Living and working in the USA means you come across people from all ethnicities, religions, social backgrounds, and nationalities. There is no doubt that this is fun. It helps in expanding horizons, improving understanding of different cultures, building tolerance, and making the overall culture more vibrant.
This diversity is also reflected within the workforce. For instance, within the US, Hispanics make up the biggest minority. Companies and brands that are looking for ways to appeal to the Latino market are now hiring Latino talent.
But are these companies ready for diversity?
If you are a business owner and want to make your business Hispanic-friendly, here is everything that you need to know.
Establish As a Latina Brand
To attract Latino talent and customers, your goal should be to establish yourself as a Latino brand. This does not mean you have to pose a claim that it is a Latino-owned brand. Instead, your focus should be on inclusivity.
A good way to establish your business as a Hispanic brand is by using Spanish. Most businesses use Spanish or Spanglish for marketing. They ensure that details about the brand are mentioned online in Spanish so that Hispanic customers feel welcome.
Moreover, some brands have Hispanic customer service lines as well. For instance, Xfinity is an exceptional internet service provider serving within the USA. They recognize the importance of Hispanic branding which is the reason they have a dedicated nĂşmero de Xfinity. Through customer service, the brand makes the customer feel heard and valued.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage
Within the work culture, leaves, celebrations, and important events play a very important role. These events are generally marked, celebrated with teams, and in some cases, are granted as leaves as well. For instance, in companies where Muslims are in large numbers, there are allocated leaves for Muslim events.
Some companies even grant bonuses for these events, while others offer gifts and vouchers.
As a small company, if you want to portray that your business values Hispanic employees and customers, you need to celebrate their events with them. It can start with something as basic as a social media post, an announcement email, or even a message.
However, if you really want your employees to feel valued, you need to celebrate their Hispanic heritage. A preferred way to celebrate the Hispanic heritage is by celebrating the month, where you can market things for the Latino community only.
Create Space on Table
Within the work environment, most minorities are ignored while majorities are offered representation and decision-making power. While this helps in creating harmony, it also makes the minorities feel cornered.
Eventually, you will notice minorities feeling more hostile towards the majority.
To ensure a steady work culture that accommodates everyone, it is very important to adjust everyone. Therefore, it is better to not just offer representation to the minority but also provide them an opportunity to participate in the decision-making. These decisions do not have to be limited to work culture but can also extend to overall business-based decisions, so they can feel valued at work.
Establish Merit
Merit works as a great equalizer. In fact, it instantly lifts the spirit of the team, keeping them motivated. By focusing on merit, the company can establish a healthy work environment where everyone can participate without feeling inferior.
A good way to ensure that merit stays the priority within a work culture is by focusing on skill sets. As long as an employee is good at work, no one has to care about the background. Most businesses start focusing on merit during the hiring and onboarding process.
Merit helps the brand to filter out employees that are ideal for the team through their work and ethics. Apart from this, businesses get a much better outcome when they focus on skillset and merit, compared to when the companies focus on personality hires.
Easy Language Access
When hiring an employee, most businesses stick to a dominant official language. In the case of the US, English is used as the major communication language. Even for technical tests, companies use exams and tests where English is used as the commanding language.
However, with a diverse population, using other languages is equally important. For instance, most technical staff comes from Asian countries. They are much better at handling numbers, coding, and designing, but the language barrier is a big challenge for them.
When hiring Hispanics, companies need to offer easy access to second languages. In the case of Latinos, companies can conduct technical tests in Hispanics, or the preferred language of the employee. This will ensure that everyone hired by the company has top-notch skills.
Simply put, harmony within a diverse team is only possible if the company maintains a healthy work environment. The above-mentioned tips will help you ensure that people from all walks of life get to work within the team and feel welcomed.
Guest writer