I'm not so sure how to handle this

[MadMadge43]

After the post where many people feel it wasn't appropriate to point out that someone is a woman of childbearing age to work around a potential problem, I'm not sure if it's appropriate to point something out to my Problem Child at work.

If you've read any of my past threads you will know that he has a huge problem with me as his new boss. He's also from Fiji, but is of Indian descent orginally and has a very strong Indian accent (I don't think the Indian community mixed with the native Fijians, so he still speaks Hindu and that is most definitely his accent)

Well over the course of the past year, I have noticed, while he is doing cold calls to businesses people hang up on him once they hear his accent.  They automatically assume he is working in a call center in India. With all of the news about outsourcing, people think they are in the "know". I can also tell he has a much harder time getting through to customers or have them take him serious because of this accent.

I am implementing a new selling strategy that I think is really going to help him start to achieve his goals (after all of this, it is still my job to make sure he has the best training possible and the tools to do his job right and I would really like to see him achieve and we can get past this, if it doesn't work out I won't have much choice and I'd still rather not do that) So this is kind of his last chance and I want to make sure he can succeed.

I spoke with a selling coach about this issue and his advise is PC needs to nip it in the bud with a sense of humor. Something along the lines of, It's PC and no I'm not calling from India, or It's PC from City California. Just to get the thought of the call center out of their minds from the get go.

I would like to make this recommendation to PC, but think he might have issue with it coming from me. Could this be construed as racism? He's just a victim of circumstance in this, but we need to find a way to limit the problem as much as possible. And I want to make sure I don't end up in a lawsuit too.

[Chocolate Cake]

If one of your sales associates had a verbal phrase that he/she used, and used, and used in conversations with clients that was limiting their chances of success or if one of your associates dressed in such a way as to turn-off clients, would you be as reluctant to address these issues directly with the associate as you are regarding this associate's accent?   

Of course not.  You'd explain what you have observed, you'd explain how it is affecting his/her chances of success, and you'd make recommendations for the associate to follow in the future.

This situation is no different.  You have very logical, business based reasons why PC may not succeed to level he could.  As his boss, it behooves both of you for you to address it directly.

[MadMadge43]

Chocolate Cake, those are my sentiments too, but two posts recently have really made me think about it.

The one where they couldn't point out she was female without someone talking about a lawsuit and Wetblankets where it finally came down to the fact she hates her co-workers and anything they do is wrong.

So since this deals with issues of ethnicity and he can't stand me, he could take this entirely the wrong way and feel I was picking on his ethnicity.

I was once sued for racism in my early 20s for letting go a of a seasonal worker (I had to let a bunch of people go) I was thinking of keeping him because his sales were ok, but my asisstant manager said she'd quit if this particular seasonal worker wasn't let go because he had been such poison to the entire team. Both seasonal worker and assistant manager were of the same ethnic background, so race did not play any of an issue here, he was just really bad with the rest of the team and decisions needed to be made. He sued saying he was let go on the grounds of racism. I did win the case because it was very frivolous, but I really don't ever want to be in that situation again.

[Chocolate Cake]

I can understand why you are gun-shy, but I think you'd do more damage in the long run to his already weak respect for your authority if you abdicate your position instead of dealing with him directly on a performance issue (which is exactly what this is).    Having to parse sensitive situations is the sucky down-side of being the boss, but you have to do it.

Of course, you could always review the situation with HR and your boss and keep them cc'd on the discussions you have with PC as you go along. 

[Venus193]

I would like to make this recommendation to PC, but think he might have issue with it coming from me. Could this be construed as racism? He's just a victim of circumstance in this, but we need to find a way to limit the problem as much as possible. And I want to make sure I don't end up in a lawsuit too.

I'd be more worried about him taking a sexist attitude.

[ShadesOfGrey]

Well over the course of the past year, I have noticed, while he is doing cold calls to businesses people hang up on him once they hear his accent.  They automatically assume he is working in a call center in India. With all of the news about outsourcing, people think they are in the "know". I can also tell he has a much harder time getting through to customers or have them take him serious because of this accent.

I spoke with a selling coach about this issue and his advise is PC needs to nip it in the bud with a sense of humor. Something along the lines of, It's PC and no I'm not calling from India, or It's PC from City California. Just to get the thought of the call center out of their minds from the get go.

I would like to make this recommendation to PC, but think he might have issue with it coming from me. Could this be construed as racism? He's just a victim of circumstance in this, but we need to find a way to limit the problem as much as possible. And I want to make sure I don't end up in a lawsuit too.

I was very vocal on the last thread about how inappropriate it was for the boss to make that comment to his female employee.  In your situation, it does seem to single him out a bit, but I do agree with the sentiment that if he were wearing something inappropriate for his job, you shouldnt hesitate to say something.  That being said, do you know for absolutely sure that people think he is from a call center in India and that this is why they are hanging up on him? And do you have proof of this? If so, then I would say it is appropriate to address the issue (just like if you saw an employee with a chain at his waist turn around and almost hit a customer) head on (professionaly, of course) in a review type setting.  Otherwise, to be on the safe side, adress it as a general policy.  For example, now everyone says "Hi, this is XXX from CityinCalifornia" - not just him.  From my limited experience in HR, I remember that lawsuits come from situations where one employee is treated differently than others...

I think your best bet is to discuss it with your HR first, in any case.  Can you have the selling coach suggest something to him? It sounds like that is what he is there for, and it would take the pressure off you...

goodluck

[blarg314]

In this case, you want to give him advice on how to deal with *other* people's predjudices - it would be similar to giving a young female employee advice on how to handle male clients who weren't taking her seriously.  That seems reasonable to me. 

Can you ask HR for advice, as this is a sensitive issue?  If they say to go ahead and make your suggestion to him and he takes it badly, then you have their support in advance. Plus, you can then safely write him as someone you don't need to go to a lot of effort to mentor.

[audrey1962]

If you do speak to him, do so in private. One of the issues of the other thread is that the conversations took place in front of the entire team. So don't call together a team meeting and announce "PC, please identify yourself as being from CaliforniaCity. The rest of you, keep up the good work."

[wetblanket]

Wetblankets where it finally came down to the fact she hates her co-workers and anything they do is wrong.

Er, I'm not clear on how my posts relate to this thread.  And I don't know how you got "anything they do is wrong" from any of my posts.  Would you care to explain?

 

[Slartibartfast]

Wetblanket, my perception of one of the other threads was that you had a problem, and some of the other posters felt the majority of your frustration was because you didn't like your co-workers and therefore "everything they do is wrong" from your standpoint.  It wasn't something you said directly, just something other posters interpreted.

MadMadge, I think this is a very touchy subject, and I wouldn't approach it unless I had a) proof that this is the reason people are hanging up on him (recorded calls of accusations "You're in India" or something), and b) discussed this with the HR director, company attorney, or someone else responsible for the company's legal well-being.  Don't name names, just explain the problem in a general way - one employee's accent is leading customers to believe he isn't American and therefore they don't want to do business with him, and you're just making sure it's okay to ask him to identify your city if he feels it would help.

If you can do both of those, then talk to PC in private and make it *entirely optional* that he does this.  Let him use his judgement whether revealing this information would help or not for each call - and then you can rate his sales like you do for everyone else.  If he gets mad that you're "racist" and refuses to say it, and his sales suffer, then you are justified in letting him go for his low sales numbers.

HR may have another suggestion, depending on your company size and makeup.  Ultimately, you will have passed the buck to someone who will be accountable if he accuses racism, and you will have done your best to raise PC's sales so he's benefiting the company the same amount the other employees are.

[Cz. Burrito]

If you do speak to him, do so in private. One of the issues of the other thread is that the conversations took place in front of the entire team. So don't call together a team meeting and announce "PC, please identify yourself as being from CaliforniaCity. The rest of you, keep up the good work."

I agree.  I would either change the standard phone intro for everybody to include City/State or speak to him privately about it.

[HushHush]

Well over the course of the past year, I have noticed, while he is doing cold calls to businesses people hang up on him once they hear his accent.  They automatically assume he is working in a call center in India. With all of the news about outsourcing, people think they are in the "know". I can also tell he has a much harder time getting through to customers or have them take him serious because of this accent.

Just a side comment but I don't understand people who hang up before even finding out if the person can understand what is being said.  The only time I've suspected that my customer service call was outsourced, the woman who took my call spoke very clear English with the most delightful British-tinged accent.  Her name sounded Indian so I suspect thats where it went especially since I was calling late at night.  She was incredibly helpful and we understood each other perfectly.

Charlotte

[heathert]

I'm new, but thought I would put in my two cents.  Could this be an opportunity to do a performance review?  If so, maybe you and your boss can meet with him together (or you and an HR person).  You could, as someone else suggested, go over the calls together and state why you think this might be the reason.  I would even try to get him to talk about it first and say, "Why do you think these people keep hanging up on you after you just say Hello?" but of course, you'll have to be ready if he won't own up to the issue.   I would make sure the general gist of what you plan to say is approved by HR as well.
Good luck!
Heather

[MadMadge43]

All of you have been so helpful.  I do not know without a doubt if this is the reason they are hanging up on him. We are not a call center, but an actual business to business company. So we don't record phone calls or anything and I'm not about to call the person back and ask why they hung up.  But most business do not hang up on sales people because you never know who might be your customer.  I have never in all my years of BtoB sales been hung up on, and he gets hung up on about once a week.  It really is only a strong suspicion on my part. But I also get calls from clients that would prefer not to work with him because they don't understand his accent.

He would never admit if this was a problem because he has a huge sense of pride and would rather just be quiet about it.

And we're not big enough yet to have a HR department, so I'm out here on my own. I think at this point, I am just going to overlook it and if he ever asks me about it then I'll help him. I just really do think the water is too treacherous.

Wetblanket, I didn't mean to pull you into this, but I was so engrossed in your thread and you really made me think even harder. Which was a good thing. If we were close I'd have no problem saying something, but I don't think it would be taken with the correct intent.  That's it.

[kareng57]

All of you have been so helpful.  I do not know without a doubt if this is the reason they are hanging up on him. We are not a call center, but an actual business to business company. So we don't record phone calls or anything and I'm not about to call the person back and ask why they hung up.  But most business do not hang up on sales people because you never know who might be your customer.  I have never in all my years of BtoB sales been hung up on, and he gets hung up on about once a week.  It really is only a strong suspicion on my part. But I also get calls from clients that would prefer not to work with him because they don't understand his accent.

He would never admit if this was a problem because he has a huge sense of pride and would rather just be quiet about it.

And we're not big enough yet to have a HR department, so I'm out here on my own. I think at this point, I am just going to overlook it and if he ever asks me about it then I'll help him. I just really do think the water is too treacherous.

Wetblanket, I didn't mean to pull you into this, but I was so engrossed in your thread and you really made me think even harder. Which was a good thing. If we were close I'd have no problem saying something, but I don't think it would be taken with the correct intent.  That's it.

This does sound like quite a legitimate concern - that you have customers who ask for another rep because they can't understand this guy's English.  Business people are busy people, and even when they want to be courteous they often don't have the time to ask this guy the same question several times in order to get an answer that they can understand.  You made a reference to this fellow having a "last chance" - does that mean that he's not achieving selling-quotas, if you have them?  The suggestion made by the selling-coach (to joke that he's not calling from India) might help somewhat, but perhaps not a whole lot if people have difficulty understanding him no matter what.

If he's not achieving the specified goals, has he had a warning letter about this? I'm not sure how "new" you are as the boss - if it's only a month or two I know this could be difficult.  But if his sales-figures continue to be poor, it's really not fair to the other reps to keep him on indefinitely no matter what.