Beat Language Barrier To Improve Business Performance

UK companies must break down any workplace language barrier in order to improve employee performance.

Research by the London School of English has revealed that British businesses might be miscalculating the potential impact that language barriers can have on employee performance.

The overwhelming majority of human resources directors have dismissed any notion of a possible language barrier within the workplace because they believe that their non-native English speaking employees can communicate clearly and effectively.

This argument might be weakened by the fact that these directors have not examined the effect that specialised vocabulary and foreign accents may have when non-native English speaking employees communicate with colleagues and customers.

It is important that non-native English speaking employees are properly trained in how to communicate specific vocabulary, phrases and jargon that might be required in specialist industries.

The right training can help an employee get to grips with the numerous complexities and nuances that are found in the English language and this education is also likely to improve their morale and overall performance as a result.

Customer-facing employees that cannot communicate effectively risk damaging the reputation and performance of their business by providing misleading or inaccurate information.

Some British businesses have relocated their contact centres back to the United Kingdom from India after complaints from customers relating to communication issues brought about by language barriers.

On the other hand, British organisations may also want to invest in foreign language training for their English speaking employees in order to take advantage of international business opportunities.

Most British employees have never been offered the opportunity to learn a second language at work, despite the fact that globalisation and closer EU integration has resulted in tougher competition in international markets from foreign businesses.

While English remains dominant in international business, there are many UK organisations that have lost business opportunities because of their failure of their employees to embrace new language skills.

British businesses appear to be stuck in a time-warp in terms of speaking foreign languages because they are lagging behind their French and German counterparts who are able to deal with basic requests that would confuse the majority of UK firms.

Investing in language skills through the implementation of training initiatives can improve employee performance and allow British businesses to reap the benefits of increased global trade.

Performance improvement consulting professionals can help organisations increase their productivity levels by examining how effectively their business processes operate.

by: Martin Hofschroer

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