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HOW TO BE A GOOD "PATRÓN" (BOSS) WITH
YOUR HISPANIC  EMPLOYEES © 1998

Trula M. LaCalle, Ph.D. 
(888) LACALLE  (888) 522-2553
mail to:lacalle@Bellaii.com
fax: (707) 874-2136
Sacramento and Sonoma Counties, California USA

Basic management courses are quick to emphasize the need for cross-cultural management styles which adapt to a diverse workplace. Most instruction fails to zero in on the specific management skills needed to be effective with Hispanic employees, especially Hispanic immigrant employees. 

  • Cross-cultural management training

Many industries rely heavily upon Hispanic employees, primarily Mexican nationals and Mexican-Americans, to work in the fields and on production lines. These  industries have a strong need for management training which emphasizes cross-cultural communication and leadership skills, for both Hispanic and non-Hispanic employees.

Contemporary management techniques are often ineffective with Hispanic workers.  For example, today's management gurus emphasize flattening the hierarchy and supporting self-directed work teams. This approach works well for independent-minded, North American employees who value individual achievement and personal autonomy.  Not so with employees who come to us directly from south of the border. For them, hierarchy is the proper way to organize a business. Leaders are assumed to know better than the workers and, therefore, the leaders deserve their recognized power. Appropriate deference is readily given to superiors. Clear lines of authority make work flow smoothly and predictably. And predictability provides necessary security. 

  • Change versus tradition


 This decade in the business environment has thrown predictability out the door. "Change management" is the key issue among most North American organizations. Emphasis on change, variety, and creativity go counter to the values of history and tradition in the Hispanic cultures. The Hispanic worker wants to know how things have been more than how things are going to be. "This is the way things have always been done" is a powerful and positive employee directive rather than an invitation to challenge the status quo. Clear rules, norms, and protocol are important for the newly  immigrated Hispanic to know and to follow. 

  • Non-Hispanic managers become frustrated
  • Latin American management style compared to U.S. style
  • What being a good boss, "jefe" or "patrón", means
  • The importance of  "respect" or "respeto" 
  • Effective incentives
  • Hispanic supervisors need training
  • Customized, bilingual courses on site assure results


    Note:  The entire text of this article, including information regarding the above headings, is available free to clients of Trula LaCalle.  Clients may call and request the article(s) of interest to them.