How you are presenting your important HR Benefits might be lost in translation!

Putting words into another language does not guarantee that your message is going to be understood, taken seriously, or convey the results you were looking for.People from other countries bring with them their language and a mindset that does not necessarily align with their employer's, especially around a lot of workplace issues, benefits in particular. 

Rule #1:

Don't burden your bilingual employees with the task of translating your materials. They may not have the necessary writing skills to convey the message.

Rule #2:

Support your bilingual supervisor! Often these people are the only link between your English speaking team members and your Spanish speaking team members. Being a great employee does not mean they are great communicators. Develop them with the support of Futuro Solido. Your message depends on it.

Once upon a time...

A benefits employee had their corporate benefits booklet translated. It came back in Spanish stating that qualified benefits included an employee's spouse children and "Concubine" were covered.

"Concubina" in some countries might mean spouse, however for most latin american countries it means "mistress". Fabulous news for some employees, but not for the HR specialist who got a number of calls from the insurance carrier.