DCS Multiserve – Does Your Accent Have an Impact on Your Employability?

Regional accents are scattered across the UK, ranging from incredibly soft to incredibly strong. What are the attitudes towards accents, and what impact do they have on employability?

Your accent has an impact

From research that has been carried out, a strong accent can determine how employable a person is and how they are treated at work.

Employers (8 in 10) have admitted to discriminating against candidates because of their regional accent – this report comes from a law firm in Peninsula.

A West Midland school has recently banned students from using the regional slang to help make them more employable for when they leave. The same report that was carried out by the Guardian also said that a Cumbrian teacher was informed that they should “sound less Cumbrian”.

Facilities management company DCS Multiserve have presented us with this research and have highlighted a huge problem in many businesses in the UK.

Some accents are more ‘employable’ than others

Reported by the Recruiting Times, Professor Lance Workman from the University of South Wales found that employers favour some accents over ones that they don’t personally like.

He also discovered that people who spoke the Queen’s English are more likely to be hired, even though only 3% of the entire population speak it. This was linked strongly to perceived levels of intelligence associated with a Queen’s English/RP accent, ahead of other regional accents – the Yorkshire accent was also discovered to be associated with intelligence.

Professor Workman commented: “Despite changes in attitudes of the general populace to RP, when it comes to recruitment to the elite professions, it is clear that many of those with regional accents are still hitting a class ceiling.”

16% of Brummies willingly admitted that they tried to reduce their natural accent when in job interviews in fear they might be discriminated against as their accent was associated with low intelligence.

Attitudes to regional accents

In 2013, ComRes and ITV surveyed 2,006 adults in early August, 2,014 adults in mid-August and 2,025 adults in September to determine the attitudes to different regional accents. The study revealed that…

28% of Brits feel discriminated against because of the way they talk in regards to their accent. 14% feel accent discrimination in the workplace and 12% in job interviews.

Situations where discrimination happens can vary; 20% feel discrimination in social situations and 13% when being served in shops or restaurants too.

Devon accent is perceived as the most ‘friendly’ regional accent

The top five ‘friendly’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• Devon (65% of votes as ‘friendly’)
• Newcastle (56% of votes as ‘friendly’)
• Edinburgh (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
• Cardiff (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
• Cockney (49% of votes as ‘friendly’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘unfriendly’ regional accent

The top five ‘unfriendly’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• Liverpool (26% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
• Belfast (24% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
• RP/Queen’s English (23% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
• Manchester (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
• Birmingham (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)

RP/Queen’s English is perceived as the most ‘intelligent’ accent

The top five ‘intelligent’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• RP/Queen’s English (62% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
• Edinburgh (38% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
• Devon (28% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
• Belfast (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
• Cardiff (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘unintelligent’  accent

The top five ‘unintelligent’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• Liverpool (37% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
• Birmingham (33% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
• Cockney (32% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
• Newcastle (26% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
• Manchester (22% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)

RP/Queen’s English is perceived as the most ‘trustworthy’ accent

The top five ‘trustworthy’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• RP/Queen’s English (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
• Devon (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
• Edinburgh (44% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
• Cardiff (37% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
• Newcastle (36% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘untrustworthy’ accent

The top five ‘untrustworthy’ accents, as voted by survey respondents, were:

• Liverpool (29% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
• Cockney (24% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
• Belfast (20% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
• Birmingham (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
• Manchester (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)

In terms of accent discrimination itself, the survey respondents were also conscious of doing it – 6% admitted to discriminating against someone’s accent in the workplace and 4% in a job interview.

How to combat accent discrimination as an applicant

There are a number of different (and somewhat conflicting) approaches that can be taken to accent discrimination. Some of the approaches recommended include:

Stay clear of using regional slang, but don’t hide your accent – advice from Francesca Turner, a National Careers Service adviser.

Don’t change your accent or the way you speak – advice from Brian Staines, Senior Career Adviser at the University of Bristol.

Embrace your accent – Liverpool’s jobs minister Esther McVey advised people from the North West not to be distressed about the way that they speak and shouldn’t feel the need to talk differently when applying for a job. McVey argued that people make a variety of judgements when looking for employees and that “we just need people who reflect other people” and that her accent hadn’t held her back in her career. McVey also added: “I think it can be a colourful accent.”

Employers and accent discrimination

For employers reading this article who want to avoid making choices based on accents, there are a number of preventative measures you can take.

To all employers who are wanting to prevent making decisions based on accents, HR Daily Advisor and HMR have provided a list of what can help make your business fair to people from all regions:

• Make sure those with accents are not singled out in any way.
• Make sure all parts of the interviewing process do not discriminate.
• Try to avoid placing individuals with certain accents in certain roles.
• Avoid questioning the suitability of certain accents for roles over others.

 

Sources

• http://recruitingtimes.org/news/5301/regional-accents-could-affect-job-prospects/
• http://www.itv.com/news/2013-09-25/28-of-britons-feel-discriminated-against-due-to-accent/
• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/11165178/Dont-drop-your-regional-accent-just-to-get-a-job-employment-minister-says.html
• http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2016/03/14/avoiding-language-discrimination-in-the-workplace/#sthash.KeKHZA3E.dpuf