Brickman's training always involves a bilingual trainer or a team of trainers to ensure everyone understands, no matter what
language they speak.
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As Tim Spahn, grounds services foreman of Northwestern University near Chicago walked across campus, he heard the buzz of
a mower motor. He thought to himself, "We're not mowing this section of campus today." After looking around for the source
of the noise, he was shocked to see one of his non-English-speaking employees mowing the wrong part of campus. Earlier that
day, Spahn received a "head bob" from the Spanish-only employee as acknowledgement that the employee understood the instructions.
Spahn admits that he doesn't have an organized program for training non-English-speaking employees. Adapting by need, he mostly
relies on employees who are bilingual in English and Spanish to keep his one Spanish-only employee up to date.
Bilingual resources
Brickman's spring equipment rodeos include bilingual instruction on daily equipment maintenance.
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Some landscape managers "wing" a training program for non-English-speaking employees because they are not sure where to begin.
The place to look is no farther than the name on your mowing equipment. Many manufacturers offer bilingual materials, formal
training and customer service.
Exmark and Toro teamed up with the National Safety Council to provide tailgate safety training materials in English and Spanish
for both instructors and students. Dan Dorn, Exmark's product sales manager, says some Spanish-speaking customers have difficulty
reading, so visual training is extremely important. The training kit includes a flip chart with pictures and diagrams to show
what equipment to use in what mowing situations.
Brickman superintendents meet to learn about new equipment so they can transfer the learning to their field crews.
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The manufacturer also bridges the language gap by having bilingual trainers in the customer service department. Trainers Marco
Arroyo and Joe Hyler, from Costa Rica and Paraguay, respectively, visit national accounts, dealer events and trade shows,
as well as answer phone inquiries. They use PowerPoint slides, videos and printed materials to cover equipment operations,
safety systems and equipment maintenance.
"We'll come into a classroom and actually teach customers hands-on," says Dorn. "We'll bring new equipment and show it to
customers. But what we really like to do is show it on their equipment, so that they know, 'It's not different from what I
saw in the classroom. It's exactly the one that I have in my shop.'"
Dorn finds that many Spanish-speaking employees will know how to use the mowing equipment, but they do not know how to run
the equipment safely. "Managers tend to worry about training employees on how to run the equipment more so than training them
how to do it safely," he says.
Unlike training English-speaking groups, Dorn and the trainers find that Spanish-speaking sessions take longer – not because
the employees don't understand but because they just struck a "pot of gold." Dorn says the audience asks a lot of questions
because they found a valuable resource.
Brickman Superintendent Guido Cortes shares what he learned at Exmark with teammates in a spring equipment rodeo.
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"When Marco and Joe speak, you see instant connection between them and the Spanish-speaking audience," Dorn says. "Instead
of frustration, you see recognition."
To connect, Arroyo and Hyler inquire about the nationality of the audience because of the many dialects within the Spanish
language. Once the trainers know a region or nationality, they can tailor their communication to fit that dialect.
