Do you collaborate with international companies? If so, then you probably know the importance of language skills and the impact it has on effective international cooperation. Therefore, good knowledge of a foreign language is simply a necessity among employees who are in contact with foreign colleagues. Below you will find 5 ways to improve the language qualifications in your company. As an employer, remember that encouraging your employees to broaden their competences will always be beneficial for both sides!
Native speaker in the company
One of the best options for developing language skills among personnel, is to employ a native speaker. Thanks to this you will be able to organize group or individual language classes for your employees. This, according to what you decide is needed to ensure effective cooperation with foreign contractors. Lectures focused on writing, grammar or maybe conversation skills? The colleague who is a native speaker will not only be able to conduct great classes for the rest of your employees, but also be able to help out when any language doubts arise. It is definitely worth considering such a solution.
Online language courses
You can also provide employees with access to online language courses. Thanks to this, they will be able to improve their language qualifications at any time, and you can follow their activities in the employer’s panel. On the Internet, you will find many language learning platforms that can be used not only for individual purposes, but also to create entire courses for your employees, eTutor or Tutlo are two examples. On such platforms, employees will be able to develop their language skills in all areas – reading, writing, listening and speaking. You can decide the topics upon which specific tutorials are to be prepared for. General language skills, or maybe strictly business language? You can adjust everything according to your needs.
Office library
When working globally, you most likely do care about raising language qualifications in your company. Maybe a small office library would be worth considering? Employees could have access to books, newspapers and specific trade magazines in a foreign language, as well as access to different language exercises. By investing in such library, you enable employees to easily access language learning materials. I assure you that the benefits will be mutual!
Case study in the foreign language
Another great solution is so called “language case study”, which can be conducted among specific teams in the company. This of course is a solution that could engage a greater part of a working day, but it is certainly a valuable experience for employees, and from time to time, it is worth organizing such a case study. You can either prepare everything by yourself or use the services of a training company that will carry out a case study according to your needs. Maybe your team needs a training in English, with elements of Human Resources vocabulary? It can all be arranged. The employees will have the opportunity not only participate in ordinary language training, but alsoto solve case studies and work on real problems.
Postgraduate language studies
If you have adequate financial resources, you should think about co-financing post-graduate language studies for the employees. Many people want for sure develop their language qualifications, and you as an employer will gain a lot from it. In order to create the best fit for your company, you can decide which of the post-graduate studies in the field of foreign languages you would want to finance. In their offer, the universities often have a wide range of such studies, for example English in legal texts, English in business services or Russian in business.
If your company is working globally, then you certainly appreciate the language skills of your employees. It is therefore worth supporting them in raising these qualifications, which will lead to an effective, international cooperation. Every employee will appreciate such benefits, which will result in increased foreign language skills in your company.