What Would You Do? Responses to “Communication Confusion”
By John West Hadley
The Stepping Stone, March 2022
In the November 2021 issue of The Stepping Stone, I presented the following career decision faced by the head of a small actuarial department. Here are selected responses and excerpts, edited for space and clarity, followed by the real-life conclusion. (Please note that inclusion of responses should not be taken as an endorsement by either the Leadership & Development Section Council or the Society of Actuaries of the positions presented.) Send your own ideas for situations to pose in upcoming issues to SteppingStone@JHACareers.com.
Communication Confusion
Carlos is building his bench strength for his small actuarial department and hires Jin, an ASA with good skills but a strong Asian accent that can sometimes be difficult to understand. As they work together, Carlos’ ear gets acclimated to Jin’s accent, and Jin enthusiastically agrees to have Carlos review all of her written communications and help her edit them before release. She gets along well with everyone else in his operation, and Carlos considers her a valuable asset. Freddy, Carlos’ boss, is not as patient with Jin’s accent, and regularly comments on how difficult she is to understand.
Jin has a young child and feels conflicted about the time she is devoting to studying, and after failing an actuarial exam a second time, tells Carlos she no longer wants to pursue her FSA. Carlos needs to convince Freddy that there is room for a career ASA, and Freddy agrees, though he suggests it will be difficult for her to receive any future promotion. He also comments on how surprised he always is that it is so difficult to understand Jin when she talks, but she is able to write beautifully.
If you were Carlos, would you:
- Let Freddy know about the writing help you have been giving Jin?
- Share any of Freddy’s comments with Jin?
- Share any of Freddy’s comments with anyone else?
If your answer to any of these is yes, how would you go about that communication?
I appreciate the many responses we received! Let’s start with this response to a valid question not posed in the original case study:
You didn’t ask, but Carlos should not accept lightly Jin’s decision not to pursue an FSA, which appears linked to the difficulty of writing exams and raising a child at the same time. If we truly want a diverse profession, Jin is someone we want to encourage to join our ranks. I am not suggesting Carlos bully her into continuing, but he could ask if she was willing to share the challenges that she faces and how the company might provide her with more support to become an FSA if that is her true desire.
Most respondents felt that Carlos should share Freddy’s feedback with Jin just on her future prospects.
Jin deserves honest feedback from her mentor about her future with the company.
Carlos can tell Jin that Freddy has accepted her as a career ASA, but that he (Carlos) can't change Freddy's decision on promotions. Jin sounds like she is already aware of the limits for a career ASA, and of her speech. She can address these later if she wants to.
Carlos needs to have a heart-to-heart with Jin about future job prospects as a career ASA under Freddy. That concept sometimes is not as apparent to those who drop out of the FSA track as one might expect. What generally gets the point across is that Jin is in an actuarial department, and while those who are solid workers and career ASAs have a very important role, the FSA is usually the long term goal, and those working towards that FSA will have a leg up for promotions.
I would absolutely share Freddy’s feedback with Jin about stopping at ASA. It is important for her to understand the career limitations. Many have the impulse to stop taking SOA exams upon failing and when other priorities come into play. Does Jin just need a break? Would the company be amenable to her later coming back to exams? What are her long-term career aspirations? The fact that Freddy supports Jin staying on even after leaving the study program is a testament to what he thinks about her overall work, despite his issues with her communication. Carlos has also done a good job advocating for his employee with regard to exam progress and overall contributions.
Jin has chosen to stay in a purely technical role rather than advance at the expense of her child and possible repeated failure. Carlos need not share with her Freddy’s insensitivity toward her language struggles. English can be a challenge for those for whom it’s a second language. Carlos can just share that she has reached the limit on the company’s actuarial track. It will be up to her whether that is acceptable.
Most felt there was little benefit to Carlos sharing with Jin Freddy’s feedback on her communication skills, though these felt perhaps with some care:
I would share Freddy’s comments with Jin only in the sense of general feedback about the need to work on her verbal communication skills.
I would share with Jin some of Freddy's remarks, and continue helping with written communication.
This respondent raised confidentiality as an issue:
Freddy’s conversations with Carlos are between the two of them, and it is not Carlos’s place to share candid confidential exchanges regardless of how he may feel about the attitude they reveal. Mutual trust and candor are central to strong office relationships, and the confidentiality of those bonds should not be violated. Freddy, too, is on a learning track, and he may become more sensitive with time and experience.
This respondent recommended more investigation:
I would check in with peers and customers to see what they think of Jin's communications. If the only one having an issue is Freddy, then that's a conversation I have to have with him and it shouldn't affect Jin's performance review. If others are also having issues, a partnership solution must be found.
Several felt Carlos should share with Freddy what he’s been doing:
If Carlos were to go on leave or find a new job, it’s going to come out. I would mention it in a follow-up to the career path conversation. “Freddy—you mentioned this the other day, I’ve been working with Jin on some of her written communication because her thoughts/work is good, and I wanted that to be the focus…”
Carlos should diplomatically remind Freddy that not everyone has the advantage of having learned English as their first language, and Jin’s strengths outweigh the challenge of getting used to an accent. Carlos should remind Freddy that he himself had trouble with Jin’s accent at first but ‘acclimatized’ with time, and suggest that he was confident others would over time acclimatize as well. As for the writing, this depends on his relationship with Freddy and what Freddy expects from leaders. I would say, “I have helped Jin with some of her writing and it continues to improve,” but would try to neither take lots of credit for polishing nor criticize unnecessarily Jin’s first drafts. If Carlos defers this part of the discussion, Freddy might be disappointed to find out later, which could create more friction with Freddy for Jin and even for Carlos.
I would let Freddy know about the help with writing. In fact, I would have done so earlier, noting that it is being done to help her progress and improve. A good manager should always help his or her employees improve.
Carlos should let Freddy know that he has been coaching Jin on communication and that he will continue to do so. It’s common for a manager to review an employee’s written communication prior to it being provided to senior management—that’s how employees learn to write better. Carlos could also share with Freddy that he has adjusted to Jin’s accent as he communicates more with her over time, with the implication that Freddy can do the same.
Here was an insightful analysis of what to tell Freddy:
I would not tell Freddy I had been giving writing help without checking with Jin first. I would consider it a betrayal of trust to Jin.
I would point out to Freddy that writing and speaking are very different forms of communication.
With written communication, it is just the word choice and grammar one has to worry about. With spoken language, you have to worry about how it sounds, and there are so many aspects—volume, pitch, speed, frequency, the shape of the mouth... it's so complicated! If the language you're trying to speak has a different set of sounds and rhythms from your native language, which is definitely true of East Asian languages, usually the mapping is not very exact.
And then, with spoken language, you have to do it in real time. With written language, you have an indeterminate amount of time to consider what you will communicate, and the ability to review and correct your message.
It is still legitimate to say that not being comprehensible in spoken communication will be a problem for promotion. But Freddy needs to understand that spoken language, especially if it's not in one's native language, is a challenge very different from written language.
One should always expect written language to be more polished than spoken language in professional settings. If it's not, there's a big problem. Spoken language is another matter. A lot of people don't realize that they may need to put in work, and may think it's needed only for formal presentations. Here the focus is on accent, but I know many native speakers of English who need to work on it as well.
Some commented on the coaching Carlos should provide and other actions he should take:
I assume that Carlos only helps with light editing (e.g., correcting grammatical errors) and not rewriting everything she writes. If it’s the latter, I don’t think this would help her in the long run, nor is it the right thing to do.
If this help is being given to improve communication, that’s great. If it’s just Carlos re-writing Jin’s work, that is not helpful, and is in fact damaging.
Carlos is mentoring Jin and should continue to do so. Anytime Freddy needs to talk with Jin, Carlos should be present since he understands her. Jin can be very productive as an ASA and her possibilities of advancement would probably go in a different direction than what Freddy is thinking.
I'd have a crucial conversation around verbal communication and how it can affect the effectiveness of her work. And I'd commit to help her work with her on it.
In coaching Jin, rather than focusing on the accent, focus on overall communication skills may bring greater reward. Can Jin sign up for Toastmasters or a speech class? Many junior actuaries who don’t have accents still struggle to communicate with senior management at times due to bringing in too many technical details, as well as lack of confidence. Anything to build Jin’s confidence will help.
All a mentor can do is to help a protégé to succeed and offer tools. How that works out depends both on the ability and the ambition of the protégé. Carlos is wise to mentor others. That giving spirit will likely result in continuing advancement for him. Of course, once Carlos moves on and no long supervises Jin, she will lose the benefit of his interventions. We wish Jin well in her efforts to balance her many obligations.
And this actuary had some additional advice for Jin, and others who have communication issues:
A quick tip on speaking would be to speak more slowly. Put a little more silence between words, so it might be easier to hear what she's saying. Even if Jin speaks English fluently in terms of grammar and word choice, she would have issues with the sounds of her native language differing from standard English. I recommend she seek out a dialect coach if she wants a promotion to higher levels, where spoken communication will be key.
Now here is something people don't often think about, and this is something that even native English speakers have to work at, if they speak a non-standard dialect! I come from the Southeast, and I know many people who took dialect training to learn how to speak with a more standard dialect to be more understandable to larger groups.
And then, there are people where the issue isn't their dialect, but that people have trouble understanding what they're saying because they don't speak clearly in the first place!
In any case, it is important for career progression that one be an effective communicator, including spoken communication. Some may need speech coaching due to dialect or other speech problems from how they make sounds. That's just a practical problem.
As to whether anything should be shared with others:
I don’t think anything more has to be said to others. If Freddy tilts towards intolerance of people’s differences, that is a different story, but thus far the evidence is that Freddy does appreciate Jin’s contribution to the team.
I don’t think I’d share Freddy’s comments elsewhere. One might worry whether Freddy is being discriminatory, but he seems to appreciate Jin’s non-oral communication and overall work. Communication IS vital in our profession—the ability to clearly articulate concepts to a variety of audiences is a skill that is so necessary. Some people just can’t, but there are other hurdles I’ve seen—not only language barriers, but I’ve had people who’ve run the gamut from a stuttering condition to a person on the autism spectrum who had an extremely difficult time with written communication. It’s then a matter of slotting people into positions where their strengths are highlighted, and doing what we can to prop up the areas where they need help.
If Freddy continues to make comments about Jin, I may say something to HR, depending on what those comments are.
A few suggested there might be bias:
I would share Freddy’s comments with either his manager or a trusted HR source for counsel. His comments and attitudes could be construed as being inappropriate, if not flat-out prejudice, and could be a point of concern from a fairness in employment perspective.
The SOA has introduced new requirements on bias in the workplace and this situation probably falls into that category.
Most likely, there's a subjective bias by Freddy that because he cannot grasp Jin's accent, she is not worth a promotion. This is then reinforced by her decision to not take any more exams, which is another bias of the Actuarial profession in general.
Regarding feedback on Jin’s accent, I would consult HR first to make sure that any coaching provided complies with company policies and laws. It also sounds like the company may benefit from conducting anti-bias training that discusses how to work with colleagues from different backgrounds. While Freddy appears to be focused on Jin’s accent, it’s important that other conscious and unconscious biases don’t come into play
Here were a few other observations on accent and “culture”:
The corporate culture in the USA is very superficial when it comes to accent, because they automatically assume someone is dumb or ineffective when the accent gets in the way. It's a strong bias I have experienced. The mistake is using verbal communication effectiveness as a direct evaluator of performance. People tend to dismiss other's work based solely on the words that come out of their mouth and their accent.
Matters of accents and communication can be very difficult. The presence of an accent has nothing to do with the value of the person in question. At the same time, the ability to communicate clearly is vital, and any person employed in a country speaking other than his or her native tongue would be well served by working hard to speak as clearly as possible. (This can even be true in a single country that is subject to regional dialects and accents). Similarly, those working with a person who speaks with an accent are not leveraging the highest value and satisfaction for both themselves and their accented co-worker when they refuse to take the time to listen and understand.
What Actually Happened?
Carlos decided not to share with Freddy that he had been mentoring Jin on her writing, and continued to do so. Jin’s written communication skills steadily improved under his tutelage.
Carlos also decided not to share with Jin Freddy’s comments on her oral communications. He felt that would simply make her more self-conscious, and she already had a pretty good idea how Freddy felt from their regular interactions. He did share that it would be difficult for her to receive promotions in the future, but that both he and Freddy considered her a valued employee in her current role.
Jin continued to be a strong performer in the actuarial department, well-liked by the other members of the team. After a couple of years, Carlos was able to convince Freddy to let him promote Jin into a management role.
Statements of fact and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the newsletter editors, or the respective authors’ employers.
John Hadley is a career counselor who works with job seekers frustrated with their search, and professionals struggling to increase their visibility and influence. He can be reached at John@JHACareers.com or 908.725.2437. Find his free Career Tips newsletter and other resources at www.JHACareers.com. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnwesthadley/.