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Pulte First Big Builder to Use English Training Program
Pulte Homes is the first high production builder to actively participate in Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition, which was developed by the Home Builders Institute (HBI) to provide the industry’s Spanish-speaking workers with English language training.
Recognizing the value of the English as a Second Language (ESL) training tool, Pulte volunteered to host a Sed de Saber™ pilot program at its regional office in Phoenix, in the process helping to meet a program goal of gaining the participation of the nation’s leading home builders.
A group of Pulte employees — dubbed “The Pioneers” — participated in the program’s phase-one pilot, achieving impressive results. Eighty percent of the students completed the course on schedule, with an average 51% gain in their English language proficiency.
“The feedback has been great, our employees loved that they could take the kits home like a 24-hour tutor,” said Joe Ball, president of Pulte Building Systems, Arizona. “You can see their improvement and growing confidence in speaking English. Sed de Saber™ has really helped their marketability, personal development and their ability to communicate with society at a higher level.”
Over the past seven years, Pulte has received more awards than any other large production builder in the J.D. Power and Associates New Home-Builder Customer Satisfaction Survey.
“Administering the Sed de Saber™ pilot illustrates Pulte’s commitment to its employees, while also giving the company another competitive advantage,” noted HBI Chairman Bill Paul.
With the residential construction industry’s Hispanic workforce consistently growing, HBI developed Sed de Saber™ to address communication challenges on the job site. Superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders worked together in identifying the most important construction-related words, phrases and concepts that a worker must know.
Five hundred vocabulary words and 340 phrases are taught by the program, with a particular emphasis on safety. The final book of the seven-part series is based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.
Pulte’s Phoenix office will continue to implement Sed de Saber™, with a larger group participating in the second phase of its pilot program. Additionally, Pulte will host a second phase-one pilot program in Florida, and other regional Pulte offices have expressed an interest in participating.
For more information on Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition, click here; or e-mail Leticia Zirkle at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8926.
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