Commitment to Enhancing Employee-Customer Relations

customer service employee at an airport talking to a passangerThe landscape of today’s marketplace is highly focused on the quality of relationships. There are clear connections between employee satisfaction and customer experience, but there are other connections between employees and customers—such as language. How can language, and a commitment to language, redefine employee-customer relations?

As Alex Shashkevich, of Stanford News, writes, “​​people speak roughly 7,000 languages worldwide. Although there is a lot in common among languages, each one is unique, both in its structure and in the way it reflects the culture of the people who speak it.”[1] The sheer number of languages spoken around the world highlights how important it is to view language as a connector rather than a barrier. ACTFL assessments administered by Language Testing International (LTI) are just that—the unifier between employees and customers. Nowhere is proof of this connection more apparent than with the partnership between LTI and JetBlue.

Responsible for the safety and experience of more than 30 million customers in 86 global cities, JetBlue relies on Language Testing International as their language certification partner to reshape how their employees engage with their customers.

JetBlue’s Global Scholars Program supports their multilingual crewmembers with academic and career opportunities. From providing college-level credit to language proficiency testing and certification in speaking, reading, and writing comprehension, LTI has made it possible for many of JetBlue’s 20,000+ crewmembers to certify their language skills and earn entire semester(s’) worth of credits towards a higher education degree. In turn, these JetBlue crewmembers become better equipped to serve those 30 million customers as they remain linguistically connected from city to city. There are numerous reasons why multilingualism benefits companies, building employee/customer trust being just one of them. Employees who speak with customers in their native language create a connection and bring a sense of familiarity and comfort, in turn improving customer satisfaction.

Become the connector! Visit www.languagetesting.com to redefine what employee-customer relationships mean to you.

To learn more about how JetBlue is utilizing LTI’s services, listen to our podcast with Nicole Lembo, Manager of Talent Management and Academic Programs at JetBlue Airways.

READ MORE –> Business Benefits of Multilingualism

 

Sources:

[1]https://news.stanford.edu/2019/08/22/the-power-of-language-how-words-shape-people-culture/

Earn While You Learn

Young professionals in a business setting At Language Testing International (LTI), we know that it can be intimidating to think of language in the context of evaluation. Terms such as “testing,” “examination,” and “certificates” can be stressful or off-putting.

But what if we told you that your native or second language(s)—those you already speak, read, and/or write—could count towards an entire semester’s worth of college credits, increase your employability, and increase your eligibility for different jobs altogether?

While ACTFL language proficiency testing, delivered exclusively by LTI, does require you to take an assessment and provides you with a certificate of completion, the process is meant for you to showcase your current knowledge. If you have learned how to speak, read, and write in a second language, either at home or by studying or living abroad, you may be more prepared for our tests than you think!

Most native-language speakers take ACTFL Language Proficiency tests without any prior studying. The tests only take approximately one hour to complete and are organized by skill— speaking, reading, listening, and writing. The format of the tests is flexible and allows you to show your strengths in the various language skills.

Your ACTFL Proficiency Certificate, when used the right way, can transform your career! For instance, take a look at how the JetBlue Global Scholars Program is using language proficiency testing through LTI to help its multilingual crewmembers advance in their education and work opportunities.

JetBlue Global Scholars Program offers the airline’s crewmembers the opportunity to earn a fully-accredited associate or bachelor’s degree that includes major cost coverage, required licenses, certifications, transfer course credits, as well as job experience and JetBlue training.

Together with ACTFL language proficiency testing, JetBlue’s Global Scholars Program actuates these goals by assisting their multilingual crewmembers in obtaining certificates for their résumé and receiving a considerable number of college credits.

Typically, a bachelor’s-level college course is worth 3 credits, with the full degree totaling around 120 credits. With each of ACTFL Proficiency Test, a JetBlue crewmember can earn around 9–12 credits toward their higher education degree! If the crewmember takes a test for each of the four language skills, they can earn upwards of 35-40 credits, which is equivalent to multiple semesters’ worth of course credits. Again, this process is for a native or second language that a person already knows how to speak, read, and/or write!

Ultimately, the success is evident. After receiving certification and/or credits, many graduates ascend to new roles within the company or become eligible for more flight routes as a direct result of their language testing scores and their degree, through the JetBlue Global Scholars Program. Now, that’s how you EARN WHILE YOU LEARN!

Get certified and gain your college credit and competitive advantage. Visit www.languagetesting.com to get started today!

Business Benefits of Multilingualism

Stewardess talking to passengers on plane.

In our increasingly globalized world, there is a growing need for a multilingual workforce. The demand for multilingual employees more than doubled between 2010 and 2015. The workforce has continued to evolve since then, particularly because of the COVID-19 pandemic — as of 2021, there has been a 30% increase in bilingual remote jobs.

Multilingual employees bring undeniable value to the workplace, helping to build a culturally diverse workforce, which in turn allows for fresh ideas and perspectives in creating new business solutions. They also help with the expansion into global markets and the building of employee and customer trust.

Businesses can keep pace with the global market by prioritizing multilingualism. Knowledge of more than one language can benefit employee and business growth. By prioritizing multilingual career advancement, you can ensure employee and organizational achievement.

Why Invest in Multilingualism?

Businesses that prioritize multilingualism can connect with broader audiences. Learning a new language requires a commitment to a new culture. During this process, you adopt new viewpoints and understand different cultural nuances. Your brain adapts to the new language and expands, developing new or advanced skills.

Employers can bring these advanced skills into their workplaces by hiring multilingual employees or providing existing workers with the ability to become bilingual. For example, multilingualism can develop these skills in employees:

  • Improved communication: Multilingualism allows people to communicate with larger numbers of people. People who speak more than one language understand the structural components on a deeper level. For instance, they might understand the most effective way to discuss a particular topic. Effective communication is a vital trait for employees, letting them speak with co-workers, supervisors, and clients in an engaging and clear way. They can introduce products, answer customer concerns, or present new ideas.
  • Strengthened client relationships: According to data from Statista, more than one-fifth of Americans speak a language other than English at home. By employing multilingual workers, you can connect with a wider client base. You can interact with clients in their preferred languages, which facilitates a closer relationship. Employees become better prepared to meet customer expectations and respond to their needs. The personalized approach increases brand loyalty.
  • More productive work environment: You can also boost your workplace’s efficiency with multilingual workers. Bilingual speakers can have increased confidence, which can lead to stronger relationships among employees. A unified workforce can work more efficiently due to increased collaboration. Better communication makes it easier to complete projects and relay information to each other.
Why invest in multilingualism? Leads to improved communication, strengthened client relationships, and more productive work environment.

Case Study: JetBlue

JetBlue is a prime example of how multilingualism benefits businesses. The airline company allows employees to fast-track their degree programs, making it easier to obtain their credentials. Their Global Scholars Program advances the educational and professional opportunities for all employees, allowing them to earn accredited associate or bachelor’s degrees. Employees can also apply previous courses, certifications, licenses and job experiences to their degrees to build credits.

Multilingual JetBlue employees can also increase college credits by displaying their proficiency in other languages. JetBlue partnered with Language Testing International® (LTI) to provide the opportunity to take language tests. LTI® administers ACTFL assessments, which have significance for proficiency and certification and are recognized by the American Council on Education.

They offer the opportunity for multilingual speakers, readers, and writers to earn college credits or linguistic certifications. “Someone who is a native speaker, or who is at the expert level in a language, can get 9 to 12 credits for a couple of the ACTFL assessments. That is a huge benefit to our crewmembers in the program,” says Nicole Lembo, the Manager of Talent Management/Academic Programs at JetBlue.

The success of the Global Scholars Program is evident for both the employees and for JetBlue. With the help of LTI and ACTFL, crewmembers at JetBlue not only have the opportunity to complete an academic degree without having to return to school, but many ascend to new roles within the company. Employees who complete the program also “tend to be more engaged with the company, tend to be more loyal to JetBlue, and they stay longer,” says Lembo. 

Attracting and retaining talent in today’s economy is key to success. Lembo says, “When our crewmembers who already speak another language are able to become certified by ACTFL, it is not only valuable on a resume but even more exciting for us. Our employees have the opportunity to earn credits towards a bachelor’s degree. Ultimately, we are able to provide education to incoming talent, a huge part of the value proposition when it comes to recruitment. If you are going to be the employer of choice in today’s labor market where everybody is fighting for talent as we’re coming out of Covid, you have to offer more than a paycheck.” Recognizing and investing in employees’ multilingual skills can certainly contribute to a company’s competitiveness and ultimate transition to the global stage.

About Language Testing International

Administering ACTFL assessments and partnering with LTI can ultimately serve as the catalyst to help you elevate your employees’ academic and professional experiences, expanding your business. Your employees can earn ACTFL language proficiency certification with Language Testing International.

To learn more about JetBlue’s experience partnering with LTI, listen to our podcast in which Nicole Lembo discusses how JetBlue is leveraging LTI’s Language Proficiency Testing to help the company’s employees further their academic and career advancement.

Showcase Your Bilingual Superpower

As a Latino professional, you may often have been asked about your heritage or cultural background, and questions or comments about your appearance being “exotic” or your speech having an “accent” are off-putting. However, there are opportunities for you to showcase your multicultural competencies and show that language is your superpower.

There are over 559 million Spanish speakers globally, 460 million of whom are native speakers. In the U.S., Spanish is spoken in approximately 13% of households and it is becoming more mainstream because the Hispanic population is growing. So, you are not alone! ¡No estás solo! With the immersion of Spanish into all aspects of American daily living and projections stating that 1 in 3 people in the U.S. will speak Spanish by 2050, this is your opportunity to utilize the benefits of being bilingual.  Here are a few areas where Spanish language proficiency certifications can be beneficial to let people know that – “Yo hablo inglés y español”:

Personal and professional development

Research from the University of Washington has shown that toddlers who speak two or more languages have more frontal lobe activity than those who speak one language.  What does that mean for you? Dual language speakers have enhanced memory, focus, and multitasking skills.  The transition between one language to another helps to enhance your flexibility when dealing with different situations, making them less challenging—particularly as it relates to diverse cultural contexts. The expanded mental capacity helps to enhance your opportunities for personal growth and professional development.

Competitive advantage and expanded opportunities

A recent study conducted for ACTFL (formerly known as the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) found that “nine out of 10 U.S. employers report a reliance on U.S.-based employees with language skills other than English, with one-third (32 percent) reporting a high dependency.” This means that not only is your bilingual superpower needed by employers, but it is also a valuable asset which will allow you to seize opportunities to further your career. ¡Súper!

You can obtain official certification of Spanish language proficiency by taking an ACTFL test administered by Language Testing International (LTI). Obtaining language proficiency certification will allow you to officially confirm your language competency to potential and current employers. This gives you a distinct professional advantage in the U.S. and the global marketplace and broadens your career options. A certification also comes with an official digital badge through Credly, which you can proudly display in your professional profile online and on your résumé.

College credit

Did you know you can earn college credit for being bilingual? You can earn semesters’ worth of college credit by obtaining an official certification of proficiency. ACTFL assessments measure your language ability and proficiency regardless of whether you learned the language in school or at home. Many higher education institutions will award college credits based on the official certification. You can get closer to your degree just by being bilingual!

Business and leisure travel experiences

Having the ability to speak English and Spanish means that you do not have to cope with the language barriers that monolingual travelers experience when they are in culturally diverse situations or while visiting any of the Spanish-speaking countries in the world, of which there are over 20. Your bilingual capabilities afford you the ability to effectively communicate with others, easily navigate diverse destinations, and authentically engage in the experience. The cultural and language exposure that travel offers creates opportunities to expand your horizons and enrich your life, both personally and professionally.

Quality of mental health and a life’s journey

The benefits of being bilingual as a child and as we age have been researched and debated at length. In a 2018 article from the Washington Post, Psycholinguist Mark Antoniou of Western Sydney University in Australia proposes that being bilingual benefits the brain, especially as we age, and encourages the use of multiple languages on a regular basis to possibly delay the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. He suggests that, as the brain ages, it begins to deteriorate and that being bilingual can help to establish alternate brain networks and connections known as cognitive compensation.

So, whether you use your bilingual superpowers as a means for personal growth, career advancement, enhanced travel experiences (for business or pleasure), or keeping your mind active, being bilingual supports a life-long journey with many benefits. Australian multi-lingual philosopher Ludwig Witterstein said it best, “the limits of my language means the limits of my world.” In other words, your world is expanded by virtue of your bilingual superpowers. It is your time to go out into the world and reach new heights!

Get certified and showcase your bilingual superpowers with ACTFL assessments delivered by LTI. Find more information and sign up to take a test at www.languagetesting.com.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/soniathompson/2021/05/27/the-us-has-the-second-largest-population-of-spanish-speakers-how-to-equip-your-brand-to-serve-them/?sh=27dc8b16793a

https://oxfordhousebcn.com/en/8-hidden-benefits-of-being-bilingual/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/speaking-two-languages-may-help-the-aging-brain/2018/12/07/f93489c8-f8b0-11e8-8d64-4e79db33382f_story.html

 

 

Spanish Speakers Bring Superpowers to Businesses

The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse, and the Hispanic population is a big contributor to the country’s changing demographics. According to the U.S. Census’ latest data, there has been a 23% increase in the Spanish-speaking population since 2010, totaling approximately 62.1 million Hispanics as of 2020. This growth is projected to reach 99.89 million by 2050[i], and the importance of developing business strategies to connect and engage with the Hispanic consumer segment is paramount.

This diversification is not limited to race and ethnicity—it also includes language. In 2013, approximately 6 out of 10 (62%) of Hispanics were bilingual (English & Spanish)[ii] and by 2050, it is anticipated that 1 out of every 3 people in the U.S. will speak Spanish[iii].

What exactly does this mean for your business? Accurately and authentically engaging with Hispanic consumers will allow you to earn their respect, trust, and business.

Companies that intentionally hire bilingual team members to communicate and engage with the Spanish-speaking population have a competitive edge, making language proficiency an undeniable superpower. In ACTFL’s 2019 report titled “Making Language Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers”, 1 out of 3 U.S. employers reported a language skills gap with the greatest need in the following top 5 business areas:

  1. Customer Service
  2. Sales
  3. Marketing
  4. Management
  5. IT

Approximately 9 out of 10 employers reported relying on employees for language skills other than English. Therefore, companies that have bilingual employees who can communicate with their Hispanic customers with both linguistic and cultural competence not only tap into a competitive edge that directly affects their bottom line, but more importantly, they also nurture brand loyalty and longevity with a segment of the population that is often overlooked by other companies. As the largest growing population in the United States, the Spanish-speaking consumer segment can no longer be ignored.

In 2020, the buying power of the Hispanic market was predicted to reach $1.7 trillion. More specifically, Hispanic entrepreneurship grew by 31.6% since 2012, along with the use of digital tools.  Approximately 98% of Hispanic entrepreneurs use digital tools to run their businesses, and about 75% of them use social media for business purposes. The online environment provides direct access to the Hispanic market like never before. In an article titled “Companies Engaging Hispanics Win Big in the U.S.—and Beyond” the author, Jessica Rivera, stated “…research shows that best-in-class companies that aim at least 25% of ad spending at Hispanic consumers are growing by 6.7% annually.”

Are you ready to activate your company’s Spanish language superpowers? Here are three (3) quick tips to get you started:

  1. Recruit certified Spanish speakers: Having team members that can communicate in Spanish will provide your company the bilingual capabilities needed to engage with Spanish-speaking people authentically and appropriately. Make sure to test your Spanish-speaking employees for reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
  2. Collaborate with Hispanic businesses and entrepreneurs: Your supplier mix should represent the diversity of the community you are serving. Onboard Hispanic-owned businesses as part of your pool of suppliers as they will be your gateway to doing business with the Hispanic market.
  3. Market in language, in culture, in context, and online: Leverage technology and digital accessibility to connect, communicate, collaborate, and create business opportunities with Hispanic consumers and the community at large.

Now, more than ever, businesses need to be ready to activate their Spanish language superpowers. You can confidently partner with Language Testing International (LTI) to test and certify current staff members, and to hire prospective employees. LTI administers language assessments to thousands of candidates every year and is one of the largest and most respected foreign language proficiency test providers in the world. It offers the highest level of client service as well as convenient online test scheduling and reporting over secure client networks.

Visit www.languagetesting.com to learn more about how to certify the language proficiency of your bilingual employees and new hires.

References:

[i] https://www.statista.com/topics/1861/hispanics-in-the-us-shopping-behavior/

[ii] https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20200915/111016/HMKP-116-JU00-20200915-SD005.pdf

[iii] https://www.forbes.com/sites/soniathompson/2021/05/27/the-us-has-the-second-largest-population-of-spanish-speakers-how-to-equip-your-brand-to-serve-them/?sh=3b23125793ae

Sources:

https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/wp-content/uploads/MakingLanguagesOurBusiness_FullReport.pdf

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20200915/111016/HMKP-116-JU00-20200915-SD005.pdf

https://www.motionpoint.com/blog/companies-engaging-hispanics-win-big-in-the-u-s-and-beyond/

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171002005951/en/Study-U.S.-Hispanic-Businesses-Continue-Steady-Growth

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/25/latinos-are-a-powerful-force-fueling-small-business-growth-in-the-us.html

Getting Back to Business with Language and Cultural Proficiency

One million vaccinations a day was certainly a lofty proposition as we began the year grappling with how to effectively rid ourselves of COVID-19 and get back to business. As a business owner, diversity specialist, and community advocate, I wondered how this would be accomplished because I know there are still so many gaps in addressing the United States’ diverse populations through linguistically and culturally appropriate initiatives. This is especially true in underserved and underrepresented communities where people, including senior citizens, have little to no access to reliable transportation, major healthcare facilities, or the technology needed to secure an appointment to get vaccinated. Let’s face it, we need everyone to have access to one of the three available vaccines, regardless of their socioeconomic status, ethnicity, cultural background, or language proficiency, so that we can get back to business and to our lives. But how to gather individuals with the linguistic and cultural competence required to effectively communicate with members of these communities in order to promote and provide access to vaccines? 

And then it happened. On a busy morning of back-to-back Zoom calls, I received a text from Father José Rodríguez, a community leader at the local Hispanic Episcopal church in Orlando, Florida where I participate as a volunteer and as a bilingual resource to develop educational programs. He had an opportunity to secure 500 vaccines for local residents of a neighborhood where 59% of working-class families live under the poverty level. Residents are mostly essential workers who have kept the economy going  and many are English language learners, not proficient enough to navigate making an appointment to get the vaccine. His question to me was: “Do you think we can get all the community leaders together, from non-profits to small businesses and government officials, to support the National Guard to administer the vaccines in ten days?” My answer: “Absolutely!”

Language and cultural competency were at the epicenter of every tactic used to accomplish this goal as we assembled a team of talented bilingual workers for the cause. Local Hispanic supermarkets were contacted to serve as sites to enroll predominantly Spanish-speaking people 65+; local media made announcements on TV stations and radio shows, Spanish-speaking elected officials helped with logistics. They were so happy to see Father José scheduling appointments with a brigade of bilingual volunteers from various grassroots organizations. Many senior citizens had tried to secure appointments with the help of their loved ones, but the vaccination sites were a long drive from the neighborhood and they didn’t have transportation. There was a general sense of relief that now all they had to do was show up on Saturday, February 20 to the church’s parking lot at their scheduled time for the National Guard to administer the vaccine. Our organizations’ and bilingual volunteers’ efforts would bring the vaccines to the community.

That Saturday morning, I realized we were experiencing a major breakthrough that was a direct result of the measurable language skills of our team and their cultural competence. Having advocated and volunteered during several crises in Central Florida that lacked any true exercise of cultural competency (the Pulse Night Club tragedy and the displacement of over 200,000 Puerto Ricans after Hurricane María), this vaccination effort was efficient, effective, and smooth because the importance of language and cultural context was taken into account from the get-go. 

So, as we finish the business at hand of making sure everyone gets vaccinated, I encourage corporations, small businesses, community organizations, healthcare facilities, and government agencies to be intentional in preparing to get back to work building our economy by ensuring their teams have language proficient and culturally competent professionals that can help accelerate our growth and do so in an equitable way. One important strategy for doing so is by assessing the language skills of your team members and volunteers using one of Language Testing International’s proficiency tests.

Focusing On What’s Important This Year

Chris Lemon, Northmont High School, Clayton, OH (Spanish Teacher, Department Chair)

A young woman from Spain fell in love with a man from Chile, moved there with him and made a family. Along the way Ofelia discovered democracy and political organizing and volunteered for Salvador Allende’s presidential campaign. Along with many other people at the time, she and her family were rounded up shortly after the September 11, 1973 coup and detained for many months. Thanks to her Spanish citizenship, they were deported rather than disappeared, and she has lived the last 40 years of her life in Sweden.

Two years ago, my brother and I made a trip to Santiago, Chile to see the mountains, the museums, and the stars. When we were at the Museo de la Memoria, I bought a copy of Ofelia’s autobiography, Mi historia – y un viaje al fin del mundo. She left it in the gift shop when she flew back there for the first time in many years to give a speech not long before my own trip.

This school year, our instructional time was cut by about 25%, our first quarter was remote, the rest has been hybrid, and we all know how much our students’ learning was stunted in Spring 2020. So, this year we decided to take a step back and ask ourselves what matters most. Maybe your answers are different than mine, but what I chose to focus on was an emphasis on stories, real and imagined (see Krashen article on Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition here), project-based learning and remote exchange. All three of these were already a part of our teaching practice, but they have really taken off now.

We celebrated our third year of video pen pals with la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, and this year we had about 80-90% of people show up regularly. This compares to about 50% or lower the past two years, in large part because the university students have been online the whole year. The students spoke half of the time in English, half in Spanish, formed new friendships, and incorporated what they learned into class.

Like most of my guests, the UAEM connection started because I met a teacher many years ago who introduced me to another, who then passed this project on to a professor who was interested. I lived in México as an English Teaching Assistant ten years ago, so it is always nostalgic for me to work with these students. I decided with my principal that it would be best to be logged into each of the conversations, which led to accusations from colleagues that I am one screen short of an intervention. I felt like “El Profesor” from Casa de papel.

Other guests joined us remotely, including a student teacher (also from UAEM) and people who live or used to live in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, and the US. Many were connections (or connections of connections), including former teachers of mine who graciously volunteered their time. In Spanish IV, we study the history of democracy and autocracy in the Spanish-speaking world, and my colleagues helped me track down a former exchange student of ours who came in and talked about how it affected her family and its legacy today.

And I got to thinking… What about Ofelia? It took a few days to get up the courage, and then I direct messaged her on social media and went about my day teaching. Within thirty minutes, she got back to me with a long message about how touched she was that I had reached out and that she would love to come! So, I had my Spanish IV students read some excerpts from her book and run some questions by me. The day came and went and I couldn’t have been prouder of them or happier to have her along. This was right after January 6th, too, so we had a lot to talk about…

So is it working? What effect does sociocultural learning have on students as they work towards language proficiency? Our upper-level students all take the AAPPL test to identify Seal of Biliteracy recipients, and this year my CCP third-year students and our fourth-year students beat the national average scores on that test in all four categories, averaging above Intermediate Mid-3 (I-3) in each area and +1.2 over the national average for the Interpersonal Listening & Speaking.  Nine students earned the Seal with I-5 or higher in all four areas and eleven got I-5 or higher in three areas. Some are still waiting on results yet to come in, along with our German students who took the test for the first time this year.

Is it all sunshine and rainbows? Certainly not. We had a pen pal project set up with a school in Ecuador that totally flopped. There was a severe mismatch of ability levels in a couple of the video pen pal groups, and some of my students didn’t show up to their Meets. I didn’t give a few guests enough lead time to come in, and others were cancelled due to snow days. Many students who I began the year thinking were shoo-ins for the Seal of Biliteracy came frustratingly close or lost momentum this year.

As we head into the home stretch, savor those victories from the year and recognize those students who really grew. They might still sound rough around the edges but honor the work that they (and you) put in to get from where they started to where they are now. I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks as my students will be presenting to each other about a variety of topics that they chose, from Machu Picchu to bee conservation to pets in Latin America.

Next year will be a whole new adventure, and I am proud to be an educator! ¡Feliz verano! Happy Summer!

Why Language Training is Critical to a Business

The world is becoming more and more interconnected every day, and new technologies and digital platforms capable of bringing brands to any customer with access to the internet are the driving force behind this unstoppable phenomenon. Additionally, to help facilitate access to these new international markets, businesses are striving to increase cross-border trade, international investment, and labor integration.

The vision for most, if not all, business leaders is to turn their humble enterprises into international brands, and there are many reasons for this. For one, successful globalization not only helps companies access the latest industry-specific technologies and innovations, but also helps attract a wider customer base. Expanding internationally can also provide companies with plenty of chances to work with a highly diverse talent pool, enabling them to significantly lower production costs and increase global competition.

There are myriad ways companies can prepare for smooth globalization, one of which is by introducing language training. Below are some of the reasons why language training is critical to a business.

Language Training Upskills Employees

As highlighted in one of our previous posts, languages can be a gateway into another culture  and help companies nurture, foster, and maintain a truly diverse and inclusive workforce that can better communicate with a global customer base. This, in turn, can significantly improve customer retention and foster brand loyalty. Language training can also heighten employees’ cultural awareness and respect for others, thereby allowing them to connect effectively with customers and improve customer satisfaction. Companies that offer language training also demonstrate that they are willing to invest in their employees, thus making the company more attractive to prospective job applicants.

Language Training Improves Business Leaders

Mainstream employees aren’t the only ones who can greatly benefit from language training. In fact, business executives and administrators can also gain an array of competencies from learning a new language. Language training can make them better leaders who can empathize and build a stronger rapport with employees from all walks of life. In the long run, this can lower employee turnover, increase morale, and improve engagement. By working in a multinational company with employees from all over the world, business leaders will be better equipped to deal with conflict management because they are able to view situations from different perspectives. Proficiency in other languages has also been noted to help business leaders become highly perceptive and sound decision-makers who have a wide personal network.

Language Training Enhances the Hiring Process

One of the most desired skills for businesses, outside of regular training, is hiring employees who are multilingual. If you can train your HR department to have language skills, this will also widen your ability to hire globally. This is becoming more common within the business community because of the shift to remote working across the globe.

Language skills could also dictate which job seekers are worth hiring. With the business world now more interconnected globally than ever before, knowing a language gives any job applicant an advantage when seeking employment. For this reason, many choose to study languages while  at the college level as they prepare themselves to enter into the workforce. Studies show that completing at least a minor in a language while in college can boost academic achievement. The good news for students is that all top learning institutions offer foreign languages as a minor, and many students opt to combine them with business degrees to expand their career options. For anyone working toward a business administration degree, they will no doubt be looking to work for global companies, non-profit organizations, or in the government/public sector. All of these sectors often work or have offices abroad, giving those who have a business degree combined with language skills a wider scope for career advancement. A prospective employee who speaks a second language has in-demand skills that can set them apart from other applicants when applying for jobs.

Having people who can speak the languages of your diverse customer base will give your business an advantage over the competition. After all, this ensures that your company values and messages are accurately translated and delivered to foreign markets. In addition, a company capable of communicating in various languages will have a higher chance of working well with external branches, resulting in a locally driven international brand.

Once you’ve offered your employees language training, you will want to test their proficiency. Language Testing International (LTI) can help you with that task.

Since 1992, LTI has been a leader in language proficiency testing for more than 120 languages in over 60 countries. We are the exclusive licensee ACTFL, and to ensure the quality and validity of our tests are up to international standards, we use only certified ACTFL testers and raters.

Our accredited ACTFL language assessments are widely recognized and accepted by major corporations (from Fortune 500s to small businesses), academic institutions, and government agencies. Each test is designed to determine the specific proficiency level of an individual’s speaking, reading, writing, and/or listening abilities and ultimately to provide a valid and defensible rating language credential.

Developing Talent: Language Proficiency Testing As Learning Impact Evidence

Building workforce capability is critical in achieving an organization’s strategic and operational objectives. Learning and development (L&D) is one of the primary talent management strategies for workforce capability building. L&D interventions could range from new hire orientation to technical skill training, compliance training, language training, or soft skill training to leadership development.

The corporate L&D market has grown to over $370 billion worldwide. In the United States alone, total spending on L&D in 2019 soared to $169 billion, which does not include government or military training dollars yet. However, there has not been much evidence that all the spending on L&D is producing more capable talent. Two-thirds of L&D professionals did not see their L&D efforts as effective in meeting their organization’s business goals. According to a study conducted by the Association for Talent Development, although 96% of the organizations surveyed did some form of learning impact evaluation, only 44% of the organizations surveyed believed their evaluation helped meet their learning goals. Lack of effective evaluation underscores the importance of using the right measurement tool in demonstrating the impact of L&D efforts.

Language Training As A Talent Development Solution

In an increasingly globalized economy, organizations rely on employees who can speak non-native tongues to win the market, whether that involves healthcare practitioners treating migrant patients or a hotel’s staff interacting with international guests. Language training enables your employees to communicate in the language your customers and clients prefer. It also makes in-house translators available for important business meetings or transactions. Multilingual employees help organizations build better client relationships and improve customer feedback.

The benefits of learning a foreign language are not limited to multinational organizations whose business relies on multiple languages. In national or local companies, learning training is one of the effective strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion continues to get traction in the workplace, because it brings various business gains to organizations, such as employee engagement and job performance.

Regardless of the purpose of language training, business needs or workplace diversity and inclusion, organizations need a strategy that connects learning to measurement, like any other talent development solutions. Measurement is the only way for organizations to demonstrate that their investment in language learning is an effective use of resources. A well-designed learning measurement plan helps organizations build the chain of impact from skill or knowledge acquisition to learning transfer / behavior change to business outcomes. While learning transfer is critical to achieving business outcomes set for a talent development solution, skill or knowledge acquisition is a prerequisite for learning transfer.

Language Proficiency Testing: Commercial Tests Versus Tests Built In-house

Once you offer language learning to your employees, measuring their improvement in the language skill is essential before you start tracking business outcomes associated with language learning. Language proficiency testing is a more suitable method of measurement than achievement testing, which assess knowledge of context-specific information. A proficiency test evaluates one’s ability to use language to accomplish real-world tasks across a wide range of topics and settings and compares one’s performance against a set of criteria for different levels of language proficiency.

When it comes to assessment tools, the buy-versus-build decision is important for organizations, and time, cost, and convenience are the key factors to consider. Building an in-house test is time consuming and requires specialized assessment expertise in your workforce. Not all tests are created equally. A good language proficiency test needs to be reliable and valid. Reliability and validity of a test are established through a rigorous test development process, which includes describing test specifications and desired statistical characteristics of a test, item writing and review, pilot studies, item analysis, and reliability and validity studies. Besides the cost of test development, ongoing costs exist in online hosting, maintaining databases of test scores, revising items, and continuously collecting validity evidence.

Alternatively, organizations may choose to use commercially available tests, which vendors can implement quickly and host, update, and maintain. Test quality has already been demonstrated with sound psychometric properties and with large volumes of validation data across organizations and countries. In language proficiency testing, organizations do not need tests with the organization’s values and culture embedded, as they would in other talent assessment tools. In other words, organizations do not lose their competitive advantage by using commercial language tests. Neither do companies incur huge test licensing fees, since many testing vendors, like Language Testing International (LTI), provide affordable language proficiency tests. LTI helps organizations measure language proficiency in speaking, writing, reading, and listening, separately or altogether, with certifications in more than 120 languages, online or over the phone, making its proficiency testing available anywhere in the world.

Conclusion

The increasing costs and competition for corporate resources have pushed the need to demonstrate the effectiveness of L&D through various learning impact evidence. Language proficiency testing provides one type of impact evidence that is necessary for receiving business gains associated with language learning. Testing tools can be either bought from testing vendors or built in house. However, comparing the pros and cons of both options suggests that organizations would gain the most by using commercially available language proficiency tests over those built in-house.

References

Helfat, C. E. (2007). Dynamic capabilities: Foundations. In C. E. Helfat, S. Finkelstein, W. Mitchell, M. A. Peteraf, H. Singh, D. J. Teece, & S. G. Winter (Eds.), Dynamic capabilities: Understanding strategic change in organizations (pp. 1–18). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Training Industry, Inc. (2020, April 1). Size of the training industry. https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/outsourcing/size-of-training-industry

Prove and Improve L&D effectiveness. (2018). In Gartner. https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/insights/learning-measurement

Ho, M. (2016). Evaluating learning: Getting to Measurements that matter. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development. https://www.td.org/research-reports/evaluating-learning

Gurchiek, K. (2017 May 3). Language Training Speaks to Improved Business Results. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/pages/language-training-speaks-to-improved-business-results.aspx

Ho, C-H. (2020, December 30). Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in The Workplace: Language Training. https://www.languagetesting.com/blog/2020/12/30/promoting-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace-language-training/

SIOP Top 10 Work Trends. https://www.siop.org/Business-Resources/Top-10-Workplace-Trends?utm_source=SIOP&utm_medium=Website&utm_campaign=FOWpage&utm_content=FOWpage

5 Ways Language Training Improves Employee Performance. https://www.td.org/insights/5-ways-language-training-improves-employee-performance

Best In Class: Is Your Company Multilingual Enough? https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2017/04/07/best-in-class-is-your-company-multilingual-enough/?sh=4d3c619b63bf

Understanding Proficiency. https://www.languagetesting.com/lti-information/understanding-proficiency

Choosing Effective Talent Assessments to Strengthen Your Organization https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/effective-talent-assessments.pdf

The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014 Edition) https://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/standards.

Hinkin, T. R. (1998). A brief tutorial on the development of measures for use in survey questionnaires. Organizational Research Methods, 1, 104-121.

The Importance of Spoken English in Today’s Global Work Environment

Writing in a language versus being able to speak or converse in a language are two different things. The skill of writing in a particular language can be obtained via classroom instruction, assignments, books, and dictionaries. On the other hand, communicating effectively in spoken English can be challenging, especially when it comes to the pronunciation of certain words and getting the right intonation. One difference between writing and speaking in any language is that while writing one has time to edit or even delete and reword entire sentences or paragraphs. Speech on the other hand is fluid, spontaneous, and it’s not as easy to edit what has already been said.

Knowing how to speak English in a global market can have several benefits. For example, an employee who is fluent in English will benefit by being able to communicate with potential markets outside of a company’s home base. This will simultaneously benefit the employer by helping to expand the employer’s reach and profitability. Given the fact that in today’s economy, money and products are continuously moving between different countries and continents, it goes without saying that a common shared language is important. In many cases, that global language of business is English, which in turn makes it even more important to focus on spoken English.

Many multinational companies seek candidates who are proficient in the English language and who will be able to perform the job successfully. Language Testing International (LTI) has been providing language testing since 1992 to the corporate sector, with industries ranging from retail to hospitality. The assessments provided by LTI are accredited by ACTFL, and are recognized and accepted by major corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies. The tests offered by LTI include speaking, reading, writing, and listening sections. Each test is designed to determine the specific proficiency level that an individual has and ultimately provide a valid and defensible language credential. It is important that any business or organization know whether a potential candidate has the correct level of language proficiency for the position. With LTI, one can be assured that employees and job candidates have undergone the most rigorous language proficiency testing available in the industry. It is also worth mentioning here that in addition to helping organizations select the right candidate for the right position, LTI also has first-hand experience to overcome challenges associated with administrative burden and the cost of the hiring. LTI, by using remote proctoring services, makes language testing more convenient, without conceding the security of the process.

English, at the end of the day, is the global language of science, aviation, computers, and tourism. Additionally, knowing English increases a job candidate’s chances of getting hired at a multinational company, not just abroad but also in their home country. Research has shown that a third of learners in global markets, such as Asia, Europe, and South America, are learning English to apply for jobs in their home country. The same number of people have also learned English to be able to apply for a job overseas. Today, knowing English has become a necessity if one wants to enter a global workforce. Research from all over the world shows that cross-border business communication is conducted in English, and many international and multinational companies expect their employees to be proficient in English. Large global organizations such as Airbus, Samsung, SAP, Technicolor, and Microsoft have mandated English as their official corporate language. In addition, in 2010 the company Rakuten, which is a Japanese cross between Amazon and eBay, made it mandatory for their 7,100 Japanese employees to be able to speak English to be competitive in the world market.

Therefore, the importance of learning, and knowing how to communicate effectively in English in today’s global market cannot be understated.

References

  • Global Business Speaks English – Harvard Business Review (Tsedal Neleey, 2012)
  • Engaging and Integrating a Global Workforce – SHRM Foundation, https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/documents/3-15%20eiu%20theme%202%20report-final.pdf
  • How to Successfully Work Across Countries, Languages, and Cultures – Harvard Business Review (Tsedal Neleey, 2012)
  • The ACTFL English Study – Preliminary Report (June 2016)
  • Assessing Evidence of Validity and Reliability of the ACTFL Speaking Proficiency Test (SPT) (2020)
  • Importance of English in Employment – Deccan Herald (Jyothi, 2012)