Many Learning professionals have addressed the task of rolling out learning solutions across multiple states, navigating a variety of rules and regulations and workplace practices to achieve consistent learning delivery throughout the U.S. As organizations increasingly operate beyond U.S. borders and become multinational, the next challenge is to extend that rollout internationally to support learning and communication within a global workforce. The fact is that beyond American borders, the language and cultural variations between countries are far greater than between states and between U.S. English and Spanish speakers, for example. There are more than 200 languages spoken in the EMEA region alone and vast cultural differences within the region.
Americans Want to Work Abroad
In 2015, there were 126 million valid passports in circulation in the U.S. (http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/statistics.html), only 39 percent of a population of 319 million. Historically, the majority of Americans have not shown much inclination to work abroad. That is changing, and data shows that 86 percent of U.S. Millennials want to work abroad (http://mms.businesswire.com/media/20160323005318/en/515669/5/Career_Trends_Report_-_Infographic_full_150.jpg?download=1), while 51 percent of U.S. workers would be prepared to work extra hours for the opportunity to work abroad, and 39 percent would even be prepared to have a Web conference with their boss every morning for the chance to do so.
Millennials now make up more than half the workforce and they bring high expectations for a rewarding, purposeful work experience, constant learning and development opportunities, and dynamic career progression, according to Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends report (http://www.bersin.com//uploadedFiles/hc-trends-2016-3.pdf?aliId=77042204). Deloitte’s researchers describe a new social contract that is developing between companies and workers, driving major changes in the employer-employee relationship: “The days when a majority of workers could expect to spend a career moving up the ladder at one company are over. Young people anticipate working for many employers and demand an enriching experience at every stage.” Training departments can play a key part in meeting these demands for progression in a global marketplace by providing access to language and communication skills development.
Breaking Down Barriers
However, Training professionals have identified a number of barriers to language and communication skills improvement initiatives, according to the 4th annual Speexx Exchange survey (December 2015). Top of the list is the lack of support by management for communications skills development (27 percent). The same survey of HR directors and managers, L&D professionals, and C-level executives found that almost a quarter (24 percent) thought cultural differences had an adverse impact on organizational communications, while 21 percent thought the lack of foreign language skills among employees was an issue. Only 12 percent of respondents believed technology was getting in the way of good communications skills.
Organizations looking to build up their multilingual and communications capabilities should:
- Prioritize assessment of language competency from the moment an employee joins the organization. Many organizations assess and monitor competencies in areas such as IT or finance stringently but take levels of competence in a foreign language for granted. Too often, there is an assumption that a professional person will have a good level of English as a foreign language or that school qualifications in a foreign language indicate good levels of attainment. The reality is that even employees qualified in a language may struggle to use that language effectively in a business environment. A proper assessment of individual competencies is vital to underpin an audit of language and communication capabilities throughout the organization.
- Standardize language and communication skills assessment globally. If assessment is carried out locally, there will be a wide variation in the language and communications capability that is actually available to the business.
- Align training delivery for language and communication skills with the talent management strategy. In practical terms, this means developing these skills from the day an employee joins the organization so that he or she can take up opportunities to work abroad, increasing engagement and improving retention. In many organizations, Training professionals do not communicate with HR professionals handling recruitment. It is vital that Training professionals share with HR effective ways of assessing language and communication proficiency to assist with the recruitment process. Additionally, if HR has a clear view of employees already within the organization who may have or be developing the language and communication skills required, they can save on the costs of hiring new recruits and offering higher salaries to attract new people.
- Use Big Data to provide well-timed training interventions for prescriptive learning. Learner data from cloud-based learning management systems provides a global picture of learner activity while at the same time identifying individual employees whose progress has slowed. This might indicate they are ripe for some coaching and mentoring support to help them get to the next level of language skill. Beyond U.S. borders, different rules and regulations apply to data usage—Europeans’ data must be deleted after six months, for example. Tap into the expertise of multinational and multilingual suppliers of language and communication solutions to help with this.
- Evolve your blended learning approach. Using blended learning, one global financial services company accelerated time-to-value by 50 percent compared with conventional face-to-face training alone (http://www.speexx.com/en/online-language-training/blended-learning.htm). Millennials in particular do not value classroom training and have an expectation of access to mobile learning technology. They respond best to coaching and mentoring. Deloitte forecasts an evolution of the traditional 70-20-10 ratio: “The Learning organization plays a supporting role in what a person learns, expanding the 10 to include ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ learning; shifting the 20 to include internal and external networks; and redefining the 70 to include corporate, community, and social experiences.”
Learning and Development professionals who manage to align language and communication skills development with broader corporate objectives will maximize the training budget and position themselves as strategic stakeholders. In turn, the organization will benefit from increased agility and the ability to respond to global market changes quickly and effectively.
Mehdi Tounsi is VP Americas and Global Alliances at Speexx, which helps organizations drive productivity by empowering employee communication skills across borders. For more information, visit www.speexx.com. Tounsi can be contacted via e-mail at: M.Tounsi@speexx.com
