Everyone has an Accent

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2019

In support of our Countywide Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) global strategy and toprovide opportunities for all employees to enhance and improve linguistic and culturalcompetency, the Department of Human Resources developed a two-hour workshop titledEveryone has an Accent. This workshop was debuted to San Diego County employeeswho have the role of departmental Diversity & Inclusion Champions and/or CustomerService Ambassadors. The workshop offers insight to accents from around the world tohelp employees see beyond language barriers and introduce participants to the challengesfaced by employees and customers for whom English is not their primary language.Strategies were developed to bridge communication gaps with internal and externalcustomers and resources and tips were shared to communicate more effectively. Due tothe success of the workshop, it was made a permanent part of Department of HumanResources’ Diversity and Inclusion Training Series, which is offered biannually.