rebecca riddle 1

Rebecca Riddle

Fresh produce and language have been linked since pre-history; as a keystone of life, food has always merited communication. It is thought that agriculture was one of the driving factors in the creation of early versions of the languages we speak today. There were once fewer world languages, but as our predecessors split apart in a survival search for fertile lands, each tribe developed new words, which turned to dialects, which turned to languages. After many generations apart, the tribes could no longer understand each other; our languages were born.

In terms of language development, agriculture has been overtaken by industry and technology in recent centuries. Yet fresh produce finds language diversity to be a loyal bedfellow. Visit a team anywhere in the fresh produce supply chain, from harvesting rigs to processing lines to packhouses, and you will most likely find yourself a voyeur to the relationship: celery harvested, lettuces sliced and tomatoes packed in Polish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Russian, Romanian, English, Lithuanian, Latvian – the list goes on.

Efficient teamwork hinges on effective communication. But how effective can communication be in a team that may be made up of employees from all over the globe, whose grasp of the English language may be nearly word-perfect, but may equally be limited to a tentative “hello”? Language barriers in the workplace could be a hidden root cause of myriad wider problems, and ultimately a loss of capital. Some of these problems are touched upon in this article.

A line leader is trying to explain his line’s task to a new member of the team, Mr X, who does not speak the same language as any of the other employees. There are some words that the line leader wants to use which are very specific to the business. He tries to explain the process, but Mr X does not understand. Eventually, through a combination of mime and patience, Mr X understands the gist of his task, and sets about it the best he can. The process is frustrating for the line leader and humiliating for Mr X. Far from being purely an HR issue, this situation can also be financially damaging. Time spent explaining a process is time spent not working; it is downtime, and downtime is costly. If this downtime could somehow be reduced through enabling better task-based communication, the financial gains – although small as individual sums – could be sizeable.

Let us assume that Mr X has not fully understood the line leader’s instructions. Believing himself to be doing the right thing, he has in fact made a mistake which has led to further downtime and the need for reworking product. The time and money wasted rectifying mistakes made through misunderstandings is similar to that spent on explanations, except that the numbers are likely to be greater. Reworking product can impact on the wider business, causing time to be spent by multiple teams on rectifying the mistake, potentially interfering with production plans.

These problems can be reduced to an extent through a thorough training programme. Many difficulties in explanation can be overcome pictorially, provided that the images are clear and unambiguous; poorly composed or produced photographs can be misleading, with background images merging confusingly with images of the task. A start has been made in the industry, with some standards (such as BRC) demanding that key information is displayed in appropriate languages, or else pictorially. However, the aim of this is to ensure product safety and quality; business efficiency and employee wellbeing are not top of the priorities list.

Studies suggest that social integration within the workplace is linked to business productivity. If, as in the example above, language barriers breed frustration and humiliation, this is not conducive to social integration and effective teamwork. Where multiple employees speak the same language, they are likely to group together and speak among themselves, alienating – if unwittingly – other employees, who cannot understand what is said.

Where individuals are the only ones to speak their language and their grasp of another language being spoken is weak, they are likely to retreat into themselves for fear of making mistakes, which can be misconstrued by others as lack of willing to participate. Unity within a team in such an instance is difficult. These individuals and cliques lack the common language to be able to move towards their goal cohesively, which can affect productivity. Short of turning a production line into a gigantic game of Pictionary, this is a problem that no quantity of pictorial work instructions can solve.

If Mr X had access to the basic words needed for communicating to his peers on the production line, social integration at work would be easier, and the team would be able to work with a heightened sense of clarity on their task. His confidence would grow with his ability to communicate, and confidence at work and in the language would impact on other parts of his life, potentially making him a happier employee who is easier to work with. Not only that, but Mr X would feel invested in by the company, which may have a positive effect on work ethic and dedication to a company, increasing the likelihood that he would stay, thus reducing employee turnover and associated costs.

Some larger companies in the industry already offer their employees some kind of English lessons as part of an ongoing training programme, and are reaping the benefits. However, for many smaller companies, employing an English tutor to deliver such lessons is not seen as financially viable. A mid-point could be pictorial vocabulary lists specific to the business, with pictures of objects critical for understanding the task, or for health and safety, and their translation into English. These could be given out at induction, and displayed in the production area for reference. Task-based language learning has been shown to be effective, providing the learner with motivation to use his newly acquired skills in a real setting relevant to his life.

Mr X is happy because he no longer feels isolated by his language, and he feels supported. Mr X’s team is happy because they can communicate with him. The business is more successful because less time and money is spent on communication problems, and because the team is happy. Build linguistic bridges to facilitate communication, and everybody wins.