Why invest in English language training? 4 key business reasons
In fast-moving, multicultural workplaces, strong English skills aren’t just nice to have – they’re essential. In this post, we’re going to be looking the four main reasons why businesses with international workforces should invest in English training – and if it’s not something your organisation is doing already, why it might be time to think about changing that.
Let’s get started!
Reason 1: Attract, retain and develop talent
Attract talent:
Developing language skills is the most desired development area for non-native English speakers working in the UK. In a competitive hiring market, having a well thought out English training offering is a great way to make your business stand out to candidates and help you attract top talent. Many of the clients we work with advertise our English training in their job listings to help engage and secure the best available candidates.
Retain talent:
The feeling that you are not learning anything new is a primary reason why employees leave businesses. Having continual, ongoing development initiatives such as language training programmes keeps team members invested your company. They will feel that as long as they stay with you, they will be able to develop their knowledge and progress personally and professionally. Just a couple of weeks ago, a trainee at one of our clients told me that our English trainings were the best thing about their job. Imagine what would happen if they were taken away?
Develop talent:
Developing team members’ language skills will also enable team members to unlock new opportunities and progress to new roles within the business. It might even reduce hiring managers’ recruitment efforts, as the perfect candidates may be right under your nose, already be working within the business. It really is astonishing how exceptional talent is often overlooked because team members are lacking language skills. We’ve worked with team members with incredible professional backgrounds, but working in entry level positions due to language constraints. Our programmes reduce these language barriers and allow for stronger employee mobility.
Reason 2: Improve operational performance
"The operation comes first"
This is a line often used by managers who are less receptive to training and development. We’ve lost count of the number of times it’s been said to us. And it’s true, in busy environments it can be challenging to manage training initiatives alongside the demands of the operation. That said, creating clearer communication within teams by equipping team members with stronger language skills provably leads to greater efficiency with regard to delegation of tasks, problem solving and reduction of misunderstandings.
Stronger communication = stronger operation
Strong language skills also allow for improved documentation of events and processes leading to a more organised, safer workplace where tasks are performed correctly. For example, how do you know a team member is complying with basic health and safety regulations such as washing their hands before touching food if they can’t understand English? How can you expect a housekeeper to clean behind the furniture and appliances if they don’t know what the word “behind” means? Put simply: stronger communication means a stronger operation.
Reason 3: Boost customer satisfaction
Avoid bad reviews!
Teams with better language skills are able to more effectively meet the needs of their customers and create stronger impressions on them. Team members with a wider range of English have more ability to handle requests, or even complaints which has a very real impact on business reviews and ratings. Poor language skills are often mentioned in negative TripAdvisor or Trust Pilot reviews.
Deliver exceptional customer experiences
By giving customer facing team members more confidence and more ability in their communication, these team members are able to take their customer interactions beyond the everyday small talk so they can really get to know, and even entertain their customers with anecdotes, or jokes, creating truly memorable customer experiences. Our programmes help team members more effectively meet the needs of their customers and create stronger impressions on them.
Reason 4: Promote diversity and inclusion
Training opportunities should be for everyone!
In businesses that rely on strong contribution from non-native speaking team members, support with language skills must be part of the business’ training and development plan. Otherwise, team members with lower language skills are left out.
Businesses with high numbers of team members with limited English may claim to champion diversity and inclusion, but if they aren’t supporting these team members with their language development, this claim is pure hypocrisy. There are a couple businesses which immediately spring to mind here, but I’m not going to name and shame. The point is this: however impressive and expansive a business training and development offering look, as training opportunities are generally delivered in English, not making any effort to bridge the language gap between different team members instantly creates inequality of opportunity with regard to how team members can develop and progress within the business. Real inclusion means inclusion for everyone.
What to do now?
So there you have it, four reasons why businesses with international workforces should invest in English training.
Maybe you’re working in a business that’s thinking about introducing English training for the first time, maybe you want to learn more about what else is out there to support your teams, maybe you’re just reading this out of general curiosity. Whatever the reason, if you have any questions, or want to learn more about how we at The English Way can help your business, get in touch via our website contact form or on the details below:
+44(0)7713940908
