MANAGING DIVERSITY: Grappling With Change in the Work Force. A SPECIAL REPORT : Esprit de Corp. Clothing : English Is Common Thread at S.F. Firm
SAN FRANCISCO--For years, employees of Esprit de Corp., the women’s clothier known for bright colors and simple designs, had been able to take courses in Italian and Japanese.
Two years ago, when the company realized how many of its workers were foreign-born--a majority of the 160 employed at its distribution center in suburban Brisbane, for instance--Esprit added English classes to its training program.
“The single thread that runs through everything in our operation is the need to communicate clearly,” explained Colby Olds, the firm’s casual, Berkeley-bred director of distribution.
Made Life Miserable
But the limited English skills of many Esprit workers can get in the way of clarity. Judy Riggs, a former French teacher who now teaches Esprit’s English classes in her job as the firm’s training director, said that slang and hurried directions can make immigrant workers’ lives miserable.
Riggs related the story of the foreigner who heard co-workers talking about the company “grapevine” but knew there was no vineyard nearby. She told of a Korean administrative assistant who kept nodding her head as her supervisor gave a quick lesson in a computer spreadsheet program--but only to indicate that she was listening. When the boss directed her to finish a report that afternoon, she was crestfallen. She had not understood what he said.
“If there’s not a level of communication, then both sides are frustrated,” Riggs said. “There’s anger. Things aren’t worked out.”
Many of Esprit’s employees, sensing that their advancement opportunities at Esprit will be limited by their poor English, readily give up two or three hours of pay each week to attend Riggs’ class.
Must Speak English
“If you want to be successful in American companies, you have to speak English,” explained Jose Alas, a native of El Salvador who works at the Brisbane distribution center.
“A lot of people prefer more their money than to learn,” said Elda C. Molina, a Nicaraguan who has been elected to head a participative management committee at Esprit. “But as you learn, you can earn more money.”
Sandy Woo, who headed the science department of a high school in Canton, China, before moving to the United States in 1980, has never missed an English class at Esprit. She still speaks with a heavy accent and hesitates in picking her words, but Woo tells a story that demonstrates the progress she has made:
Early in her work for Esprit, Woo was filling orders in the warehouse. When her supervisor saw that the short, delicate woman was having trouble hoisting a heavy package, he gave her a hand.
Woo was grateful, but she didn’t know how to thank him.
‘Didn’t Say Anything’
“At that time I couldn’t say anything, so, finally, I didn’t say anything to him,” Woo recalled. “After that I felt very embarrassed. I felt maybe my manager will feel I am so impolite.”
The incident troubled her for several years. Finally, when she was confident that her English skills were adequate, Woo approached the supervisor. “I was able to talk to him and explain these things,” she said.
Not surprisingly, long after the original event, he had no idea what she was talking about.
“My manager, these things he already forgot,” Woo said. “But I remembered.”
