had been shown the proper procedures once or twice and was asked if he understand the processes required of him. The particular work environment is fast paced and production driven. Everything seems to be "go, go, go." I don't know why more time wasn't taken to ensure he fully understood the procedures set before him. And I don't know why he claimed to understand when clearly he didn't. But I firmly believe this case represnets the classical case in point of what Orlando has so thoughtfully brought to our attention. The Latino worker nodding his head, "yes, yes, I understand," when in fact he doesn't.
What measures can be taken to prevent this sort of breakdown? I don't know for sure but I've got a few thoughts, based on my own work experiences. In the real world, all to often "training" amounts to having someone quickly show the trainee a procedure, ask them if they understand, get confirmation and follow up with a check mark in the appropiete box. I suppose this looks good on paper but in reality it's a joke. This system is bound to result in costly mistakes and when you present language and cultural barriers, the potential for failure is magnified.
Producers would benifit greatly by conducting an honest assessment of their training programs, paying particular attention to the needs of their diversified workforce. Basically, it's a case of "a penny of prevention is worth a pound or cure."
Agree 100% but in my experience I think we need to do improve our TELL, SHOW and DO, make sure that they visiualize the next task and the importance of it. After that, FOLLOW UP and they won't make mistake in any process....
Traninig is essencial in any process....
Thanks ET.
The Tell, Show, Do, Review (Follow Up) works well in training, and I agree with you in that we need to improve the process and use it in a consistent manner to be effective.
Thank you for your comments!
Orlando Gil
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