Tapping the Hispanic labor pool: creating an effective employment brand is the best way to successfully recruit from the nation's fastest-growing demographic group

HR Magazine, April, 2004 by Robert Rodriguez

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In addition to the career conference, organizations that partner with NSHMBA get to share recruiting best practices and gain valuable insight into how to effectively position their job opportunities to the Hispanic community. For example, Garcia says that generic job titles--such as "junior sales associate"--may not appeal to Hispanic job seekers, who tend to be sensitive to job titles that let others know where they stand in the company hierarchy.

HR professionals also can develop ties to the Hispanic community through more informal, local efforts. Michael Williams, HR faculty chair at Minneapolis-based Capella University, advises HR professionals to seek out and consult with Hispanic leaders in business, educational and civic organizations. "Such leaders can provide recommendations of where to begin a search for top Hispanic talent, as well as providing valuable insights into the Hispanic community," he says.

Valid Advancement Opportunities

Hispanics are proud of their heritage, but they do not want to feel they are being hired simply because of their ethnicity. They want to be hired based on their merits and credentials.

Lucino Sotelo, who was born in Mexico, remembers being actively recruited from Northwestern University in Chicago after completing a master's degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. "One of the most important things for me while being recruited was finding an organization that understands my cultural background and values my ethnicity--but still rewards based on performance" says Sotelo.

During the recruiting process, one firm, Household International, a member company of HSBC Holding PLC based in London, made it clear that it valued Sotelo's education and experience as much as his ethnicity; he now serves as an assistant vice president of e-commerce at the firm.

Having talented Hispanics in upper-level positions sends an important message to current and potential workers, reinforcing the existence of the potential for advancement and underscoring the fact that an organization has an inclusive culture. Of course, creating such a culture is difficult without executive support.

That's where Abbott Laboratories, a broad-based health care organization in Abbott Park, Ill., has a big advantage: The company's chairman and CEO, Miles D. White, is also its chief diversity champion. White chairs Abbott's Executive Inclusion Council and sets diversity and inclusion goals and expectations for himself and his management team, including those specific to Hispanic recruitment.

Such support creates a culture that allows Abbott to effectively recruit entry-, mid- and executive-level Hispanic talent. Currently, Hispanics make up 10 percent of Abbott's corporate officers and 8 percent of the company's board of directors. This last fact is particularly impressive given that Hispanics represent only about 1.6 percent of the approximately 5,900 seats at Fortune 500 corporations--and that the vast majority of these boards have no Hispanic representation--according to a 2004 study by Hispanic Business Magazine.