TechHR
ex
L&D
UNPLUGGED
Sphere
About Us • Contact Us
People Matters ANZ
People Matters Logo
Login / Signup
People Matters Logo
Login / Signup
  • Current
  • Top Stories
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Research
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Podcast

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

  • HotTopic
    HR Folk Talk FutureProofHR
  • Strategy
    Leadership Csuite StrategicHR EmployeeRelations BigInterview
  • Recruitment
    Employer Branding Appointments Permanent Hiring Recruitment
  • Performance
    Skilling PerformanceMgmt Compensation Benefits L&D Employee Engagement
  • Culture
    Culture Life@Work Diversity Watercooler SheMatters
  • Tech
    Technology HR Technology Funding & Investment Startups Metaverse
  • About Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Become a sponsor
  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • Write For Us

Follow us:

Privacy Policy • Terms of Use

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

People Matters Logo
  • Current
  • Top Stories
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Research
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Podcast
Login / Signup

Categories:

  • HotTopic
    HR Folk Talk FutureProofHR
  • Strategy
    Leadership Csuite StrategicHR EmployeeRelations BigInterview
  • Recruitment
    Employer Branding Appointments Permanent Hiring Recruitment
  • Performance
    Skilling PerformanceMgmt Compensation Benefits L&D Employee Engagement
  • Culture
    Culture Life@Work Diversity Watercooler SheMatters
  • Tech
    Technology HR Technology Funding & Investment Startups Metaverse
How to sustain a connected and productive company culture while managing geographically dispersed employees

Story • 2nd Apr 2022 • 3 Min Read

How to sustain a connected and productive company culture while managing geographically dispersed employees

Employee Relations#GuestArticle#BreaktheBias

Author: Arjun Chandar Arjun Chandar
9.5K Reads
So how do we get over this barrier, to cultivate a comfortable working environment where there is clarity over all forms of communication?

For an employee, feeling connected to an employer is everything — the ADP Research Institute found that U.S. workers who feel strongly connected to their employer are 75 times more likely to be engaged than those who do not feel connected. This connectedness also holds the key to employee engagement, and initiatives such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) can play an important role here. In fact, DEI is the no.1 priority for HR managers in 2022.

Looking at manufacturing, even within a single facility, it has largely become a completely global industry. Members of a team interact in a variety of languages and time zones. For instance, IndustrialML's partners are located on the East and West coasts of the United States—and even further afield—Japan, Singapore, India, Vietnam, and Europe. 

Time zones and locales aren't the only hurdles. Every country has different local customs that must be respected, and understanding differences in workflow and holidays is critical to this. Most businesses, not just in manufacturing, use Google Hangouts or Microsoft Teams for meetings, with extra tools like Calendly to adjust for different time zones. But these tools are not suitable for all parts of a manufacturing organisation; rather, they can be inaccessible to individuals performing operations or technical work, and can limit key decision-making only to people who speak the most common language or have the most computer-heavy roles.

So how do we get over this barrier, to cultivate a comfortable working environment where there is clarity over all forms of communication? Let’s look at how manufacturing can lead the way with innovative communication methods.

Real-time language translation

Modern native language communication is beneficial to factories. Developing a software program such that it may be converted to other languages and areas without requiring engineering modifications is known as internationalisation. And localization is translating text and adding locale-specific components to internationalised software for a given location or language.

This is particularly useful because there is a lot of jargon associated with manufacturing that doesn't lend itself very well to Google Translate. A typical software application that makes it much easier to translate text for factories, even given that specific jargon, is Gettext.

This type of localization program just builds a script with a set of keywords alongside their translations, which can be worked through with a customer one time. Then, we can apply that translation to all manner of elements of the product that you provide to a customer. 

Taking advantage of localization and internationalisation tools is not merely a way to increase your factory’s productivity but also an essential way to promote DEI. It opens up your project team to a broader range of stakeholders and makes it easier for office-side staff to receive and act on feedback from production floor workers.

A comprehensive communication system

The next stage is presenting all the information your stakeholders need automatically and simultaneously. For example, if you log into our platform from Japan, everything will automatically be presented in Japanese; we display our dashboards, notifications, and reports in the language of the country from which you log in, based on the IP address.

The translation tools mentioned above can be applied to speech software too. For example, an operator on the production floor could get an alert about a piece of machinery. Translated text in an audio format helps promote the safety of operators on the production floor because they get distracted by so many different visual cues in the factory. They have to monitor all their machines in places that could potentially have several trip hazards; audio communication makes it easier for them to receive critical information at the same time as office staff.

These processes can work in the other direction; capturing speech from production floor workers and returning it as translated text significantly lowers the barrier to understanding between a welding operator on a Vietnamese steel line and an executive in Miami. Properly deploying these communication and translation tools can turn digital transformation from an organisation top-down, executive-led process into one that genuinely happens collaboratively with all the diverse stakeholders in a manufacturing organisation.

These communication solutions allow organisations not to worry about team members’ understanding of specific instructions or contributions to the company. Global teams work best when their members understand where their colleagues are coming from because everyone defines themselves differently regarding their age, gender, ethnicity, etc. Utilising transparent communication systems can only positively impact the diversity and productivity of an organisation

Read More

Did you find this article helpful?


You Might Also Like

Return to office: the legalities

STORY • 30th Apr 2025 • 3 Min Read

Return to office: the legalities

Employee Relations#EmploymentLaw
Employees tired of subpar workplace practices

STORY • 14th Apr 2025 • 4 Min Read

Employees tired of subpar workplace practices

Employee Relations
The "Great Resignation" 3 years down the road

STORY • 9th Apr 2025 • 3 Min Read

The "Great Resignation" 3 years down the road

Employee Relations
NEXT STORY: Papaya Global acquires money transfer company Azimo

Trending Stories

  • design-thinking-hr

    Skype is dead: Did Microsoft's leadership let a billion-doll...

  • design-thinking-hr

    Keeping the C-suite in the C-suite - how do we reduce execut...

  • design-thinking-hr

    Return to office: the legalities

  • design-thinking-hr

    The trust factor: Why modern leaders can’t afford to overl...

People Matters Logo

Follow us:

Join our mailing list:

By clicking “Subscribe” button above, you are accepting our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Company:

  • About Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Become a sponsor
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Contact:

  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • Write For Us

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Get the latest Articles, Insight, News & Trends from the world of Talent & Work. Subscribe now!
People Matters Logo

Welcome Back!

or

Enter your registered email address to login

Not a user yet? Lets get you signed up!

A 5 digit OTP has been sent to your email address.

This is so we know it's you. Haven't received it yet? Resend the email or then change your email ID.

People Matters Logo

Welcome! Let's get you signed up...

Starting with the absolulte basics.

Already a user? Go ahead and login!

A 5 digit OTP has been sent to your email address.

This is so we know it's you. Haven't received it yet? Resend the email or then change your email ID.

Let's get to know you better

We'll never share your details with anyone, pinky swear.

And lastly...

Your official designation and company name.