The vast majority of human resource departments in the US have one goal in mind – to maintain the competitive edge over other companies in hiring the most qualified, skilled employees to help their companies succeed. But in this day and age, the best human resource departments have another goal that they strive towards – diversity. Now more than ever before, employing an ethnically diverse workforce not only demonstrates a company’s commitment to better serving a broad customer base and providing a unifying element within their individual communities; it also ensures that they are attracting the most qualified, talented applicants available. The first step in achieving diversity within a business begins with building a multilingual human resources department.
Why HR Needs to Speak More than a Single Language
Aside from the intrinsic rewards associated with creating a diverse workforce within a company or organization – in other words, above and beyond ensuring that diversity exists in a business simply because it’s the right thing to do – there are other more materialistic and monetary motivations that exist as well. The fact is that it simply makes sense for any business to reach out to as wide a range of customers as possible. For the vast majority of businesses, that customer base will consist of people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. But it’s hard to reach those customers if your own workforce isn’t equally diverse. And the best way to locate and hire that diverse workforce is with a staff of multilingual HR professionals and/or by securing the services of professional linguists to assist your HR staff in their recruitment and hiring procedures.
Serving the Needs of a Multicultural Workforce
Hiring a qualified, diverse staff of employees is only the first step in building a multicultural workforce. The HR department will also need to provide employee-related documentation that serves that diverse staff. This includes providing translated employee manuals, training materials, company policies, safety information, newsletters, etc. So while the recruitment and hiring phase is, without a doubt, an important part of achieving diversity, the need for a multilingual HR department does not stop after the hiring is complete. In fact, just the opposite is true.
Any good HR professional knows all too well that the job continues well past the point when an employee is hired. In fact, the majority of any good HR department’s efforts often come after new employees are brought onboard. Just as a company can only be successful with return customers, it’s also true that a business can only succeed with a staff of loyal, dedicated employees. And the best way to build that loyalty comes from an HR department that truly cares and promotes the growth and development of each employee. This is demonstrated by proving internal documentation (such as policies, training materials, internal job announcements, etc.) in the native language of each employee. Multilingual HR support is absolutely critical to not only obtaining the most qualified workers, but also supporting them after they join the company.
Creating a Multilingual HR Department
Building an HR department filled with people who are not only qualified HR professionals but also able to speak the languages of a multicultural workforce may sound like a daunting task. And, if you were left to accomplish this on your own, it would be. Fortunately, you can rely on the services of a reputable translation company to help. From recruitment and hiring to translation of internal documents and serving a multilingual workforce after they’re hired, the language professionals from a trusted translation company can assist you at every step along the way. If you’re wondering where to start building your diverse workplace, take the first step by contacting a reputable translation company today.