Full utilization of
multicultural resources seems to receive less and less attention in the current
environment of economic pressures. Organizations struggle to survive, and staff
members focus on retaining their job or finding a new one. Training is
continuously reduced. The trend also applies to newcomer orientation: only the
basic skills and safety regulations might be quickly reviewed or the task is
left entirely to peers. This is common, even though the results of multicultural
workplace studies repeatedly underline the importance of initial orientation.
First things to be cut
often seems to be language training, including the local and/or work language of
the organization - for budget reasons, and since “open language courses are
widely available elsewhere”. In-house language training, however, is much more
than just a language course. It’s a concrete signal to
the participants that the employer cares about them, considers them worth development,
worth investing in. Proficiency in local and work-place language is a key to
wider learning, the full utilization of occupational skills, the membership of
the community, mobility, career development, and also to external marketability
when the circumstances call for it.
Employees without
sufficient language skills, recruited and trained only for one specific task, are
like cage birds, who have lost their ability to fly. For the employer, it is
challenging – if not impossible – to find another task for these staff when needed:
if the previous tasks become redundant, or when skills, motivation, or
productivity no longer meet the changing requirements. If unemployed, the lack
of local language skills creates a high barrier for a new beginning. For the
society, the price is high. Even though there, indeed, might be a wealth of
language courses available, they do not always meet the specific needs and
communication style of work life. They also lack the special value of shared
goals and sense of community that in-house training offer.
Typically, a
significant amount of workplace learning takes place in practical master-novice
relationships: experienced colleagues demonstrate hands-on, how the work is
done. The two talk and listen, and together they build the newcomer’s work
identity. Without a shared language this system does not work. Both parties get
frustrated and may start avoiding verbal communication. From a multi-layered dialogue,
the trainer may shift to simple instructions and commands to ensure that the
basics get across. Under time pressure, fundamental differences in work practices
and knowledge are easily overlooked. Misunderstandings and silence, sometimes
caused by cultural differences, by respect or fear, go unnoticed and questions remain
unanswered. Language proficiency is so much more than just talking: it’s
reading between the lines, hearing silence, and the ability to read cultures.
True communication simply takes time.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti