Diversity within the Hispanic population needs recognition
By Lisa Anderson
According to a US Census Bureau report, 15 percent of the nation's population was Hispanic in July 2006 and it has been predicted that this proportion will increase to 24 percent by July 2050. Within the United States, 48 percent of the Hispanic population lives in either California or Texas and 15 other states, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, are home to at least half a million Hispanic residents. Louis E.V. Navaer, director of Hispanic Economics and co-author of HR and the New Hispanic Workforce, explains that this rise in population is the result of immigration, higher birth rates and increasing cultural identity. Navaer also emphasizes, though, that while there are some general uniformities among Hispanics, the population is in fact comprised of members from many different communities.
In the 2005 American Community Survey, it was reported that 64 percent of Hispanics in the United States are of Mexican heritage, nine percent are Puerto Rican, 3.5 percent are Cuban, 3 percent are Salvadoran, and 2.7 percent Dominican. The remainder of the population is comprised of individuals with Central American, South American or other Hispanic or Latino backgrounds. With this diversity among Hispanics in mind it is important for businesses and HR professionals to focus on practices of including members of smaller communities in order to maximize the effectiveness of recruiting and hiring.
According to Nevear, most Mexican Hispanics, who primarily live west of the Mississippi, have not graduated from college and come to the United States to work as day laborers or for hourly wages. Also, as a result of the number of original native languages in Mexico, they are not always fully bilingual or Spanish speaking. Conversely, Hispanic individuals with Caribbean heritage, namely those from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, generally reside in the New York-Miami corridor and are primarily bilingual and highly educated. In fact, 80 percent of Hispanics in the United States who have graduated from college have Caribbean origins. Apart from both Mexican and Caribbean Hispanics, Cubans also independently add cultural diversity to the Hispanic population. In 2006 the Pew Hispanic Center reported that "Cubans are older, have a higher level of education, higher median household income and higher rate of home ownership" than other Hispanics.
When taking these differences into consideration, employers may be able to offer enticements intended for the benefit of smaller sectors of the broader Hispanic population. For example, for those individuals working for hourly wages, most of whom are either immigrants or born in the United States to immigrant parents, a high school education and an understanding of English are not commonplace. Therefore, offering opportunities for English as a Second Language classes might be a particularly appealing benefit for this group. Accordingly, for U.S.-born Hispanics who have obtained a college degree and are entirely assimilated in US culture, but may not be fluent in Spanish, might be attracted to a company with opportunities for continued education. Also, for highly educated Hispanic professionals, those who are fully bilingual and are members of what Navaer calls the "transnational middle and upper class," mentoring programs or accent elimination classes may be positive enticements for employment.
With that said, there are certain commonalities across Hispanic cultures that should also be respected within the workplace, including the desire for collectivism and group cohesion. In general, Hispanic workers function most efficiently in environments built on trust and recognition. It is also common for members of the Hispanic population to be driven by a desire to improve their lives through education, career opportunities and the establishment of material comfort.
In order to create the most inclusive and productive work environment possible, HR professionals may want to replace traditional recruiting in favor of establishing internship programs, formal mentoring and educational opportunities for employees. They should also help everyone in the workplace to understand the differences among Hispanics and must respect all values and family responsibilities. Also, special consideration should be taken when considering language in the workplace. Rather than requiring all employees to only be competent in English, Nevaer suggests that every employee should have a basic understanding of everyone else's language in the workplace. This may also benefit companies in dealing with clients who prefer to communicate in Spanish. According to Nevaer, "If you can't make the sale, your competitor [who communicates in Spanish] will make the sale." With these practices in effect, businesses will not help to harness and encourage diverse talent, but will expand in and of themselves as a result of their understanding of Hispanic diversity.
Source: Hastings, Rebecca R. August 2007. "The Hispanic Workforce: Diversity within Diversity." http://www.shrm.org
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