Transcript Transcending Cultural Barriers to Effective Customer Service

Transcending Cultural Barriers to Effective
Customer Service
NYLA 2009
Sponsors: PLS, ESRT
Edana McCaffery Cichanowicz
[email protected]
This presentation has been posted on LINKED IN
Demographics
 American Factfinder US Census Bureau
 Brookings Institution The Rise of New
Immigrant Gateways
 MLA Language Map
 National Center for Educational Statistics
 US Citizenship Information Service Formerly
known as the “INS”
 TRACImmigration Syracuse University
Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
 9/11
 National Media Lou Dobbs on CNN
 Local regional media Newsday “comments”
– Suburban immigrant gateways (Brookings)
– Suburban Lifestyle=perfect storm of demand for service
and lack of infrastructure or support
 Harassment, Attacks, Assaults
 Murder of Marcelo Lucero on Long Island
 Southern Poverty Law Center
– Climate of Fear
– Kansas Church
Immigrant Tide Quote
…“The arrivals are of the classes which in later
years have come to be considered undesirable
citizens. Italians from both North and South,
Russian and Polish immigrants….Germans,
English and Scandinavian poor….[yet] It is
hard to say how our subways would be dug, or
our railways would be built, without the coarse
labor which Americans despise, but demand to
be done…”
History Repeats Itself
 New York Times, June 11, 1914, pg. 10
What is Culture?
 Culture is the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values,
attitudes, meanings, social hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles,
spatial relationships, concepts of the universe and material objects and
possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of
generations through individual and group learning.
 Culture exists in “layers” of related identity. Diversity within diversity.
For example
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I am an Irish-American Catholic Librarian College Professor.
I am a Bi-racial African-American Republican Lawyer.
I am a Secular Jewish-American Gay Doctor.
I am a Scotch-Irish Protestant Farmer
Outsider doe not discern above distinctions, and vice versa.
 Point of Service: Patron’s Culture + Librarian’s Culture + Institutional
Culture
OUR GOALS
 Progress: ClinicalNeutralPostive Outlook
 Awareness that understanding another culture is not
rejecting your own
 Avoidance of stereotypes while acknowledging cultural
differences
 Staying in the customer service transaction, i.e., not
attempting to solve or address global issues at the desk!
 Working through, around, behind, above anti-immigrant
sentiment, cross cultural communication issues, language
differences, negative aspects of traditional library
institutional culture, and other barriers to success.
Cultural Intelligence
 Knowledge of culture
– What it is, how it varies, how it influences
behavior. Simple steps: food & music!
 Mindfulness
– Practice paying attention in a creative way to
cues in cross-cultural situations. Good morning,
sister.
 Behavioral Skills
– Based on knowledge & mindfulness, the CI
person develops competence in cross-cultural
situations.
Selected Cultural Elements
 Notions of TIME
 Attitudes re Personal Space and Social
Hierarchies
 Fundamental Values and Traditional Library
Culture
 Language! Obvious and Complex!
Time
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Loose in many other cultures
Project in mutual education
Impact on library service levels
Case Study Examples
– Job Fair Resume & Back-planning
– Statistics and Counting Attendance
Social Hierarchies & Personal
Space
 Assuming library is for scholars, not regular
folks
 Reluctance to enter or approach
 Case study examples
– “Unattended Children”
– “Car repair information”
Fundamental Values
 What is fair?
– Universalism: Individual is basis of social structure; Fair
means same for all; Uniformity and consistency are
“Right.” “I treat everyone the same.”
– Particularism: Different outcomes expected. Family
and/or Group is basis of social structure.
 Case Study Examples
– Friendly Conversation Group Survey
 Languages spoken
 Linguistic isolation and pragmatism
– Evolution of FECs
Library Culture
 Professional vs. Bureaucratic Models
– Solve the problem?
– What’s the rule? Do you feel stuck in the middle?
 Case Study Examples
– Civil Service Model—Who “points”?
– Pages—Urdu speaker in children’s room
– Custodians
Language
 Low English Proficiency
– Signage SOL Spanish in Our Libraries
– Translations of forms & documents
– Translation of newsletter, flyers, and pr materials
 Translation ≠ Comprehension
– Library Jargon
– Circulation “Can I take this book?”
– Claimed Returned “One Year Later”
 Case Study Examples
– LEP is obvious, but may occur in combination
– LEP & “E-Government”
Stress Realities
 I am not here to judge, but rather to
VALIDATE your feelings.
 It is NORMAL to feel stress.
 It is NORMAL to feel anxiety.
 It is NORMAL to feel irritation.
 It is NORMAL to feel anger….
 …if left without the tools to deal with your
environment!
Stress Relievers—Collaborative
Plan
 Cultural issues must be managed
holistically, across all library depts.
 Cultural issues must be integrated into all
decision-making.
 Cultural issues must have clear buy-in from
library managers and supervisors.
 Diversity must be articulated as a clear and
important organizational value.
 ALA Guidelines on Multicultural Service
Stress Relievers—Community
Support
 You can’t go it alone
 You need to work with
– Churches & Places of Worship
– ESL Programs
– Advocacy Groups
– Other libraries
– Other agencies
– Each other—Formal or Informal Multicultural
Service Cmte within Library
Stress Relievers—Community
Groups
 Seek out local businesses and cmty groups
for publicity, help with programming, ideas
 Ask them what they need, don’t assume that
you know. Collaborate!
 Offer meeting space for their meetings
 Meet with them on and off-site
 Welcome them into library
 Include them in planning
Where to Find Help
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ALA EMIERT
NYLA Ethnic Services Roundtable
Local Prof Orgs, e.g.,SCLA/RASD MOSAIC
WebJunction
SOL Spanish in Our Libraries
TO-DO List for Managers
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Understand Local Immigration Dynamics
Bring Cultural Sensitivity to Service
Provide Workforce Support
Build English Language Capacity
Create Linkages to Mainstream Institutions
Encourage Civic Engagement
Questions
 Questions?
 My contact information:
– Edana McCaffery Cichanowicz
– Brentwood Public Library 631-273-7883
– [email protected]