Ling's worked with you for four years. She's got a masters from the top university in China and came to the U.S. for her Ph.D. You and Ling are working on a project with Tracy and have just met to prep for a presentation.
Once Ling clears the room, Tracy turns to you and unloads, "Ling's so quiet she won't confront the issues that'll come up at this presentation. And her accent! I'm tired of not understanding her. People are just gonna ignore her if she presents. You and I should do it and have Ling just run the projector. A masters? Do Chinese degrees even stack up to ours?"
Discussion
The key fact here is that a person's accent does not obliterate their message. A smart manager knows that Ling's skills are needed for the organization. Otherwise, why was she hired at all?
This is a good opportunity for Change Agent behavior. Make clear to Tracy the simple fact: the accent is not the person; we need her skills and abilities. Encourage a person in this situation to build a relationship.
For example, all companies grow pretty extensive private lexicons — all the jargon that makes up the day to day operations. In this situation, Tracy could take some time and join Ling in an effort to "learn the language." Not basic English, but the terminology specific to this company. It could be fun to have regular meetings where the two of them talk on subjects not related to this specific project.
Urge your employees to be more personally involved with improving the workplace experience for each other. A challenge like this will begin to break down some of those presumptions and help get the Tracys of the world to see the Lings as persons, instead of barriers.
back to top
