When developing a robust communication program for your organization, you have most likely observed the following considerations: methods to keep all organization members informed, opportunities for feedback and conversations between management and employees, and ways that communication can strengthen the brand to ensure the company’s continued success. You have thought of everything-or have you?
As the immigrant population of the United States continues to grow and play a more significant role in the workforce and as organizations expand their operations globally, it is paramount for your communication program to be available in multiple languages to ensure that you are reaching all of your audience and effectively capitalizing on the skills of all employees. Recent studies show that nearly half of all immigrants coming to the United States have little or no knowledge of English, and nearly two-thirds describe their English skills as “fair” or “poor.”
Because of this, there are a number of reasons why your communication strategy should consist of multiple languages if necessary:
- Increasing inclusion and cultural sensitivity throughout the organization
- Communicating more effectively with global employees and partners
- Helping immigrants/non-native English speakers perform their jobs better and contribute more to the organization’s success
- Unions are now attempting to organize immigrant workers
Unions have made a push to organize low-wage, minority and immigrant workers who were they had once overlooked. Because of this, it is imperative that your union avoidance strategy is reaching non-English speaking workers. Because we know unions are. For example, here is a job description for a summer internship with the AFL-CIO: “In some areas, applicants who are fluent in a language other than English will be given preference.”
Over the years, Projections has done projects for clients in the following languages:
- Polish
- Spanish
- French
- Japanese
- Haitian-Creole
- Vietnamese
- German
- Chinese
For more on our custom resources in multiple languages, click here.
