Don't Resign Yourself - Redesign Yourself Cont'd

Lets have an example of a woman who is facing adjustment to change problem in her work place.

Her name can be called Tonye. She was recently employed about two months ago by a bank and started work as a marketer with their branch in Potiskum, Yobe State, having to deal primarily with Hausa people.

While she had great credentials as a marketer from previous banks she had worked for and a certificate in her field, her problem is that she didn't speak Hausa, and she had replaced a marketer who spoke Hausa and English. Even her Branch Manager spoke the two languages. At one time, the community had mostly indigenes and businessmen who could speak pidgin English, but the community had changed because of increased immigration.

So why had the bank employed Tonye in the first place? Management was impressed by Tonye's past work history and hadn't thought there would be a language barrier. After all, the new immigrants were supposed to be able to at least speak pidgin English. But apparently they didn't learn it fast enough in order for Tonye to communicate with them, because many were older immigrants and it took more time for them to learn a new language than it would children or teenagers. And so Tonye found it hard to keep up with her new placement.

Because of these difficulties, she was becoming increasingly upset and emotional on the job. She felt even worse when she saw her Branch Manager communicating with potential clients in Hausa. Now she was concerned about an upcoming meeting with the Regional Manager, since she was in a six month probation program. Did this mean the end of her job, and what should she do?

What Should Tonye Do?
Here are some possibilities. In Tonye's place, what would you do and why? What do you think the outcomes of these different options would be?

Ask management to supply a translator, since it's not her responsibility to learn a new language; the immigrants are supposed to learn English?

Find another job where the clients do speak English?

Ask her supervisor to give her time off and cover the costs of any training if she needs to learn Hausa, since this is extra work, not part of her original work agreement

Speak to an employment attorney about preserving her rights to keep her job or gain compensation, if she is unfairly terminated because she is not performing but she shouldn't be required to learn Hausa?

Other?

...To be continued

Adapted from “A Survival Guide for Working with Humans” Gini Graham Scott, Ph.d.