Why your training strategy needs global coordination

When it comes to employee training and development, many organizations opt for a decentralized model, giving a lot of autonomy to regional team leaders. This comes with certain advantages, of course, but when it comes to language training, you should consider changing your training strategy as you may not be aware of the scale of inefficiency a localized structure can create.

Here’s what typically happens: You have a star employee, let’s call him Tom.

Tom is really making waves in the business; he’s an expert in his field, well respected by everyone and a fantastic leader. His rapid career progress means that he’s increasingly required to present to stakeholders in different countries and he plays a pivotal role in coordinating the communication between different business functions; something that only someone with his experience can do.

The problem is, nobody understands Tom. While he was busy climbing the career ladder, his English skills were left on the first rung. This not only prevents him from effectively communicating his expert insight but his international colleagues worry that their messages aren’t understood by him. These cross-border conversations are plagued by misunderstanding and confusion, wasting everyone’s time.

So, to solve the problem and help Tom reach his full potential, you look into getting him language training. You do your research, find the right course, and get it signed off on by all the right people. This process takes a few months, a few people’s attention and then Tom – at last – starts his training course.

Does this sound familiar? Could this also be happening in your company’s other offices? It’s likely that your counterparts across the world have all been through the same ad-hoc, time-consuming process. You, yourself, will probably do it again when the next Tom comes along. And all of these Toms have continued to work inefficiently whilst the setup process happens.

In scenarios such as this, a streamlined, centralized system could provide significant economies of scale. Your organization would research, reference and choose one provider, once – with these ten tips to choose the right provider -. The approval process happens once. And once set up, employees across the world can start their training as soon as they need to, enabling them to reach their full potential far sooner.

Every organization is different so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. But the right language training provider should act as a consultant prior to implementation; they ought to be able to help you understand your business needs, suggest a program fit for your global organization and change your strategy for the better. Language training software cannot do this, not even a flashy high-tech online school. Not on their own, anyway. A successful language training strategy is always supported by a consultative approach with the experience of a company that’s done it many times before.