If your company does business overseas or you have international employees then your ability to communicate with these contacts effectively could be massively improved with the right language courses.
Businesses often ignore the relevance of languages when selling internationally but it is this understanding of the local culture and language that can attract new customers and complete sales. If your competitors have engaged employees in language courses and can confidently sell in the language of their customer, they are immediately at an advantage, which means you are falling behind.
You will need to be clear on why you need languages before you invest in language training. It could be you need languages to answer emails from foreign speaking clients or you might need to be able to meet and greet overseas customers face to face, in which case the type of language courses you require will differ. You will also need to decide which employees will require these skills so you know who to enrol on the relevant course.
You will also have to think about the kind of language courses you require. Language training delivered on a one-to-one basis is best for an individual who needs to make quick progress but if you have more than one potential learner, group training will be more cost effective. Open or distance learning is another option but given that learners will need to work in their own time from books, CDs and online content, self discipline and motivation will be crucial.
Timing and logistics are crucial to the success of language courses. Employees may be more willing to give up their time to learn a language if lessons can be arranged during their lunch hour rather than at the end of the working day, so language trainers could be booked to deliver sessions at the company premises - causing minimum disruption to the working day.
Setting targets for learners will enable them to get the most out of language courses but in doing this you need to be realistic - nobody will become fluent in a language after just one course - but by setting smaller, achievable targets your employees will be motivated to continue with their language learning.
Finally, to complement their language courses, learners should be encouraged to put their skills into practice. Language learning improves with regular immersion so tuning in to the radio, reading a newspaper or just taking every opportunity to use the language will help the learning process. After all, practice makes perfect! - 33385
Businesses often ignore the relevance of languages when selling internationally but it is this understanding of the local culture and language that can attract new customers and complete sales. If your competitors have engaged employees in language courses and can confidently sell in the language of their customer, they are immediately at an advantage, which means you are falling behind.
You will need to be clear on why you need languages before you invest in language training. It could be you need languages to answer emails from foreign speaking clients or you might need to be able to meet and greet overseas customers face to face, in which case the type of language courses you require will differ. You will also need to decide which employees will require these skills so you know who to enrol on the relevant course.
You will also have to think about the kind of language courses you require. Language training delivered on a one-to-one basis is best for an individual who needs to make quick progress but if you have more than one potential learner, group training will be more cost effective. Open or distance learning is another option but given that learners will need to work in their own time from books, CDs and online content, self discipline and motivation will be crucial.
Timing and logistics are crucial to the success of language courses. Employees may be more willing to give up their time to learn a language if lessons can be arranged during their lunch hour rather than at the end of the working day, so language trainers could be booked to deliver sessions at the company premises - causing minimum disruption to the working day.
Setting targets for learners will enable them to get the most out of language courses but in doing this you need to be realistic - nobody will become fluent in a language after just one course - but by setting smaller, achievable targets your employees will be motivated to continue with their language learning.
Finally, to complement their language courses, learners should be encouraged to put their skills into practice. Language learning improves with regular immersion so tuning in to the radio, reading a newspaper or just taking every opportunity to use the language will help the learning process. After all, practice makes perfect! - 33385
