Breaking down language barriers to attract and retain foreign talent

Jess O'Dwyer, Pocketalk General Manager for Europe, discusses why embracing language diversity and improving communication could help close the resource gap

The UK facilities management sector has always been heavily reliant on a foreign workforce. However, the impact of three significant factors - Brexit, the COVID pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – has meant the industry has had to face serious staffing pressures.

As many foreign workers left the UK, facilities management firms suddenly saw a reduction in the number of staff available. By September 2022, reports suggest there was a significant shortfall of around 460,000 EU-origin workers.

As a result, the pool of talent that remained settled in the UK, were in demand and commanded higher than average wages, adding to the financial pressure on almost every sector, including facilities management.

Coupled with the cost of living challenges such as higher running costs and higher materials costs, many firms couldn’t meet the salary demands. Yet, the reality is they have to. The UK’s facilities management industry grew by 4.8% in 2022 and has predicted growth of 5.1% this year meaning the sector needs people now, more than ever.

There is good news. Change is coming with reports that the government is shifting its policy to allow more foreign workers into the country to address the acute labour shortages that are hitting almost every industry.

But, with increased competition from other sectors, leaders must think about how it sets itself apart from the rest. Addressing language barriers is one way so here are three ways FM businesses can embrace language diversity as a way of attracting foreign talent, and keeping them:

1. Adopt digital technology

With facilities management firms having to work harder to attract and retain more foreign workers, investing in greater adoption of digital technology that can help overcome language barriers, could be an advantageous move to put facilities management above the rest.

Recent research by the UK health and safety executive shows that overseas workers may be more at risk in companies that don’t invest in helping to address language diversity for a variety of reasons, such as misunderstanding directions and briefs. In those cases staff turnover can be high, and morale can be low. Offering prospective employees the ability to work in an environment where a supervisor or co-worker can communicate directly in the foreign worker's first language will integrate them into a team more effectively and help them to understand rules and regulations better, resulting in less mistakes, which in turn will boost morale.

Being able to communicate more fluidly with colleagues and management will also build loyalty, foster better relationships and improve productivity.

2. Embrace non-English speaking workers

As the UK government helps to bring foreign workers back to our workforce, the pool of non-speaking English people will grow.

According to ONS, about one in 10 people in the UK do not speak English as their first language, while in large urban areas like London more than 20% of the population speak English as a second language. Outside of English, Romanian and Polish are now the two most common languages spoken in the UK. The other languages spoken in the UK, excluding English, are Panjabi, Urdu, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati and Italian.

Introducing cost effective communications solutions that translate these languages could unlock this massive pool of workers to the facilities management sector.

3. Choose the solution that works

Introducing translation services could be perceived as a solution with significant costs - not ideal when businesses are already facing increasing costs. There is also the issue of speed. Translation services are not always quick and easy to implement.

For on-site facilities management workers, having an interpreter present is a handy solution but it also comes with a relatively high cost. In addition, this option doesn’t help to foster a relationship between employees who speak EAL and their colleagues who don’t, as there is always a middle person each communication must pass through.

Employing bilingual staff is always helpful, but of course isn’t guaranteed if that person decides to move on. It can also be impractical for workers who move around different sites to always have to work with another member of staff on hand to help them communicate.

However, there are lower cost and quicker solutions available if effective technology is utilised in the right way.

Software solutions are available and each come with their own pros and cons. For instance, online translations are relatively quick and low-cost, but many of them aren’t GDPR compliant, lack accuracy and rely on users having access to a smart device. This isn’t possible in many workplace settings, especially when security is a major issue.

Real-time language digital translation devices can be instant and include many languages, including minority languages, but they will require WiFi, mobile data or a hotspot. Also, GDPR is a requirement when seeking such devices.

A combination of bilingual people and translation technology will help this sector recruit people and attract more staff who don’t speak English, and conquer communication barriers.

This can help ease staff shortages while also helping facilities management firms meet the growth that this sector is enjoying. It’s time for businesses to do more than just ‘talk the talk’ - which in this case means doing the talking in a diverse range of languages.