34% of companies in Poland employ employees from Ukraine in their ranks – such data is presented in the Personnel Service report „Polish Labour Market Survey”. The challenge of managing linguistically diversified teams applies not only to organizations hosting employees from behind the Bug, but also to English-first companies that employ employees all over the world.

In the era of major changes in the labor market, caused by, m.in, accelerating digitization and increasing ethnic diversity in Poland, companies should pay special attention to building a supportive organizational culture. It is a work environment in which employees feel comfortable – regardless of nationality, gender or level of position. For this reason, there is more and more talk about caring culture, i.e. creating jobs that surround with care, support and care of their employees.

Building an organizational culture in which employees feel psychological security and acceptance has an impact on work efficiency. Ensuring that employees of diversified teams feel comfortable results in, m.in, reduced turnover, higher productivity and innovation, as well as better decision-making for employees because they have access to multiple points of view and ideas.

According to data collected by the Border Guard from the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine until April 11, as many as 2.657 million people came to Polish, and some of them took up work in our country. Even before the outbreak of the war, workers from Ukraine were a large group in Poland, but this year its number has increased significantly.

Currently, every third company employs employees from Ukraine. According to a survey conducted by the Randstad Research Institute, among the largest organizations, i.e. those with more than 250 employees, as many as half employ or plan to employ Ukrainian citizens who have recently emigrated to Polish.

Importantly, Polish employers consider diligence and commitment (54%), adaptability (39%), as well as fast language learning (32%) to be the three most important characteristics of employees from Ukraine. It is these features that allow people from Ukraine to quickly adapt to Polish organizations and the labor market.

According to Randstad research, 49% of employers who plan to hire people from Ukraine plan to launch or launch special implementation programs for employees. 39% of companies believe that training to improve qualifications for employees from Ukraine and their families is an indispensable support. Other elements that employers have drawn attention to are, m.in, assistance in accommodation, organization of childcare and support in learning Polish. 

New tools and technological solutions can support linguistically diversified organizations. One of the options is the ability to change the language of the software used by the organization and adjust it to the needs of a given employee. Helpful features are also built-in translators, thanks to which an employee can translate an incomprehensible piece of text with one click.

In addition, employees can take part in standardized online language courses that take into account the most important concepts and phrases functioning in a given organization or industry. Another type of support for diversified teams is the ability to send one-pagers and newsletters with the most important information in the company in many languages. Thanks to this, employees receive the most important information in an understandable and clear form.

Another very important element that allows non-native speaker employees to feel at ease in their companies is properly planned and carried out onboarding. During the implementation, the employee must assimilate a large amount of information and procedures, so it is worth having constant access to the company’s knowledge base and a glossary of the most important concepts that he can reach for in case of doubt.

Well-designed onboarding allows you to reduce turnover, as well as build a sense of belonging to the organization. Onboarding strategies should include caring culture, understood as care for all employees. During onboarding, new hires should feel that they are welcome and their opinion matters in the organization, and the mistakes they make are a natural part of development.

Employees for whom the language of everyday communication in the organization is not native, must show great attentiveness and courage to communicate efficiently with colleagues. Managers of diversified teams should also show care and empathy. It is they who face the challenge of eliminating language barriers, as well as enabling foreign-language employees to develop their competences, take up specialized positions and build ties with the organization in which they work.

In discussions in multilingual teams, managers should act as moderators. Native speakers tend to speak quickly, use difficult or colloquial wording, as well as dominate conversations. Managers should encourage people from abroad to speak out and actively participate in discussions. Thanks to this, employees overcome resistance or fear of speaking in a foreign language, as well as have the opportunity to share their perspective and ideas.

Other ways to support employees is, m.in, providing them with psychological care within the organization. A new job, especially in places where there may be language barriers, is extremely stressful. Psychological support will facilitate adaptation to a new position.

In the company, it is also worth appointing a person who will act as a guardian and spokesperson for foreign-language employees. It is to her that employees will be able to apply for support and it will be responsible for appropriate and clear communication with a given group of employees.

English-speaking companies with employees around the world recognize that learning languages in the workplace allows employees to have greater access to training and development programs. An example would be Amazon or Walmart, which launched personalized language courses for employees. Providing support in language learning to people who are not native speakers allows employers to empower and retain talent within the organization.

According to research, people who encounter rude behavior in the workplace achieve lower results, are less open to helping co-workers and are reluctant to engage in the life of the company. To avoid such situations, it is worth supporting people for whom the language of everyday communication in the company is not native, from the first days of work and providing them with fair conditions for development inside the company. Managers should lead by example and openly introduce caring culture into the organization.

Source: https://hcmdeck.com/blog/caring-culture-rozne-jezyki-ojczyste/

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.