By Jeff Madigan

Is your pizza being delivered by an agriculture engineer from Dubai?

We have all heard the familiar story of how highly-skilled, internationally-trained professionals are wasting time in low-wage survival jobs.  Does this happen because of inadequate language skills? Is it an inability to culturally integrate? Were immigrants misled by a promise that their skills were in demand?

Each story is unique and there are successes as much as failures but the good news is that British Columbia has a strong diverse workforce and its companies are leading the way in finding ways to harness the power and benefits that diversity brings.

Communication skills improvement is a growing area for training and development, and it’s not just for the immigrant worker.  Conflict resolution, public speaking, presentation skills, and negotiation are all areas where employees and companies receive benefits from training.  However, for the immigrant worker, communication skills can pose as a larger obstacle since it is often wrongly associated as having to do with language fluency.

There are five things you should consider in regards to improving communication skills with immigrant employees

1. Language fluency is often measured by two predominate standardized testing platforms:  TOEFL (The test of English Fluency level) and IELTS (International English level testing system) Any courses done at a Canadian university means that an acceptable level of English fluency has already been attained. Taking courses in English as Second Language (ESL ) are often redundant at this point since the material taught will not increase fluency.  In most cases, English fluency is decided during the interview process often by someone with no background on language acquisition.

2. There are over one million words in English, yet the average person uses about 6,000 words.  Training in English for specific purposes can greatly improve communications within a specific department.  We have all been in a situation where, in eavesdropping on a conversation between two computer programmers, we had no clue what they were talking about. It is important to recognize that the ability to use terminology correctly is not always about knowing a language.

3. Accented speech can impede communications. We all have an accent that is part of our identity. However, if others have trouble understanding what someone is saying, that person can become excluded, their job performance can suffer, and they may not be able to move up.  Accented speech is not addressed in ESL classes.  A trained professional needs to explain correct mouth movements and airflow so that speech can become intelligible.

4. Intercultural awareness in language communication is another area where English fluency is thought to be a problem when it is not.  Here is a simple example of a communication breakdown between two people.

A: Can you do me a favour?
B: What do you need?
A: Can you do me a favour?
B: What is it?
A: Can you do me a favour?
B: What?

In different languages, the way a person negotiates, deals with conflict, and expresses emotions can be very different from English.  When a company wants to move manufacturing to another country, a great deal of money can be lost when the manufacturing process is translated into another language.  In fact, because of this reason, flight manuals for commercial aircraft are only published in English. An immigrant worker may struggle to communicate effectively whether it is describing a complex manufacturing system, or simply responding directly in a yes/no situation.

5. Diversity policy.  Does your company have one?  How should employees respond to co-workers speaking another language during breaks?  Can you complain about the foul smelling odor in the lunchroom?  Is turning up the heat a cultural right?  Without a diversity policy in place, many people simply default to the adage: “Treat others as you yourself wish to be treated”.  Unfortunately, this perspective does not lead to the acceptance and understanding the solid workplace diversity policy can bring.  When employees are left on their own to navigate issues of cultural diversity, conflict is likely to arise.

We invite diversity into our workplaces in order to bring creativity and fresh perspectives and to help us gain insights into new markets.  It is so unfortunate to hear of those skilled immigrants who are going nowhere in the Canadian job market when the training and development tools to harness their potential are already in place.  Unless we meet those employees halfway and draw them in with appropriate communication skills training and development, aren’t we wasting their potential to contribute?  Sadly, English fluency training is masking the true obstacle that faces many immigrant workers.

As director of programs at L2 Accent Reduction Centre, Jeff Madigan brings more than 12 years of ESL, language fluency testing and design, and speech teaching experience to the company. His ability to develop key specialized training tools for L2’s clients is a highly coveted talent – allowing skilled immigrants to perfect English and speak more clearly. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University in English Literature and Anthropology. He also completed courses towards and an education degree specializing in ESL at the University of British Columbia, and has a Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certificate.