Supporting and Retaining Your Blue-Collar Hispanic Workers

“Why do I have to help the Hispanics? Why do I have to learn about them?” I get those questions a lot! Let me pop them out of your mind. You don’t have to do anything about “the Hispanics,” unless you want to work with them or sell them something. The approach to the subject here is not one of charity or of good will, but has to do with business. If you have Hispanic workers, here are some points that will help you to help them be more productive.

A big demographic change in any workforce will bring to the table both positive and negative changes. Today we see first-generation immigrants coming straight from their countries of origin to North Carolina. Some of those workers may be your coworkers and employees.

By definition, a “Hispanic or Latino is a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race” (U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. Washington, DC: GPO, 1997)*.

The first thing to recognize is that these are not simply people like you who just speak a different language. There are many significant cultural differences; language is only the tip of the iceberg of the gap between new immigrants and mainstream Americans. There is also a large cultural gap between new immigrants and immigrants that have been in the US for at least ten years.

Why are they not like you? Latin America is a very different environment than North America. It is more unstable, poorer, and has fewer racial biases and more class biases. Improvisation, creativity and imagination are survival skills, not nice to have “icings.” Things are less regulated, laws are harder to enforce, and public health is (in most countries) not a business, but a state obligation towards the citizens. These are a few examples with different impact levels at the workplace.

People with different backgrounds have different experiences, expectations, assumptions, etc. Add to that a fairly different culture and approach toward religion, and you will understand how different we are. (If all of this has not hit home, take a trip to Latin America and see for yourself; it is an eye opener.)

Let’s focus on recently arrived people. You will first have the language barrier. Before rushing to translate (at the cheapest possible rate) all you want that person to know, carefully find out if the person can read in any language. “Carefully” usually means going through someone else that is close to that person, and trying to find out in a casual way. For example: “Would it help to get these things translated for Juan?” If the answer is not a thundering “yes,” then that may not be the answer at all.

If written instructions in Spanish will not help the communication issue, acknowledge it and move on to identifying a coworker who could interpret and direct this Spanish-speaking worker. This leads us to the second thing you should be aware of: The fact that two people are Hispanic does not mean they will get along. It may actually mean quite the opposite!

Knowing this, you need to take a little time and get the cues as to who would make a good coach for this person. Remember that for the new immigrant, this individual with whom he will be teaming up with becomes his de facto boss, and will have power over him in many more ways than simply translating what you want to say.

If you hire a group of workers and they all know each other, they may already have a leader. Try to identify him; if he can communicate in English, you will be one step ahead. Avoid bypassing the natural leader at all costs. That leadership may shift in the future, but today work with it as it is.

Several community colleges and other organizations offer English as a second language (ESL) courses, and even visit the camps after hours to teach workers on site. If you give people a chance to learn the language, you will improve rapport and minimize the chance for unfair situations among the workers.

Do not be afraid to help new immigrants get skills; this will decrease, not increase, the risk of them leaving you. Culturally, there is a search for a relationship in which the employer provides beyond the job, and in turn the worker remains both “faithful” and grateful. Remember that this desire should not be abused, as your competitors will be eager to show your good worker how you are not being fair. If anyone succeeds in convincing your worker of this, trust is broken and you will lose him. On the other side, if you keep his trust by not only being trustworthy, but also focusing on the needs of this particular worker, you will get 120 percent.