Farming Across Cultures Communication Program
Multicultural Workforce
An estimated 1,200 to 1,500 Latino migrant farmworkers work on Vermont dairy farms. The majority of these workers are from Mexico though there are individuals from countries in Central America such as Guatemala and El Salvador. Most recommendations for agricultural labor management are across cultural and ethnic groups. However, in order to cultivate a positive working relationship with your employees it is recommended that some time be spent learning about your employee. For those with a Latino workforce, this includes knowing where an employee comes from and how his or her background may influence how work is performed on your farm. The following resources pertain to working with a multicultural workforce, namely a Latino workforce. It is important to remember that each individual comes from a unique home and cultural environment. He or she also may have years of working in various parts of the United States or no experience at all. The following resources can provide some insight into how culture and home environment may impact the workplace. These resources may assist employers with decisions when working with a Latino workforce.
Documents
Links
- Why immigrants Come, Tips to Address Language Barrier, Cultural Differences, Job Descriptions
- http://genex.crinet.com/page994/WorkingWithEmployeesOfADifferentOrigin
- Cultural Differences New Neighbors: A Human Resource Introduction to Latino Employees in Georgia's Green Industry
- http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/current/CHFD-E-52.html
- Working with a Hispanic Person
- http://www.ansci.umn.edu/dairy/dinews/10-1-hispanic.htm
- Managing Hispanic Employees
- http://beefmagazine.com/mag/managing_hispanic_employees/
- Supervising Across Language Barriers
- http://are.berkeley.edu/APMP/pubs/lmd/html/summer_92/superviacr.html
- Cultural and Language Barriers in the Workplace
- http://www.charlotteworks.org/clbpositionpaper.pdf
Last modified October 12 2011 03:21 PM
