With Telecom New Zealand rings the

changes to connect with Asian customers

Dedicated language service cements company’s reputation for internationalism

Edwina Pio and Adrian Kwan

Edwina Pio is a senior
ew Zealand’s largest privately listed company and biggest information and

N
lecturer at AUT University,
communication-technology supplier has a dedicated language service for clients of
Auckland,
New Zealand. Adrian Kwan
its consumer and small-business customer-care division.
is a manager at Telecom Telecom, formed in 1987 out of the telecommunication division of the New Zealand Post
New Zealand Limited, Office and privatized in 1990, sees itself as a New Zealand-based and Kiwi-spirited
Auckland, New Zealand. company with an international mindset. To this end, the 8,300-employee firm employs
individuals from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

An idea is born
The idea of a dedicated language service – the Asian Customer Care Center – was born 15
years ago, when Telecom representatives began to encounter language barriers in their
outbound call center. The company therefore decided to bring in three interpreters, initially
part-time.
In response to factors such as business and customer requirements along with different
environmental and governmental requirements, the interpreters were assimilated over time
into the main call centers, mainly to return calls to customers who needed help because they
lacked knowledge of English. About five years ago, with the appointment of an Asian
departmental manager and an Asian ethnic-market segment manager, the Asian-language
employees comprised three Chinese and two Korean representatives as part of a larger
team in Telecom’s home-business department.
Theresa Gattung, Telecom chief executive, had been keeping her eye on the internal and
external environment for the company. After attending the Asian Business Council in
Auckland, New Zealand, she announced that Telecom would offer a dedicated service. The
department developed over the next two months from five to 12 representatives, and the
Asian inbound call center opened its dedicated queue in July 2005.
There are Korean and Chinese essential-information cut-away translated versions of
Telecom’s English website, and Asian customer-service representatives are available to
work with migrants. There is also a dedicated Asian marketing team and staff at the retail
stores who can speak various Asian languages.
By October 2006, the Asian Customer Care Center consisted of 12 Chinese and seven
Korean representatives – a proportion based on demand and market size, taking account of
the make-up of the New Zealand population. They provide customized service and sales to
all Telecom’s residential and small-business customers. The only dedicated Asian resource
in the company, they form a one-stop shop for telecom-related queries. They also carry out
support roles for other business groups in order to facilitate Telecom’s fit into the Asian
community, both in business and with reference to the company’s social responsibility. While
there are multiple departments serving the English-speaking population, there is only this

DOI 10.1108/09670730610708123 VOL. 14 NO. 7 2006, pp. 5-8, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 0967-0734 j HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST j PAGE 5
 ‘‘ The team represents the face of the Asian community in
Telecom, and Telecom to the Asian community. ’’

one team that handles all requirements for Asian customers, who do not speak English or
who prefer to interact with competent individuals proficient in the mannerisms and customs
of the Asian community.
To cope with the complexity of systems and hence the required knowledge, Telecom has
separate departments for: general sales and service for residential customers; home and
other business; new and moving customers; broadband tier-one technical help; and faults.
The Asian team, through necessity, covers all five of these areas on a day-to-day basis.
Moreover, being the face of Telecom in the Asian communities, the team also takes part in
related Asian cultural festivals, such as the Lantern Festival for Chinese New Year and the
mid-autumn festival for the Koreans. The team represents the face of the Asian community in
Telecom, and Telecom to the Asian community.

The recruitment process

To harness Asian team players in a western nation such as New Zealand, involvement in
every step of the recruitment process is essential, for the Asians must agree with each other
as well as fit into the majority host culture and the Telecom organizational culture.
Prospective candidates are initially sourced through the community, word of mouth, Telecom
employee referrals, along with advertising through the online press and newspapers, both
mainstream as well as ethnic. The Asian departmental manager follows the recruitment
process closely to ensure that the right candidates are attracted for the role.
As the applications flow in, initial screening is done on the basis of the candidate’s capability
in the relevant Asian language as well as in English. This is because the successful
candidates will be working in a New Zealand company where all materials, training and
system resources are in English.
The next step is to evaluate candidates by their telephone manner, customer-service skills
and sales experience. Emphasis is given to candidates with overseas experience,
particularly in the environment where Telecom’s Asian customers come from, so that the
Asian customers can be delighted with the voice tones and language politeness that is
culturally appropriate and contextually embedded. Candidates are also assessed with
regard to their fit into the organizational and team values. Placing them in the existing team
environment to listen to calls and see how they respond to the job and the team achieves
this.

Measuring peak performance

The dynamics of a team define its capability in an environment of such ongoing change as
the telecommunication industry. The performance of team members in the Asian Customer
Care Center is measured against that of their English counterparts in the organization.
Family loyalty is of paramount importance in Asian cultures, and in the organizational context
such loyalty can be translated to the team along with a dedicated work ethic that is fervent
and expected by Asian companies in Asian countries. The Asian manager, aware of such
cultural realities, leverages this expectation to develop similar efficiencies.
Similarly, training relates to the learning styles in Asian countries, where students study
through rote learning, and repetition is a key feature to help assimilation of information,
particularly in a short time frame. In Telecom, Asian learning practices are combined with
western practices of encouraging creativity to help to achieve the best of both worlds.

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 Asian workers, as part of their mental models and culture, seek approval from authority
figures – the parent and/or manager. This requires that trust and respect be nurtured in order
to increase output through strong leadership.

Reward and recognition

Sustaining peak performance also involves maintaining a good reward and recognition
program. This does not need to be elaborate or costly, but has to be relevant to the task, in
terms of making a difference. The Asian manager instills in his or her team members the
belief that they are providing an essential service to the Asian community and that they
should take pride in being unique and special, with a higher cause than doing a day’s work
for a day’s pay. This higher cause resonates with the greater good and the belief that their
performance will set the stage and build opportunities for others like themselves. In this way,
they not only represent themselves but also shoulder the responsibility and reputation of
their people.
This higher cause of service is underscored and reinforced by the perception among many
minority groups that they are the underdogs and are on the back foot because of their limited
host-country experience and their English-language capability. Many individuals therefore
feel a strong desire to prove themselves. Cultural pride is also a significant driver in terms of
the Asian component and its performance.
Other aspects for managing the team include transparency. Continuous communication at
all levels – including participative decision-making – gives team members a sense of
control, ownership and autonomy.
Scholarship and practice in the area of ethnic-minority recruitment and teams highlight the
fact that ethnic minorities need powerful sponsors in the organization in order to succeed
and gain career-advancement opportunities (Corsun and Costen, 2001). The dominant
players in deciding to accept overtures from ethnic minorities generally need to have
answers to two questions:

What is the benefit derived from establishing this relationship?

Can the ethnic-minority employees be trusted to deliver on the promise of the benefit?

Minority recruiters should be deployed

In recruiting, it is crucial to ensure that the subtle biases often present in advertising are
minimized or negated, and that no non-minority job seekers are upset by the advertising
(Perkins et al., 2000). Given that many ethnic-minority groups have limited access to
information about available jobs because of inadequate social networks, as well as the lack
of visible role models in organizational positions, it is vital that organizations take appropriate
steps to shape their recruitment efforts. Where feasible, minority recruiters should be
deployed. These efforts should be perceived as just and fair, with an emphasis on the merit
principle and job-role specifications (Doverspike et al., 2000).
New Zealand, like many other countries, has its own legislation – for example, the Human
Rights Act of 1993, which prevents discrimination on 13 grounds – as well as bodies like the
Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Trust. Nevertheless, it is

‘‘ Family loyalty is of paramount importance in Asian cultures,

and in the organizational context such loyalty can be
translated to the team along with a dedicated work ethic that
is fervent and expected by Asian companies in Asian
countries. ’’

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VOL. 14 NO. 7 2006 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL DIGEST PAGE 7
 companies like Telecom that are making waves in the business world through their judicious
Keywords:
use of the ethnic card.
Equal opportunities,
Ethnic groups, The effective management of ethnic minorities is not something that will happen
Performance measures, automatically within the regular systems of human-resource policy and practices. Perhaps
Recruitment, the litmus test for today’s organizations will be the speed and relevance of their learning a
Service operations, new repertoire of skills and practices in dealing a viable card hand for the future. Maybe the
Team working route is that of Telecom, with its ethnic card.

References
Corsun, D. and Costen, W. (2001), ‘‘Is the glass ceiling unbreakable? Habitus, fields, and the stalling of
women and minorities in management’’, Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 16-25.

Doverspike, D., Taylor, M., Shultz, K. and McKay, P. (2000), ‘‘Responding to the challenge of a changing
workforce: recruiting non-traditional demographic groups’’, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 29
No. 4, pp. 445-57.

Perkins, L., Thomas, K. and Taylor, G. (2000), ‘‘Advertising and recruitment: marketing to minorities’’,
Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 235-55.

About the authors

Edwina Pio is senior faculty at the Business School of AUT University, Auckland, New
Zealand, and visiting professor at Boston College, Massachusetts, USA, with research
interests at the intersection of management, psychology and spirituality, with emphasis on
ethnic minorities in work and enterprise. Edwina Pio is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: edwina.pio@aut.ac.nz
Adrian Kwan is team manager of the Asian Customer Care Center at Telecom New Zealand
Limited, and is a strong advocate for multiculturalism through peace, education and culture.

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