Staff

When preparing to welcome overseas visitors it is important you recognise the language and cultural differences that could be a barrier to good communication.

Factors to consider

  • Are you staff culturally aware? Do they have enough knowledge of the customs, etiquette and culture to greet and converse with international visitors in a polite, respectful manner? Etiquette and customs differ not only across cultures but depending upon the situation. A tourist guide, for example, will want to address overseas visitors informally, but a hotel receptionist greeting an international conference party would be expected to perform in a very professional, formal manner. The RLN can help you to source providers of cultural training so that you can ensure staff are confident in handling overseas visitors.

    We also have a range of free downloadable cultural briefings and podcasts to help you get to grips with different languages and cultures. Visit RLN Podcast and register free of charge to browse and download resources.

  • Do staff have the language skills needed to communicate effectively with overseas visitors? You will also need to consider which members of staff will have most contact with visitors and thus require language skills – receptionists, front of house staff, sales managers, marketing managers, tour guides, reps, etc? The RLN can help you to source quality-assured providers of language training to ensure your staff have the necessary skills. We also have a range of Talk the Talk podcasts, available to download free of charge from the RLN Podcast website. These podcasts can help you to learn basic words and phrases.

  • Can staff communicate effectively with visitors who are hearing impaired? It may be necessary for staff to be able to communicate using BSL or Makaton. British Sign Language (BSL), the preferred language of over 70,000 Deaf people is a visual/spatial language, which is governed by its own grammatical rules using hand shapes, hand movements and facial expressions to convey meaning. Makaton was developed in the 1970s to provide simpler signing for those with speech/learning/hearing disabilities. It uses speech and signs and/or symbols along with facial expression, eye contact and body language. The signs for each word are taken from BSL.
    For front-facing staff and others in the tourist industry, knowledge of Makaton may be more helpful when dealing not only with those who are hearing impaired but also those with learning difficulties. Makaton is quicker and easier to learn and provides a good stepping stone to learning BSL.
    The RLN can help put you in touch with providers of BSL training. Find out more about BSL by visiting the CACDP website. Find out more about Makaton by visiting the Makaton Charity website.

 

  • Will you need to employ staff with language skills? It might be beneficial to your company to employ bilingual staff for roles which involve contact with overseas visitors. You will need to consider which languages the majority of your clients speak and employ staff with those languages.

 

Free publications

The RLN has a free guide ‘Recruiting People with Languages’ which can help you when employing staff with language skills. The guide is available to download from our publications pages (pdf 582 KB).

Further help

Please contact us for more information on providers of language or cultural training and recruiting staff with language skills. We can also help you to recruit local language students for part-time or ad hoc work.

If you need help with BSL we can provide guidance and source suitable training providers. Please contact us for more information.

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