How do you ensure smooth operations across 3,000 team members speaking 20 languages? From basics like ensuring safety to emphasizing accessibility and equal opportunities, it’s no small feat. But Jim Suber, GEODIS Indianapolis Region HR Director, is up to the task!
We’re proud to partner with GEODIS and share how language access impacts logistics businesses. As a leading logistics company operating in 67 countries with a global network of over 120 countries, GEODIS is no stranger to language diversity.
What language challenges has GEODIS faced?
GEODIS Indianapolis works across ten buildings throughout Central Indiana. Multilingual conversations happen every day throughout the facilities. The language barrier between predominantly English-speaking management and limited English proficient (LEP) employees becomes evident during important meetings like new hire orientations, investigations, open enrollment, benefits enrollment, and financial planning.
GEODIS also required a large volume of document translation internally to their campuses and externally to other GEODIS locations. They needed a flexible language solution to meet these specific demands.
Watch Jim Suber’s video interview:
How does LUNA work with GEODIS to solve these challenges?
We partner with GEODIS through several language service lines including, on-demand phone interpreting, on-site interpreting, and document translation.
On-demand phone interpreting is a quick call away. The 24/7 service is ideal for last-minute or brief multilingual exchanges between GEODIS teammates. It takes on average less than 60 seconds to get an interpreter on the phone, and the pay-per-minute model makes the service scalable and adaptable.
We provide on-site interpreting for GEODIS’s new hire orientations and various weekly meetings. With LUNA’s capabilities to provide services in over 100 languages locally, our team regularly facilitates interpreting requests for nearly five languages per week at their facilities.
Through our translation services, GEODIS can rely on our fast turnaround for vital multilingual documents such as COVID-19 communications, surveys, training materials, and more. Document translation for GEODIS regularly includes:
- Burmese
- Chin
- Ethiopian dialects
- French
- French Creole
- Hindi
- Punjabi
- Spanish
- Tigrinya
What benefits do translation and interpreting provide in logistics?
Providing language access significantly improved employee retention at GEODIS.
Jim Suber shares that by being proactive in the language needs that arise, employees receive the resources needed to advance.
For instance, teammates feel at ease having a LUNA interpreter at new hire orientations because it’s their introduction to the company. Also, with translation services in place, documents are no longer a struggle for employees to read.
In 2018 and 2019, the LUNA-led English Language Learner (ELL) program resulted in a 98% retention of teammates year over year. Many cross-cultural friendships developed in the classroom that might not have happened otherwise.
“You don’t have to be a proficient English speaker to be successful at GEODIS. We owe a lot of that to our partnership with LUNA.” – Jim Suber, Region HR Director
What does GEODIS love about working with LUNA?
When we asked Suber this question, he emphasized the close relationships he’s had with the LUNA team. He shared, “Knowing people by their first name and how concerned they are about us and our teammates – all of this goes well beyond a contract. They are the best in the business. It’s a great relationship. And we’d love to continue our partnership in the long-term future.
We also look forward to a continued partnership with GEODIS. We celebrate their thoughtful and meaningful progress towards language access and the impact made on their workforce.
Are you looking for translation services for logistics? Our team is here to support you. Call 317.341.4137 or email us at info@LUNA360.com for more information.