Blue Collar Initiatives for Hispanics

Diversity considerations notwithstanding, the severe labor shortage has induced some firms to actively recruit in Hispanic communities, as reported in Robert Mader''s "Sanders Brothers Starts Hispanic Recruiting Effort" (Contractor Magazine, February 2000). The company, an industrial mechanical contractor with 750 employees and $85 million in revenues, decided to concentrate on welders since "a trained welder can work alone without much communication, so language is not a barrier." An initial welding class of seven was recruited through advertisements in Spanish-language newspapers and through the personal contacts of one Hispanic welder already employed by Sanders Brothers. The class eventually dropped to three, which management attributes only to an inadequate prequalification process. As part of the program, training manuals have been translated into Spanish. The company also provides for appropriate language courses for both its Spanish and English-speaking employees.

Mike Hofman conveys guidelines for dealing with a large number of workers who cannot speak English in "Lost in the Translation" (Inc. Magazine, May 2000): (1) Meet with small groups of employees with translators present, (2) Limit the agenda to several subjects to facilitate better processing of information presented orally, (3) Provide information in writing as much as possible, since many employees may read English better than they understand the spoken language, and (4) Learn some phrases in your employees'' native language or languages in order to improve overall morale.