Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at Combined Insurance

Diversity and inclusion are much more than buzz words at Combined Insurance. They are core values that are realized in a concrete way through the company’s support of our Spanish-speaking customers and our employees who support them. A group of Combined employees came together recently to share lunch and to discuss what it means to them to work for a company that embraces the Hispanic culture and Spanish language.

The panelists and audience, while mostly of Hispanic heritage, represented a diverse swath of the company from several different departments and with varying seniorities and backgrounds. Facilitated by Jasmin Zamora, several key topics were discussed.

Latino support

Everyone agreed that they’re profoundly grateful that Combined Insurance serves the Spanish speaking community. Many in the room recalled memories of their parents struggling as they settled into their new lives in the United States many years ago.

Shared values

The panel and audience discussed the many shared values Latinos embrace, and how those impacted their experiences at work:

Work ethic. Panel members attribute their strong work ethic mostly to their parents. Many of their parents launched new careers here in the United States as first generation members of their families in a new country, and passed on their strong work ethic that helped them succeed.

Adaptability. The group discussed how this shared value has helped them deal with curveballs at work and feel comfortable working and thinking outside the box when necessary.

Giving back to the community. Even in small ways, by noticing someone who is struggling with the language at a store, or volunteering at their community organizations, giving back is a shared value of the panelists and audience. Many voiced support for the ways that Combined Insurance gives back to the communities where we live and work.

Spanish language. Preserving the language, speaking to customers in Spanish, training employees in Spanish and perfecting “business Spanish”-as opposed to conversational Spanish-is a top core value. The company is currently offering Spanish lessons to employees who help our Spanish customers to make sure everyone is up to par on their business language skills.

Helping customers. Panelists spoke about the importance of helping customers feel comfortable contacting the service center with a question through the phone or social media. One panelists mentioned that when she speaks to someone on the phone in Spanish she feels like she’s helping a beloved uncle or brother, and it motivates her to do her best to help every time.

Embracing a community

Combined Insurance embraces our Spanish speaking customers and employees, and we recognize we still have work to do to provide even better service. Be sure to visit our Latino Facebooklink opens in a new window page to keep up with our blog posts, job openings and other company news in Spanish!