Got Latino Talent in Your Organization? Leverage Its Full Potential!

Got Latino Talent in Your Organization? Leverage Its Full Potential!

Among many other favorable characteristics, Latinos are optimistic, enthusiastic, adaptable, and they grow up in highly relationship-based and collective environments. The culture is built around people and loyalty. All of these characteristics and skills can be leveraged in any organization to improve results. There are many organizations and resources that can help increase the chances of Latino talent success in all organizations. Among the resources to leverage, mentoring is a critical one. Through mentoring, Latino professionals can obtain valuable and insightful perspectives and inspiring role models.

A previous version of this article, originally written by Luis Moreno, was first published by Latinas in Business. The original article can be viewed on the LatinasinBusiness.us website.

5 Ways to Leverage Latino Talent in Your Organization

1) Latino Talent and Retention

Latinos can be very loyal if they feel valued in an organization, leading to a potential boost in retention rate when working in an environment where they are being acknowledged and valued. They make great employees and team members as they take great pride in the work they do and place high value in earning the respect and appreciation of others. These tendencies will usually be a strong motivation for a Latino employee to want to go the extra mile at work.

2) Latino Talent in Management Roles

As managers and supervisors, Latinos have a general tendency to be in-tune with people matters, given the high weight that the Latino culture places on people. As such, Latino managers and leaders tend to pay special attention to how employees are feeling, and whether they are being acknowledged and recognized. They will also be in tune with employees on their team, and make sure they have the opportunity for flexibility to achieve work-life balance and be there for their families, the most important aspect for Latinos.

3) The Female Latino Talent

Organizations that promote the development and growth of female leaders can find in Latinas great talent and potential. Latinas grow up in highly social environments, which helps them develop strong social and communication skills. Latinas are determined, considerate, and caring, as they play a strong role in the Latino family, home, and community. They leverage these same values in professional settings. So, not only will having Latinas amongst the leaders of an organization help to reach internal goals and results, but it can also help improve morale, motivation, well-being, and the work-life balance for employees in the organization.

4) Latino Talent in Conflict Management

When it comes to managing conflict and resolving issues, because of Latino’s natural tendency to build strong personal relationships, such relationships can help in establishing and effectively managing any necessary communication to resolve concerns. Since Latinos, in general, have a tendency to be cheerful and optimistic, they can help the organization when it comes to having to communicate bad news, because they will try to find an angle of the story to communicate optimism and hope, which can at least help members get and assimilate the unfortunate news more easily.

5) Latino Talent and Partner Relationship Management

Latinos can also help with the organization’s relationship with partners. Leverage Latinos in your organization to help build relationships and trust faster with customers, vendors, and partners, as Latinos have a passion for people. Go through your list of external partners and see if you have any customers, vendors, or partners from or with operations in Latin America. That can make relationship-building even easier and faster, as often people tend to feel comfortable doing business and managing matters with people with whom they can more easily relate to, identify with, and with whom they can share some commonalities, such as culture, language, and experiences.

Resources, Tools, and Organizations That Can Help You Support the Latino Talent in Your Organization

Make sure you are leveraging the Latino talent in your organization to its full potential. You can have a treasure right there on your own team ready to be discovered! You can get valuable and useful information about Latinos, their contributions over time, and their benefits in the workplace, through many great organizations in various fields which have been building a strong knowledge base and expertise and are happy to help you.

A critical resource to increase the chances of success for Latinos and all professionals is mentoring. Providing your Latino talent access to mentoring will make a significantly positive difference as it will offer valuable perspectives that will support their personal and professional development at any stage in their careers. A fantastic organization that has been helping Latinos and other professionals of color through mentoring is Menttium.

Menttium has helped over 80,000 participants through mentoring programs since 1991. Participants are matched very thoughtfully by a team of people as opposed to the computerized methods used by some companies. They partner with organizations that want to develop their talent. Through the assignment of carefully selected mentors, the program accelerates learning, increases confidence, broadens perspectives, and helps key talent realize their true potential. They focus on the whole person and leverage formalized mentoring programs to help any individual thrive at work and in life. Through its Momentum program, Menttium matches emerging business leaders of color with senior business leaders from different companies to create a mentoring relationship that helps professionals of color fulfill their leadership potential.

For companies looking to foster a culture of diversity and Inclusion that is favorable for Latinos and other minorities, and actively increase the retention, engagement, and performance of this talent, the Momentum program can be very effective. They also offer some diagnostic tools to help you measure your investment in mentoring. The program is holistic and even includes such valuable areas as communication style, executive presence, and personal brand. The organization provides progress check-ins and results on the participants to guarantee success.

Here are other organizations that are supporting Latinos:

Prospanica, formerly known as The National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA). This fantastic organization has been in existence for 30 years, since its foundation in 1988. It has been working on increasing the number of Latinos graduating with MBA’s for over two decades. In 2015, NSHMBA extended its reach beyond the MBA community to undergraduate and high school-level students. They empower Latino professionals to achieve their full educational, economic and social potential. I am very proud to have been an active member for over 16 years.

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), founded in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. They have built a really strong national organization of professional engineers, which serve as role models in our Latino community. SHPE has a strong network of professional and student chapters throughout the country and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to partner with multiple of its members for great initiatives to support Latino Engineering students and professionals.

UnidosUS, formerly known as National Council of La Raza (NCLR), was started in 1968 and its mission is to improve Latinos’ opportunities for success in achieving the American Dream. They provide research, policy analysis, and state and national advocacy efforts to serve millions of Latinos in the areas of civic engagement, civil rights and immigration, education, workforce and the economy, health, and housing.

Local organizations: Also, there are amazing organizations at the local level, which partner with national organizations and can be of great help. For example in the Midwest, there are really strong organizations supporting Latinos, such as Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES), Neighborhood House, LatinoLEAD, Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) and others.

If you have interest in learning about more ways to leverage the Latino talent in your organization and would like some ideas, perspectives, and suggestions, feel free to contact any of these organizations or Menttium for further details.  

About the Author:

Luis Moreno is the Co-founder of The Twin Cities Business Peer Network. He has a passion for Personal and Professional Development and reads, studies, speaks, and writes on topics related to business and community leadership, organizational effectiveness, emotional intelligence, diversity and inclusion, talent, immigration, and related topics. Luis obtained an MBA in Marketing & Strategy from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota and is a Humphrey Public Policy Fellow. He is engaged in efforts to increase U.S. Competitiveness and Shared Prosperity as a member of the Young American Leaders Program at Harvard Business School. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s Council on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday gave Luis the Distinguished Service Award for his contributions in the areas of race relations, justice, community service, education, and civil and human rights.