Today, globalization is the norm, especially in the technology sector. Consequently, most tech companies operate globally right from the get-go, hiring new talent worldwide, wherever their primary markets are, where they choose to establish operations, etc. Doing business and operating internationally means that basic knowledge of English is no longer sufficient. Your staff must be able to communicate effectively, externally and internally, with clients and colleagues respectively. Said differently, advanced English speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills are as fundamental to participating, let alone succeeding, in today’s borderless markets, as are having a good product or understanding your target audience.
With that established, the next question is how to go about educating your workforce to the necessary level of English. Organizations seek to align employee goals and performance with those of the organization by providing them with substantive learning and development programs. Those responsible for organizational learning and development begin by identifying skill gaps among employees and teams, and then develop and deliver training to bridge those gaps. It follows, therefore, that if you observe that your employees are struggling to effectively and professionally express themselves in English, it’s time to lend them a helping hand to make sure that your company meets its objectives. Improving your team’s English communication skills is a smart, vital, win-win investment in their professional development and your company’s future.
Now that we are in sync as to the criticality of improving your team’s business English, let’s break it down into ten reasons why it should be one of your highest priorities, if not the top one.
1. Align your organizational culture by fostering an all-English work environment
To blend naturally and effectively into the global business ecosystem, tech companies should (and very often do) cultivate an all-English work environment and culture. Many of the world’s leading multi-national companies, such as SAP, Samsung, Nokia, Airbus, and Microsoft, have English as their mandated corporate language for exactly this reason – ensuring that employees are well-connected to the global marketplace. In these firms, and others like them, English is the primary language used in Slack and email correspondence, at meetings, conferences, and on calls. This means that being able to communicate fluently in English within the work environment is an invaluable and truly indispensable skill.
Of course, the ubiquitous use of English in the workplace goes beyond communications. It is estimated that more than half of all content on the internet is in English, which means that if you wish to develop a team capable of consuming new information and broadening their horizons, it’s imperative that they understand and feel comfortable with English at a high level.
2. Boost your confidence in your employees by boosting their confidence in their English selves
While 92% of global employees report that English is important for their career progression, only 7% of non-native English speakers in international companies believe they are currently capable of communicating effectively at work – for example, when using English in emails, conversations, phone calls, or meetings.
As an executive or business owner, you need to feel confident in your employees’ English, for it is only with excellent English language skills that they will be able to communicate effectively and build ties with internal and external stakeholders. When one of your employees hops on a call, lacking confidence in their ability to express themselves and sounding hesitant, it’s markedly more challenging for them to establish strong, trusting relationships with their counterparts.
As with nearly every difficult task, the key to speaking English with confidence is practice, practice, and practice some more. Investing in your employees’ business English skills affords them the opportunity to practice with an expert business English coach and receive personalized feedback. This paves the way for them to speak more accurately and fluently, which in turn, leads to greater confidence, which again improves accuracy and fluency, and so on, in a continual cycle of improvement.
3. Retain top talent
Millennials, a large part of today’s workforce, perceive work in a fundamentally different light than older generations. In their minds, jobs are opportunities to learn and grow, just as much as they are means to earning a living, and for non-native English speakers, enhancing their English skills is probably at the top of their professional growth aspirations. According to a 2016 Gallup report, 87% of millennials say that learning and development in the workplace is important. In fact, from the viewpoint of employers, Gallup has found that "opportunities to learn and grow" are one of the top three factors in terms of retaining millennial employees.
This fact is not hard to understand. Employees feel more valued when they have access to ongoing training and development. When a firm creates an employee-centric atmosphere with a focus on education, employees gain access to training they otherwise might not have been able or even thought to pursue. Emphasizing the importance of self-development creates a supportive workplace, and employees who feel appreciated and challenged are more satisfied with their jobs. They are more likely to stay with their companies for substantially longer periods of time. 93% of employees say they will stay longer at a company that invests in their development.
If employees find that their employer is not sufficiently providing for personal growth, they will move elsewhere. Such attrition leads to additional recruiting costs and lost productivity.
4. Attract top talent
If you’re looking to attract top talent, one of the best things you can do is to demonstrate that you are invested in your team’s career development, and an essential part of most anyone’s career today is improving their English.
Just as with retaining talent, strong candidates want to know that their work will be valued and that they will continue to be rewarded with opportunities to learn. By showing that you consistently satisfy your existing employees’ hunger for growth, development opportunities, mentorship, and coaching, you’ll never have a shortage of people knocking on your door to join your team. Naturally, fulfilling those needs becomes a critical aspect of your company’s activities and HR strategy.
5. Increase employee productivity
Improving your team’s English communication skills easily translates into higher productivity, as verbal and written communication time is shortened, and there are fewer misunderstandings attributed to language. According to a survey conducted by EnGen in 2021, 80% of learners who participated in the survey said that improving their English helped them save time at work.
Even more pertinent to the topic of our article, a Pearson study in 2015 found that companies that offered business English training to employees, gained up to one working week per year, per employee. Do your own math to see how many weeks this can save your firm.
Equipping your employees with the skills and tools to do their jobs better is smart business. As managers, our job is to get the best out of each of our employees. Coaching and training are a great way to do this, as it empowers them to succeed.
6. Improve your bottom line
When taking a 30,000 ft. view, all of the above and below translate into increases in revenues, and decreases in costs, i.e., bottom-line growth. At this level, it’s really quite simple. Educating your employees to provide them with the tools needed to succeed in today’s global marketplace, foremost of which is a mastery of the English language, directly impacts your company’s financial performance. As described in a Harvard Business Review article, companies that invest in bridging employee knowledge gaps reported anywhere between a 14%-29% increase in profits.
7. Make a more powerful impression on stakeholders
Companies spend lots of money on building their reputation, not only with clients, but with suppliers, investors, and internally as well (what company doesn’t wish to be admired by its employees?). The key to developing and maintaining a good name is the ability of the company as a whole, and of each of its employees, to articulate and communicate their messages clearly and eloquently.
As with a company’s operations, even more so, a company’s stakeholders may be dispersed across many different regions on all continents, such that the standard for conveying said messages is, of course, English. So… if you want your stakeholders to want to keep holding their stake in your company, you’d better make sure your staff can competently express themselves in English.
8. Facilitate innovation
While the seeds of innovation might be the ideas of individuals or small teams, the essence of the innovative process, of turning these concepts into something more, is rooted in cross-functional teams discussing said ideas, exchanging knowledge and information, and cross-pollinating each other. The basis for this is, of course, effective communication on a global scale, which more often than not takes place in English.
Just take a look at the world’s fastest-growing markets that are spearheaded by innovative companies. These organizations understand that English proficiency and innovation go hand-in-hand, and very often mandate that all operations be carried out in English.
In a few words, English connects employees, individuals, and businesses around the world, providing a pathway to innovation.
9. Boost morale
It’s not that English itself boosts morale, but better morale is most definitely a product of effective communication and being able to express ourselves. When we feel heard, understood, and valued, we can thank our teammates for being receptive, but also ourselves for confidently and successfully articulating our points and ideas. When everyone can converse in a common language, whether you’re a native speaker or are learning it, the satisfaction alone from having productive, inclusive discussions has proven to be effective in boosting confidence and therefore, morale.
10. Increase customer satisfaction
What prompts customers to contact a given company? Oftentimes, all of the information they need or are seeking out is available on community boards or knowledge centers created by support teams. Why, then, do they still choose to initiate contact?
Customers tend to view company employees as experts in their fields, capable of sharing their knowledge through coherent, effective dialogue. When a customer takes time out of their day to wait on hold or to schedule a session to speak with a customer service, technical support, or some other company representative, it’s absolutely critical that the employees that they communicate with possess the necessary English skills to have a fruitful conversation and resolve the customer’s issues. The ability to communicate an in-depth response or explanation leads to satisfied, appreciative customers.
At Uptick, we believe that strong and sustained business growth depends a great deal on effective communication, and in today’s world, that means effective communication in English. Offering a state-of-the-art technological training platform, premium content, and exceptionally qualified coaches with a range of specialties, Uptick makes English learning more relevant, deeply immersive, and truly enjoyable.
