Golden Oldies: The Accent Challenge
by Miki Saxon
Poking through 12+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.
Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.
You might think that stuff would change in 11 years and you would be correct if you were talking about technology, food, or similar topics. But when the subject is people, not so much.
Accents can be just as much a challenge today as they were when I wrote this and before. The difference 11 years have made is that while there is greater acceptance of diverse accents the need for understanding them hasn’t changed.
Nor has the solution described in this post. If anything, its importance has significantly increased.
Read other Golden Oldies here.
The ability to communicate successfully, in both directions, is the mark of a great manager, as is building and managing a powerful and innovative organization.
Accomplishing this mandates a willingness to hire the best available people.
But what do you do when the best can’t be easily understood?
Accents, whether from overseas or US regional, are a major turnoff to many people. Reactions range from idiotic assumptions of incompetence (essentially subconscious prejudice) to annoyance for having to exert effort listening (sheer laziness).
In a diverse world of shrinking talent pools, where English is a second language for many, it’s bad business to pass on those candidates, but it’s also ridiculous to believe that the problem will fix itself or just fade away if you ignore it.
I’m not talking about the need for flawless English, but about recognizing what happens if they aren’t understood.
What can you, as a manager, do?
If the challenge is accent (whether from India, China, New York, Liverpool, Mississippi, etc.), rather than comprehension or language knowledge, that could minimize their contribution or effectiveness, what do you do?
The same solution you use for any good candidate who is lacking a particular skill, you offer training. In this case, accent reduction training.
Again, not to force them to sound like you, but to improve their speech enough to ensure a reasonable level of understanding.
Yes, the discussion and offer needs to be handled with sensitivity, but people aren’t stupid and they know the things that put them at a disadvantage in the workplace. What you are offering to do is pay for training that will give them a boost throughout their career, not just at your company.
The cost isn’t that great, either, the company profiled in the article charges around $1000 per person. In comparison to the cost-per-day of continuing the search, $1000 doesn’t even qualify as a peanut.
Plus, there is additional ROI to you, individually, and to your company.
- You acquire top talent with a high degree of loyalty, while building a reputation as a creative manager, who knows how to successfully staff outside the box, is willing to invest in people, and has the vision to see beyond the obvious.
- Your company strengthens its diversity, which typically improves innovation, while your management achievements have an external halo effect on the company.
Image credit: 마 법사
