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Ask Mauricio!

By Mauricio Velasquez
President, Diversity Training Group and Spanish Translation Services, LLC
ANLA Consultant

We are generating a very healthy national conversation about the emergence of diversity issues and, specifically, Latino-Hispanic workplace issues in our industry. When I spoke at the last ANLA Management Clinic, the NJ/NY Nursery and Landscape Expo, and the massive New England Grows show, we conducted a very informal survey or poll. Altogether, I presented to more than 600 landscape professionals, growers and related industry personnel.

Here are some of the tried and proven "best practices" that are working and showing results for many of your colleagues. Each bullet is a different response to the poll from a different landscape professional or grower.

What are you doing for your Hispanic/Latino Workforce?

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Work hand-in-hand with my Spanish employees; they help me in Spanish, as I help them with English during the day.

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Provide transportation to and from work.

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Hold a safety meeting every Monday.

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Sponsor a company day at a baseball game.

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Improve property services, serve box lunch for employees, sponsor soccer league for employees.

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Work hand-in-hand with my Spanish workers; use nonverbal communication.

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Recently installed English-to-Spanish software to translate all company memos/policies/reviews, etc. Also, fly three flags in our little courtyard—American/Mexican/Puerto Rican—to symbolize unity and respect. We need help, however, to better understand cultural differences.

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Cut my jobs significantly, so each day the crew works for me, I buy them lunch.

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Provide transportation, H 2 B opportunities and special pizza and beer parties throughout the seasons; also provide the opportunity for English courses.

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Provide transportation; offer bonuses and Christmas party; also, try to learn more Spanish and learn about their cultures so that we understand each other better.

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Make phone calls to different agencies, doctors, etc. for our workers (only 1-2 per season) and try to guide them through red tape.

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Learn to speak Spanish; make them foremen.

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Show respect—my employees are co-workers, not labor.

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Translate our policy manual to Spanish.

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Have advanced payroll due to illness of a family member in Mexico.

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Offer training material, videos, and handouts in Spanish; help with problems with U.S. agencies.

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Re-learn my high school and college Spanish.

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Study Spanish, starting one and half years ago when I began at a nursery.

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Took three years of Spanish.

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Translated our Safety Policy into Spanish.

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Every year at our summer picnic, collect for a charity and have the company match that donation. This year we collected for orphanages in Guatemala and Mexico.

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Hold monthly safety meetings translated into Spanish.

I have much more to share with you! Many, many people responded to our survey. Remember, each bullet above was a different company, a different employer, each sharing with me and you what they are doing differently, given the changing workplace.

And you? Given your new workforce, what one thing are you doing that is really making a difference?

Please share with us.

Mauricio Velásquez, president & CEO of Diversity Training Group & Spanish Translation Services, can be reached at his Herndon-VA offices at 703.478.9191, fax 702.709.0591 or mauriciov@diversitydtg.com. 

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phone: 703-478-9191  fax: 703-709-0591
692 Pine Street  Herndon, VA 20170

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