Company orientations are one of the most common types of employee training. It introduces employees to the company and shares its method of operation and its core values. This formally welcomes newly hired employees. Typically, this happens the first week on the job. This training usually applies to most or all company departments and roles.
Many companies have a diverse multicultural workforce. Immigrant employees are often limited English proficient (LEP). Some of the immigrant workforce have little or no understanding of the way companies do things in the United States. They might not understand how benefits and insurance works. The issue is often compounded when there are language barriers
Orientation trainings are prepared by human resources on big-picture topics like:
- Mandatory new-hire paperwork
- Company mission, vision, and values
- Organizational structure and leadership team intro
- Overview of benefit plans
- Administrative procedures (computer logins, extension, email setups, etc.)
- Corporate and safety culture
- Key corporate policies
As you can see, there is a lot of vital information to convey. It is equally important that this information be clearly understood. Intricate benefits such as retirement and insurance plans can be difficult for employees to understand in English. I have often seen many Hispanic workers simply opt out because they just don’t comprehend them.
For years, we have worked with companies in the Upstate by providing skilled knowledgeable conference interpreters skilled in company orientations. Upon entering the meeting room, conference interpreting equipment is used and receivers with earbuds are distributed to all the LEP employees. Once the presentation begins, the conference interpreters transmit to the receivers and render into the target language almost simultaneously.
Using this method has proven to be great for many reasons.
- Save resources. When you use a consecutive interpreter, the speaker must constantly pause to allow for the interpreter interpreter’s rendition. This results in:
- Trainings taking twice as long or longer to cover
- Employee productivity loss is doubled
- Trainer productivity loss is doubled
- Meeting flow and concentration are disrupted
- Room for distractions and boredom
- LEP employees feel isolated and targeted due to the interpretation
- Engage all employees. Conference interpreters allow for seamless meeting flow, permitting all to hear the same information at the same time
- Promote diversity and inclusion. This premium service integrates all employees into one unified team; thereby boosting morale
- Increase production. A team with high determination is a productive force
We have observed that when LEP employees plainly comprehend the subject, they feel that the company cares about them. They are more likely to participate in the benefits programs. Understanding their benefits contributes to their health and company productivity. Spanish interpreters are our most common request. Nevertheless, we do have interpreters for other languages.
