Digital transformation, globalization, and humanity—how are these connected by language training? Learn more about how organizations can use corporate language training as a catalyst for development and inclusion in cross-cultural teams.
Every HR professional and business leader aspires not only to hire but more so to develop and retain key talent in their organization. With the rapidly changing workplace that grows increasingly digital and global, the question is how?
Moving Forward from the Great Resignation
Two fundamental factors are driving the employment trend: digital transformation and globalization. With online tools and connectivity, there is no better time than now to attract global talent. However, coming from the pandemic, the Great Resignation and high attrition rate persist and unfortunately, will continue to do so.
While commensurate compensation is still necessary, employees are putting a premium on recognition and belongingness. Yet, according to research, managers are not even aware of how much weight these have!
Corporate values, work-life balance, and learning & empowerment are among their primary areas of concern today. A survey of 35,000 employees across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas even cited happiness and a sense of purpose as their main considerations for staying or leaving an organization.
Where do companies stand on social issues? Are they helping their employees improve professionally and develop personally? Do they fit well in their lifestyle? Employees have become conscious of how the organization they belong to reflects their values and way of living.
The modern workplace harnesses digital transformation to create a culture of inclusion, excellence, and innovation. And this digital transformation should put the global employees at the core of its design.
The best next move for companies is to create solutions harnessing these two fundamental factors to turn the great resignation into a great attraction. Organizations can learn from the US financial services conglomerate Popular Inc. and how they used language training as a catalyst for development and inclusion.
A Look at Popular Inc.’s Human-Centered Corporate Language Training
Amid the global trend of massive resignation and the need for upskilling, Popular Inc.’s L&D team studied their workforce’s lifestyle. Afterward, they built a training program that addresses a business need: communication skills improvement.
By taking a human-centered approach, they were able to combine their training & development and employee engagement strategies through an award-winning corporate language training program.
Corporate Learning Strategy Supervisor Victoria Thorpe describes how language training aligns business goals and employee growth: “Common language doesn’t only support customer service, but they also promote inclusion, and they foster cohesion in cross-cultural teams. It’s no surprise then that the cornerstone of our learning strategy is to ensure every employee is empowered to find their voice in either language and build confidence to contribute in any business situation.”
With this strategy, Popular Inc. delivered open access language training irrespective of employees’ proficiency level. Together with goFLUENT, a leading B2B corporate language training provider, they personalized the learning journey of each employee through language level-appropriate content and one-on-one virtual lessons with language trainers.
The corporate language training program addresses the need for communication skills while considering the limited learning time of employees and the principles of andragogy. This human-centered corporate language training delivered with goFLUENT earned them the gold award for Brandon Hall’s Best Advance in Instructor-led Training (ILT) Management and Delivery in 2021.
“Today more than 40% of the Popular workforce has engaged in language learning training with goFLUENT,” Thorpe shares. “Thousands of employees are learning to speak English more confidently. We are growing our talent, and our talented employees are growing their communication skills. With Popular, goFLUENT supports a blend of enterprise eLearning and live lessons. We continue to see tremendous benefits related to proficiency, relationships, retention, collaboration, equity, and overall confidence.”
Corporate Language Training as a Catalyst for Development and Inclusion
Popular Inc. is only one of the many global organizations that have chosen corporate language training for employee development. More organizations are delivering learner-centric language training solutions to address the most relevant issues in the modern workplace.
By providing corporate language training that meets the learners where they are—in terms of location and lifestyle or job and skill level—organizations can give everyone access to equal learning, equal opportunities, and most importantly, equal voice. The key is to always put employees at the center of the training design.
A hyper-personalized language training program designed with humanity responds to diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging. It is easily adaptable to upskill employees from the top management to the frontlines. Furthermore, it is scalable to address various business needs. With the right digital tools and best training provider, it builds a culture of inclusion, excellence, and innovation, and commences the great attraction.
