Have you met Jose Genel?
He is an expert at empowering and motivating an Hispanic workforce
Jose is the bilingual General Manager for our long-time client, Landscape Renovations, in the twin cities of MN.
His resume is stacked with management experience:
- A degree in engineering,
- International consulting experience,
- The founder of four successful start-ups.
He is not your typical landscaper, which is why his perspective is so valuable.
This winter he gave an hour-long presentation on “bridging cultures” to all our peer group members.
One of the insights he shared was that the challenge working with Latin American employees is not a language gap, but rather it’s a culture gap.
He gave a four-step approach to help bridge the culture gap.
1. Show interest, Gain trust.
Encourage your managers to learn about and appreciate the unique cultural backgrounds, values, holidays and perspectives of their Hispanic team members.
Show interest in your team on a personal level to gain trust.
2. Practice Active Listening.
Teach managers to actively listen to their Hispanic team members: ask questions and seek to understand their experiences and concerns.
Even if you’re the expert in a given area (e.g. how to address a maintenance or installation challenge), it’s culturally important to ask for their input.
There’s always something to learn from the crew’s perspective on execution.
3. Create a Safe Space.
Create an environment where team members feel safe to share their thoughts, ideas, and feedback without fear of judgment, discrimination or the fear of losing their jobs.
4. Collectivism vs individualism.
Leaders should adjust their management style depending on the cultural values of their team. For example, the Hispanic community thrives on individual success or victories while Americans are more oriented to collective success.
That was eye opening.
These are just some of the many concepts Jose taught our community.
For this reason, I am excited to announce that Jose has agreed to speak (twice) at our Summer Growth Summit in Cleveland August 19-21.
He will:
- Give a short power talk on the 3 biggest mistakes companies make (and how to overcome them) when trying to motivate and integrate an Hispanic workforce.
- Share a case study on how to maximize work-flow efficiency and client satisfaction in the design-build realm.
Don’t miss the chance to meet him in person, gain valuable insights, and grow alongside other top industry leaders.
Super early bird discount ends in just 12 days.
Save $400 per ticket: Sign up here.
See you there!
Regards, Jeffrey Scott
